WEST FARGO, N.D. -- Grand Forks Red River scored its first team title of the girls outdoor track season here Saturday, and it was in the Roughriders' biggest meet to date.
Red River won the East Region meet, scoring 132.5 points to runner-up Fargo Davies' 114.5. Grand Forks Central had 53 points to finish seventh.
"That's a good time to have that first one,'' Riders coach Tracey Heisler said. "It was unexpected. Davies has been coming on strong, and Fargo South and West Fargo are tough.
"But we had a great day. We had PRs (personal records) all over the place. That's all you can ask of the kids.''
Hadley Steffen set the pace for the Riders. The sophomore won the 100 (12.43 seconds) and the long jump, breaking the school record in the latter with an 18 foot, 4½ inch jump, and also was second in the 200. "She had a great day. She's been performing well all year,'' Heisler said.
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Red River also got firsts from Emily Asche in the javelin (123-3), Rachel Todhunter in the 300 hurdles (46.29 seconds) and defending state champion Ashley Zeitvogel in the pole vault (10-6).
"They were all seeded first or second, so we knew they had a good chance of winning,'' Heisler said. "But you never know who will come in and compete. They all had really great days.''
Central won three titles -- Kayla Simpson in the shot put (41-11¾) and double winner Jessica Lindsay in the 800 (2:17.49) and 1,600 (5:07.74, a meet record).
"One of her goals was to repeat in the 800, and she did,'' Central coach Eric Polries said. "And she was looking at that record; you could see she wanted it. She went hard for it. Kayla struggled in the prelims, but she was consistent in the finals, throwing around the 41-foot range in all three of her throws.''
GF boys win 7
Grand Forks boys won seven events at the regional, led by Red River double winner Kellen Plutowski. The senior took the 300 hurdles (41.04) and high jump (6-2) and was second in the 110 hurdles (15.34).
"Kellen had a phenomenal day,'' said Red River coach Bob Zimney. "Kellen will be the first to tell you he's run a little hot and cold this year. Today he was hot.''
West Fargo won the team title with 213 points, followed by Red River (165.5) and Central (94).
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The Riders also received firsts from Francis Mendee in the 3,200 (personal-record 9:47.56), Jimmy Evers in the 110 hurdles (15.14), Bryan Bjerk in the discus (148-4) and Quinn Baumann in the javelin (personal-record 174-1). Bjerk also was shot put runner-up.
"Bryan had a good day,'' Zimney said. "You don't see a sophomore thrower usually doing that well in the regional. And Quinn is out for track for the first time this year. That win was unexpected.''
Central's big scorer was Paul Shafer, who won the 1,600 (4:26.64) and was second in the 800 and triple jump. Central also got a second from Alex McDonald in the discus and scored big in the 1,600, with Shane Harlow placing third and Justin Gerszewski fourth.
"Paul had a great day,'' Central coach Sean Allan said. "He was close to his PR in everything. He was sitting in seventh or eighth place in the triple jump and moved way up on his last jump. It was nice to see him compete like that.''
