Girls' team wins easily
Two familiar faces were back competing for the Brainerd Warriors girls' track and field team.
Back
After missing much of the last three weeks with injuries, Ashley Schmolke and Missy Eiesland made big appearances at Tuesday's triangular against Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud Apollo at Adamson Field.
Schmolke missed the last two meets with back spasms while Eiesland has been out for the last three weeks with a hip injury.
The two seniors looked as if they hadn't missed a beat. Schmolke won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:26 and Eiesland captured the long jump with a leap of 16-5 1/2.
Brainerd won the meet with 105 points while Sauk Rapids scored 55 and Apollo 26.
Schmolke also led off the 4x800 relay with Jenna Dean, Katie Posterick and Christina Roberts that posted a Warrior honor roll time of 10:14.5.
"It's good to see Ashley and Missy back competing," Warriors coach Geri Skogen said. "Now we have to get going and improve from there. We're just working them back into the meets and go with them for the rest of the season.
Brainerd 105, Sauk Rapids 55, Apollo 26
The keys: Ashley Schmolke won the 800-meter and Missy Eiesland captured the long jump.
"I'm not really looking at their performances, just that they're back and healthy."
Schmolke and Sauk Rapids runner Gia Dickinson battled the entire 800. Schmolke used what little she had left in her tank to edge Dickinson at the finish.
"I didn't know what to expect with this being my first meet back," said Schmolke. "I'm glad I got to race that Sauk Rapids girl because I knew it'd be a really good race. I needed the challenge at the end."
For most of her athletic career, Eiesland, who competed in last year's Class 2A state long jump, has had to deal with injuries. She went to state with a sprained ankle and pulled quadriceps muscle.
"I wasn't expecting too much, I was just hoping not to get injured again," Eiesland laughed. "I wanted to get over 17 feet. It didn't happen but I was happy with my jump. It was just nice to be competing again."
Maria Swanson pulled out a double win as she took the discus with a throw of 107-4 and the shot put with a toss of 40-2 1/2.
"Maria's just strong and she's going to get better as the season goes on," Skogen said. "(Throwing) coach (Dan) Clabo is working on tweaking her technique to get to where she needs to be and she'll be there at the end."
With the section True Team meet on the horizon, Skogen and her staff will try to align their athletes to specific events in order to score the most points.
"We have one more triangular meet left," Skogen said, "so after that we'll start to fine tuning who we want where, what relays we want and how we can score best. We have enough times and distances on the kids so we'll put them together to see how we can do."
Girls results
Team scores -- 1-Brainerd 105, 2-Sauk Rapids 55, 3-St. Cloud Apollo 26
100 Dash -- 1. Faylynn Merrick, SR, 13.7; 2. Jenni Beilke Brd, 13.8; 3. Emily O'Rourke, Brd, 13.9; 4. Katie Perpich, Brd, 14.0;
200 Dash -- 1. Jenni Beilke, Brd, 28.5; 2. Jessica Radtke, Brd, 28.6; 3.
Jessica Rosenthal, Brd, 29.0; 4. Lisa Kutzorik, Sauk Rapids-Rice, 29.2
400 Run -- 1. Katie Posterick, Brd, 1:03.3; 2. Christina Roberts, Brd, 1:03.9; 3. Kate Olson, Brd, 1:05.5
800 Run -- 1. Ashley Schmolke, Brd, 2:26.0
1600 Run -- 1. Jodi DeGrote, SR, 5:47.8; 3. Jenna Roberts, Brd , 6:10.1; 4. Carissa Schmidt, Brd, 6:19.0; 7. Kelsy Herwig, Brd, 6:27.8
3200 Run -- 1. Audree Goodew, Brd, 11:46.0; 3. Jenna Dean, Brd, 12:57.1
100 Hurdles -- 1. Claire Northway, Brd, 16.6; 3. Laura Baden, Brd, 18.0; 5. Meghan McAllister, Brd, 18.4
300 Hurdles -- 1. Kristin Hille, SR, 50.8; 2. Ally Hartje, Brd, 51.4; 3. Taylor Hartje, Brd, 51.9; 5. Danielle Uphoff, Brd, 55.4
4x100 Relay -- 1. Brd (Jessie Rosenthal, Beilke, Aani Rangen, Katie Perpich) 53.5
4x200 Relay -- 1. St. Cloud Apollo 1:55.4; 2. Brd (Stephanie Paul, Melissa Wentworth, Claire Radomski, Paige Northway) 2:00.6
4x400 Relay -- 1. Sauk Rapids 4:19.2; 3. Brd (Schmolke, Cara Wiltse, Ally Hartje, Christina Roberts) 4:23.5
4x800 Relay -- 1. Brd (Schmolke, Jenna Dean, Katie Posterick, C. Roberts) 10:14.5
High Jump -- 1. Melissa Wentworth, Brd, 4-10; 2. Ally Hartje, Brd, 4-10; 4. Taylor Hartje, Brd, 4-10
Pole Vault -- 1. Tiffany Zamudio, Apollo, 9-06; 3. Katie Perpich, Brd, 9-00; 4. Lauren Trapp, Brd, 8-06
Long Jump -- 1. Missy Eiesland, Brd, 16-05.50; 5. Taylor Hartje, Brd, 15-08.75; 8. Lauren Deyo, Brd, 14-09.75
Triple Jump -- 1. Ally Hartje, Brd, 32-09; 2. Taylor Hartje, Brd, 32-07; 4. Cara Wiltse, Brd, 30-06
Shot Put -- 1. Maria Swanson, Brd, 40-02.50; 4. Jessica Radtke, Brd, 31-11.50
Discus Throw -- 1. Maria Swanson, Brd, 107-04; 3. Jessica Radtke, Brd, 102-00; 7. Robyn Wernberg, Brd, 89-3.
TROY GUNDERSON can be reached at troy.gunderson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5865.