Blakeslee finishes third in 3,200

ST. PAUL — Cannon Falls senior Kyle Blakeslee earned the first medal of her high school career by placing third in the 3,200-meter run at the Class A meet Friday at Hamline University.

"I was happy that I finally did well and got myself a medal," Blakeslee said. "... I was just excited."

Blakeslee finished in 11 minutes, 14.19 seconds. Perham junior Maddie McClellan won the race (11:00.99) and Linda Keller, a Paynesville senior, came in second (11:04.25).

Blakeslee said she was afraid of getting boxed in so she started fast and kept pace with McClellan. However, Blakeslee said she faded in the final 200 meters.

She attributed her strong showing to the confidence she gained from her pre-race routine: eat pineapple, run for 20 minutes, perform plyometrics and stretch.

"I don't know what I'm going to do next year in college because I don't know how to cut pineapple," said Blakeslee, an Augustana recruit.

The 3,200 served as a preview of today's 1,600, which also will feature Blakeslee, McClellan and Keller. Blakeslee said her goal is to bring home the blue ribbon that holds the first-place medal and she has formulated a strategy to achieve it.

"I know if I can stick with them I'll be good," she said. "They have better kicks than me so I have to start kicking before them."

Lake City senior Gayle Makoutz placed 11th overall (1:00.41) in the 400 preliminaries.

On the boys side, Cannon Falls senior Ryan Underdahl finished 14th overall (52.00) in the preliminaries of the 400.

Wisconsin results

LA CROSSE, Wis. — Macy Olson, an Ellsworth senior, finished second in her section of the 800 at the WIAA Division 2 meet with a time of 2:23.09 and finished ninth overall at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

The top eight finishers earned points.

Ellsworth junior Carlie Melstrom finished 10th (27.05) in the 200 preliminaries. Angelica Balderas, a Mayville senior, captured the ninth, and final, place in the finals with a 26.98.

In the 400 preliminaries, Melstrom finished 13th overall (1:00.25).

Panthers freshman Lydia Kuhl came in 12th overall (48.40) in the preliminaries for the 300 hurdles while the 4x400 relay team of Kuhl, Olson, sophomore Shannon Campbell and Melstrom placed sixth in their heat and 13th overall in the preliminaries (4:11.09).

Ellsworth senior Nick Niedfeldt finished 14th overall (51.92) in the boys 400 preliminaries.

In the WIAA Division 3 meet, both the Elmwood/Plum City 4x100 and 4x200 girls relay teams placed seventh in their heat and 14th overall in the preliminaries. The 4x100 team finished in 52.91, while the 4x200 team posted a time of 1:53.14. Plum City senior Amanda Daleiden was a member of both teams.

Plum City freshman Becky Hartung came in 14th overall (2:30.36) in the 800 finals.

The Elmwood/Plum City 4x400 boys relay team placed 12th overall (3:35.81) in the preliminaries. Sophomores Alex Gilles and Gabe Rodriguez represented Plum City on the team.

Tags: track and field, lake city, cannon falls, plum city, kyle blakeslee, sports, ellsworth