By Brenda Erdahl
The underdog 4×200 relay team surprised everyone – even themselves perhaps – when they cruised through the prelims at the Minnesota State High School League State Track and Field meet last week and ended up on the podium with a seventh-place medal hanging around their necks.
The Irish sent the relay team and two individuals to St. Michael-Albertville High School on Thursday, June 6, the location of this year’s State competition. Reese Hartkopf, Avery Lee, Sydney Breimon, and Alex Kiebel, members of the 4×200 relay team were the only Irish to qualify for finals this year despite strong performances by Alex Kiebel in the long jump and Alan Haglin in the 300-meter hurdles.
4×200
Seeded 11th, the 4×200 team knew it was a long shot to even make it to the finals. Only the top two teams from each of the three heats went on, plus the next fastest times. The Irish not only did it, they did it in dramatic fashion, taking second in their heat and qualifying automatically. This is the same team that last year set the school record and just missed a trip to State. This year, at sub-sections, they broke their own school record, then, at sections, they broke it again to qualify for State. In the State prelims, for the third straight meet they broke it again, going 1:47.05.
