By Danielle Strenke
The Rush City track teams ended the season at the section 7A meet June 5 at Macalester College. Although none of the team members advanced to the state meet, individuals turned in some of their strongest performances of their careers.

Head Coach Mike Vaughan said the 21 points scored by the girls team and the 10.5 scored by the boys were the highest he has seen in his three years at the helm of the Rush City program.

The girls squad earned 14th out of 27 teams in the meet. Visitation captured first in the team meet, followed by Blake in second.

For the girls, Christine Frandsen was fourth in the 3200m run with a time of 12:35.96. She also finished seventh in the 1600m run with a time of 5:47.91.

Alex Saxton was sixth in the 200m run with a time of 27.89 and eighth in the 100m run with a time of 13.28.

Liz Melin was ninth in the 300m hurdles with a time of 52.97.

The 4 x400 relay team was ninth with a time of 32.62 and the 4 x 800 relay team was sixth with a time of 10:50.03.

The boys team was 21st out of 23 teams. Minnehaha Academy captured the boys title, followed by St. Croix Lutheran in second.

Senior Tim Karnick, in his first year as a member of the track team, took seventh in the pole vault with a vault of 10í0î and tenth in the shot put with a throw of 40í4.5î. He advanced to the section meet by finishing in the top six in four events at the subsection meet.

Jeff Jennings was seventh in the high jump, clearing 5í8î.

The 4 x100 relay team was sixth with a time of 47.79 and the 4 x 200 relay team was ninth with a time of 1:43.94.

Vaughan said the two teams had an amazing season.

ìThe girls peaked at the right time,î he said. ìYou canít do better than first in the conference.î

The boys team, despite having a young roster, also did well. ìThe numbers were there and we had good athletes,î Vaughan said. ìIn one or two years, this will be a tough team to beat because the talent is there.î

He extends gratitude to the six graduating seniors on the team: Christine Moore, Amy Bengtson, Tim Karnick, Zack Becker, Colin Vold and manager Tegan Smischney.

He said Moore, Bengtson and Becker were vital members of relay teams for three seasons. ìAmy and Christine were great leaders and role models for the team,î Vaughan said. ìZack was my workhorse.î

Karnick was a valuable new asset on the team this year, Vaughan said, especially by putting the boys team back into competition in the pole vault. Vold came back out for the team this year and proved to be a good hurdler, Vaughan said.

ìThey all will be missed,î Vaughan said.

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