Area track and field: Z-M girls finish fourth thanks to team effort

Of the 16 athletes in the Zumbrota-Mazeppa girls program, six of them made it to the Section 1A meet by placing in the top three at the subsection competition Tuesday.

Colleen Owen, a Cougars junior, won the 400-meter dash (1 minute, 4.20 seconds) and came in third in the 200 (28.61) at Byron Middle School. She also was part of the second-place 4x200 relay team along with senior Corey Avery, junior Brooke Swenson and senior Allison Mollenhauer.

Mollenhauer posted a season-best time by 4 seconds in the 300 hurdles and won in 50.59. Classmate Eleanor Holm took third (52.68) in the same event.

Avery took third in the long jump (14-10 1/2) and teammate Jasmin Schiffer, a junior, took third in the shot put (29-0 1/4).

The Cougars finished fourth with 140 points and were 6.66 points behind Pine Island, the third-place team.

Every member of the team had at least one top-eight finish and thus scored points for the team.

"That has never happened since I have been the coach," said Biever, who has been coaching track for nine years.

The Section 1A meet is slated for May 31 and June 2 at Triton High School.

Tags: track and field, sports, prep, zumbrota, mazeppa, cougars