Jennifer Becker takes gold Jennifer’s state competition began on Friday with the prelims for the 100m hurdles and the 300m hurdles. Jenn easily qualified for the finals in both events, putting her in 3 events of competition on Saturday. Along with the hurdles, Jenn also went to the State Meet in the triple jump, which holds both prelims and finals on Saturday. Jenn’s first event was scheduled for 10:55 a.m. Jennifer ran the 100m hurdles well, and brought home a ninth place medal. Her triple jump was a little more daunting. Jenn was entering this competition as the 13th seed, and with only nine advancing to the finals, she had her work cut out for her. The competition proved a little too tough and Jenn did not qualify for the finals, but placed 16th overall. Now, keep in mind that Jennifer’s strongest event is the 300m hurdles, and this was scheduled to start at 1:55. She had plenty of time to get herself prepared for this event, and coming into finals as the third seed had her pretty determined. When the starting gun went off and Jenn flew off of the blocks, there was no looking back. Jenn has run this event many times, but never has she run so flawlessly. Not a single hesitation over the hurdles put the gold around Jenn’s neck with a time nearly a second ahead of the competition. Along with bringing home the gold as a State champion, Jenn shattered her own school record with a time of 44.78. Jenn is the second Track and Field athlete to bring home the gold. The girls 4 X 800 relay team brought home the gold way back in 1986. Jennifer, what a season. Way to go for the gold and bring it home. Congratulations! Alison Ecker takes silver Starting off the day on Saturday was Alison Ecker. She was scheduled for shot put competition at 9 a.m. Alison had been focusing on the shot for the past week and a half. The top nine contestants enter into the finals, and Alison was seeded ninth, so she knew what she had to do. Her first trip into the circle, she tossed the shot a whopping 39 feet, her farthest shot ever, a new school record, and a sure spot in the finals. Entering the finals had Alison seeded second, a spot she would not give up. Her fifth put sealed the placing when she put the shot out there 39 feet 2 inches, earning her the right to wear a silver medal around her neck. A dream come true? You bet. Alison has been throwing the shot in competition since the third grade when she joined the EV-W-K summer track and field elementary program. This is what she has worked for for ten years, and her hard work has definitely paid off. Way to go Alison, we are so proud of your accomplishments. EV-W-K girls take ninth place Jennifer Becker and Alison Ecker had a great weekend at the State meet in Blaine. Bringing home a ninth-place finish, silver medal and gold medal gave them a ninth-place overall finishing out of 81 teams competing at the state meet. The entire girls’ team had an awesome season. Taking second in the conference, second in the sub-section, and third in the section was incredible enough. Capping it off with a ninth-place state meet finish? Icing on the cake. Congratulations, girls, on a great season.
