FARGO - One event just fed into the next on Saturday for West Fargo senior Jaime Heinen-Lugert.
Heinen-Lugert won three events - 100 meters, high jump and the triple jump - at the North Dakota East Region boys track and field meet at Fargo South High School.
The day almost started with disappointment in the triple jump, but Heinen-Lugert recovered to post a personal-best jump of 47 feet, 2 inches.
That mark broke the East Region record of 46 feet, 9 inches set by West Fargo's Nick Senf in 2002. It also broke a stadium record and ranks second on the state's unofficial record list in the event. Mike Backes of Grand Forks Red River holds the unofficial stat record with a jump of 47-7¾ in 1998.
"I started off with two scratches in the triple jump, so I needed to get a mark," Heinen-Lugert said. "I was pretty upset and nervous because I didn't want to scratch three times and be done. I jumped 45-10, which was my personal record. I was pretty happy with that and fed off of that in the finals."
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From the jumping pits, Heinen-Lugert stepped onto the track and cruised to a first-place time of 10.99 seconds in the 100 meters.
"I was pretty hyped up," Heinen-Lugert said. "I wasn't expecting to win at all. I just wanted to score points for my team, but I'm really happy I won."
After that, the Packers' standout set a personal record of 6-foot-4 in the high jump coming in second to teammate Jordan Bishoff, who also set a personal record of 6-foot-8 and tied Fargo South's Matt Bishoff - Jordan's cousin - for the East Region and stadium record.
Heinen-Lugert's day finished in the long jump, an event he had finished second in the last three years. A jump of 23 feet, 7 inches got him the region championship in the event he said is his favorite.
"I think the senior factor was there today," West Fargo head coach Darin McKinnon said. "He had quite the day. He understood his role and took it on himself to be a leader for the team. Good athletes seize moments at big meets like this, and he rose to the occasion."
West Fargo won its fourth consecutive East Region team championship. Heinen-Lugert said that was the most important win of the day.
"I wanted to score points for the team and do everything possible to help my team win the East Region championship," Heinen-Lugert said. "That was my main goal."
North's 800-meter relay sets East Region record
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Records also fell in the relay events on Saturday.
Fargo North's Class A defending state champion 800-meter relay team of seniors Waha Sem and DeSean Thompson and juniors Avery Thompson and Brady Huffman cruised to a time of 1 minute, 29.07 seconds.
The time broke both East Region and stadium records. The previous East Region record was 1:29.54 set in the 1987 by Fargo South's Chris Tomhave, Tony Satter, Darrell Poll and Mark Lundstrom. It's also the fastest time in the state this spring.
"It puts us pretty high up there in time," DeSean Thompson said. "I think it makes us the team to beat. Brady (Huffman) ran a second faster in his split, which helped out a lot. It gave me more motivation to run even faster and finish it off."
"It felt really good, and I was surprised with the result," Huffman added. "It was the best we have run all season, and hopefully we can build off of it."
Davies' Welk wins the pole vault, qualifies
Last spring, Fargo Davies junior Marcus Welk qualified for state by place in the pole vault.
This spring, Welk qualified for state by cleanly vaulting over the 12-foot-6 standard.
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"It feels a lot better," Welk said of hitting 12-6 and winning the pole vault. "It shows that all the hard work is paying off. It's a good feeling."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Tom Mix at (701) 241-5562
