WEM pole vaulter claims title on last attempt

Chad Courrier, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·2 min read

Jun. 19—The Free Press

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown senior Toryn Richards cleared the bar and started cheering before she hit the mat.

She knew she had just won a state championship in the pole vault.

"Oh my gosh, it felt so amazing," she said. "It was such an accomplishment for me to clear that height."

Richards cleared 10-feet-9 on her final attempt at that height to claim the victory at the Class A track and field meet Friday at St. Michael High School in Albertville. She also cleared 10-6 on her third and final attempt, creating quite a bit of tension.

"I've been pole vaulting since sixth grade and now I feel like I'm ready to take it to the next level."

Richards, who has signed with Minnesota State to compete in track and volleyball in the fall, took a try at 11-0, which is her personal best, but didn't clear.

Richards was competing in the high jump at the same time. She finished second in that event at 5-3.

"There was a lot of running back and forth there," she said.

Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton's Lauren Dimler had three all-state performances, taking fifth in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.26 seconds and breaking the program record. She also finished fifth in the 300 hurdles in 47.15 and eighth in the long jump at 17-1/4.

Emily Sullivan of Le Sueur-Henderson took first in the wheelchair shot put at 12-7, wheelchair 100 dash in 38.55 and wheelchair 200 dash in 1:15.69.

Madison Daly of St. Clair/Immanuel Lutheran took fourth in the pole vault at 10-3 and seventh in the 800 run in 2:23.85.

Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet's Emily Lorentz placed sixth in the discus at 116-6 and sixth in the shot put at 38-6 1/2. Teammate Grace Moeller was 10th in the 1,600 run in 5:22.0.

In the boys meet, Loyola/Cleveland's Simon Morgan broke a 33-year-old program record and placed third in the 110 hurdles in 15.26.

Teammate Aidan Gravelle took first in the wheelchair discus at 48-2, second in the wheelchair 100 in 16.93, second in the wheelchair 1,600 in 4:27.19 and third in the wheelchair 200 in 30.58.

Ethan Fischer of Maple River took fifth in the discus at 161-0. Jacob Cahill of JWP finished ninth in the pole vault at12-6, as did Dylan Novak of LSH in the 300 hurdles in 42.22.

Sibley East's 4x800 relay took sixth in 8:23.79, with St. James Area following in 8:24.72.

The Class AA meet will be held Saturday, with the boys starting at 10 a.m. and the girls at 3:30 p.m. at St. Michael High School.