Senior Erin Autio captured two conference titles, while freshman standout Anna Keefer also had a pair of championships as the St. Michael-Albertville girls claimed the 2014 Mississippi 8 Conference Championship last week in Buffalo.
Senior Erin Autio competes in the hurdles at a meet in Rogers earlier this year. The STMA standout took the 300-meter hurdle title at the conference meet last week. (Photo by Kurt Sjelin)
Autio leaped her way to wins in the 300-meter hurdles on the track and to gold again in the long jump, as the Knights racked up 196.5 points in the meet, more than 100 points better than North Branch and St. Francis, who tied for second at 86 points. Monticello was a close fourth with 85.
St. Michael-Albertville’s youth performed at top speed last Monday, with Keefer and sophomore Whitney Perry leading things off by going 1-2 in the “fastest girl in the conference” race – the 100-meter dash. Perry stepped up with a huge run in the finals, after finishing third in the prelims.
The two combined for gold in the 4×100 meter relay, leading the Knights to 10 valuable points in that run. And Keefer, in her third event of the day, would grab second in the 200-meter dash.
Keeping that youth movement going were fellow freshmen Lizzy Heil and Makenzie Langdok. Heil cruised to first place in the 800-meter run by more than a full second. Her prelim run was actually better, narrowly missing the conference record set by STMA alum Maddi Sjelin in the conference meet.
Langdok, meanwhile, pulled out a stellar run in the 400, holding off North Branch for the title in that sprint.
Junior Rachel King took her first title of the day in the mile run, with Heil taking third. King would take a silver, later, in the 2-mile run, falling to Monticello’s Amber Seidenkranz.
Langdok, too, would add a silver, coming in the 300 hurdles, where she came in behind teammate Autio.
Wilson was outstanding in the field, grabbing a second place in the high jump, third in the discus, and first overall in the shot put.
The Knights girls, coached by Jason Massman, completed prelims in the Section 5AA meet last night at Hamline. Finals will be run tomorrow at Hamline University, with top finishers headed to the State AA Meet, again at Hamline in St. Paul, on June 6 and 7.