By the time Jared Delich and Jake Bradach returned
home to the Iron Range on Saturday, they were worn out, and deservedly so. The
two seniors from Rock Ridge High School had a memorable week competing at the
state tournament.
Correction: Two state tournaments. Or three, depending
on how you look at it
They were members of the Wolverines’
4x800-meter relay team that competed Saturday morning in the Class 2A state
track and field meet at St. Michael-Albertville. They had spent the previous
four days representing Rock Ridge at the Class 1A boys state tennis tournament in
Minneapolis, participating in both the team and doubles portions of the event.
The boys are grateful to many for the
opportunities provided to them this spring, especially their coaches in both
sports. Jace Friedlieb is the Wolverines tennis
coach and Matt Anderson
coaches track.
“A lot of it is the awesome
flexibility of the coaches on both teams,” Jared said. “They knew what we were
doing, they knew what we were trying to accomplish.”
Their accomplishments were something special,
taking place over a five-day stretch of intense competition that closed the
book on a season of hard work.
In the boys team tennis competition held Tuesday
and Wednesday, Jared and Jake helped the Wolverines
place fourth among eight teams. In the doubles competition Thursday and Friday
they finished third, defeating Mounds Park Academy’s Aarti Prochnow and Garrett
Webb 6-1, 6-4 in Friday’s third-place match at the InnerCity Tennis Center in
south Minneapolis.
And at the state track meet on Saturday – 38 miles from the tennis
center – they joined teammates Connor Matschiner and Causey Aune in the
4x800-meter race. The Wolverines placed 12th among 17 teams.
The boys also competed in other track events this spring, and Jared
was a member of the 4x400 relay team that qualified for state. The first round
of racing in that event was held Friday at about the same time the tennis duo
was playing for a third-place medal. Jared’s spot on the 4x400 unit was taken
by an alternate runner.
“When we looked at the schedules we
tried to see how far it is from the tennis facility to the track facility, and as
you could imagine it was impossible,” Jake said.
Both boys are also cross-country runners who initially joined the track
team last spring.
“It was the first time we tried this
whole double sport thing,” Jared said. “We're cross-country runners, so we were
like, ‘Hey, there's another running sport in the spring. Let's give it a shot.’
”
Friedlieb said, “Trust is a big
thing. And they've been natural leaders since the day they came onto our team.
They talked to me last year and said, ‘You know, we'd like to run track, too.’
And I said, ‘There's nothing better than dual athletes. Let's make it work.’
“Tennis was always their number one
sport. So they always communicated with me and we just made it work between track
and tennis and it turned out really well for them.”
Last spring Delich and Bradach both played in the team
portion of the state tennis tournament, with Jared qualifying in singles and
Jake playing doubles at state with another partner.
This year, they hoped to make it
through the first day of doubles competition, which they certainly did.
“We were confident in our ability to
play well here,” said Jared.
They have focused mainly on tennis throughout
the season, with track getting enough attention as possible.
“After practice we could go out for
a run,” said Jared. “We made sure to be there for the team and to compete in whatever
track races we could during the year. We stepped out of a couple of tennis
practices and even skipped one or two lower-level matches to run track.”
Friedlieb said their third-place
finish was no surprise to him.
“I'm not surprised at all. They were
both singles players and they made the decision to team up as a doubles team
toward the end of the season. They knew what they wanted to do, and knew they
could make a run, and they sure made a run this week. It was awesome to watch.”
Jared summed up the week perfectly
when he said, “It was super, super fun. This is great.”
Tenth and Final State Tournament
Cecilia Woods didn’t shatter any records or
take home any gold medals from the Class 2A state track meet, but she
accomplished something that has rarely been done in Minnesota.
The track meet capped the high school career of
the Rocori senior, who has become quite accustomed to competing at the highest
level. It was her 10th time competing in a state tournament. A diver
on the swimming and diving team, a member of the Rocori dance team, and one of
the top hurdlers in the state, Cecilia is something special.
Her first time at state came in track during
her freshman year. Then it was diving-dance-track for the next three years.
She was the state champion in the 300-meter
hurdles a year ago and placed second in the 100-meter hurdles. Saturday at St.
Michael-Albertville’s sterling track and field facility, Cecilia finished third
in the Class 2A 100-meter hurdles and fifth in the 300-meter hurdles, taking
home two more medals to add to her collection.
Pierz: Hurdle City
If the city of Pierz doesn’t
have an official slogan, one possibility comes on the heels of the Class 1A
state track meet: Hurdle City.
Pioneers senior Ashley
Kimman won the girls 100-meter hurdles state championship and in the next
event, classmate Jonathan Cheney won gold in the boys 110-meter hurdles. They
both improved from the prelims, when Ashley had the fourth-best time and
Jonathan was fifth.
In other events, Ashley
placed seventh in the high jump and Jonathan was eighth in the 300-meter
hurdles.
Records , Results And Team
Standings
--With the final throw of his high school
discus career, Rosemount senior Hayden Bills won the Class 3A title with a
state-record distance of 207 feet. That tops the previous mark of 201-7 set by
Karl Erickson of Rochester Century in 2001. Bills' new state record
ranks No. 3 in the nation among high school discus throwers this year. No 1 is
209-11 and No. 2 is 208-10, both by Wisconsin 11th-graders.
--Irondale junior long jumper Juriad Hughes Jr.
won the 3A state title with a distance of 24 feet, 10 3/4 inches. He set the
state record of 24-11 a week earlier. That mark ranks No. 7 in the nation
this spring, with the top six all seniors.
--Maple Grove senior Jordyn
Borsch ran to state titles in the Class 3A 100, 200 and 400 meters. A year ago
she finished first in the 100 and 400.
Team state champions in track
and field were …
Class 1A girls: Eden
Valley-Watkins/Kimball
Class 1A boys: St. Croix
Lutheran
Class 2A girls: Monticello
Class 2A boys: Waseca
Class 3A girls: Minnetonka
Class 3A boys: Rosemount
--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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