Three senior Bronco boys qualify for state
Two individual titles and a runner-up finish paced the International Falls boys track and field team at Friday’s Section 7A meet in Duluth.
The Broncos finished seventh in the team standings as they qualified three seniors in this weekend’s Class A state meet at Hamline University.
Esko took home the first-place trophy with 72.5 points, followed by Two Harbors (66), Virginia (54), Duluth Marshall (49), Hinckley-Finlayson (48.5), Moose Lake/Willow River (45), the Falls (42), Proctor (37), Chisholm (30) and Eveleth-Gilbert (29) as the top-10 teams out of 26 competing.
Jake Jensen won the pole vault at the Section meet for the third consecutive year after clearing 13 feet.
Broncos assistant coach Dan Zika said he’s happy to see Jensen qualify again for the state meet, where Zika hopes Jensen will be able to improve upon his height to finish high in the final standings. Jensen cleared 13-9 at last year’s state meet for fourth place.
Another Bronco scored a team point at Friday’s Section meet in the pole vault. Sophomore Dakota Ruelle added an eighth-place finish after clearing 9-6. Falls had qualified three vaulters, but Zika said sophomore Cade MacKay didn’t compete because he had a prior family commitment that conflicted.
Jensen also contributed to the Broncos’ point total at Friday’s meet in two other events. He joined Tyler House, Marco Griffith and Aaron Marx for a fourth-place finish in the 4x400 relay (3:38.95) and came in sixth in the 200 dash (23.8).
Shawn Filipiak is also heading back to the state meet for the third year in a row after two previous runner-up finishes. This year he won the high jump at 6-0.
That was the same height runner-up Jake Stainbrook of Esko cleared, but when no one made a higher jump, Filipiak won on tiebreaker criteria, which take the number of misses into consideration.
Filipiak also placed seventh in the 110 hurdles (17.44).
“Jake and Shawn have had tremendous seasons up to this point,” said Falls head coach Paul Hjelle. “Both of them will be going (to the state meet) for the third year in a row and those past experiences at state should really help them (June 10-11). Coach Zika has done a terrific job with them and he will have them ready to go next weekend.”
Another Bronco senior who came close in 2010 to qualifying for state has made it this year. Brandon Richards earned his trip to the Class A meet by placing second in the shot put with a throw of 47-5.
“Brandon saved his best for (Friday) and it paid off,” Hjelle said. “He’s a fierce competitor and was pumped up ready to go.”
Ike Serre of Duluth Marshall won the shot put with a throw of 51-8, a distance that exceeded the state standard by 4 inches to qualify for the Class A state meet regardless of place at a Section meet.
Richards, who finished fourth last year at the Section 7A meet, said he felt he would be able to qualify for the state meet Friday after reaching the 45-foot mark.
“Right after that I knew it was going to be a good day, and it just felt good all the way through,” he said.
Two seniors added three team points. Reggie Gorden finished seventh in the 800 run (2:08.07), while Marx placed eighth in the 400 dash (55.21).
