On Saturday, April 2, River Falls High School’s boys and girls track and field teams competed in the Minnesota State Mankato Varsity Showcase, an annual tournament that features some of the biggest and best schools throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

In total, more than 30 teams from the Midwest competed in the MSU Varsity Showcase on Saturday afternoon. Throughout the event, River Falls boys and girls student- athletes earned six combined top-five finishes including one victory – a testament to the Wildcats’ continued growth in the opening weeks of the season.

The lone victory belongs to junior Jordan Karras, who won the boys’ high jump event with a height of six feet and two inches, beating out AJ Perron of White Bear Lake for first place. River Falls boys track and field coach Max Haskins spoke about Karras’ leaping ability.

“Absolutely (he had a great meet), he was jumping out of the gym,” Haskins said of Karras. “He’s one of those kids that if you go out to high jump, you wouldn’t pick him out to win the meet. He’s a little on the shorter side, but he can jump out of the gym.”

Near the end of last season, Karras cleared six feet on the high jump for the first time. He has continued to improve and has separated himself from nearly all of the other competition. Haskins spoke about his development as a jumper.

“I don’t know how many times he’s been over six, not too many,” Haskins said. “He went over six, then six-footone, six-foot-two, he was dang close to getting six-footthree as well. To see him have that success this early in the season just shows the work he put in during the offseason.”

The boys’ track and field team also had success in the 4×400 meter relay event, where the group of junior Zackary Nye, sophomores Robert Anderson and Morris Toppel and senior Isaac Carns earned a third-place finish, trailing only Fairmont and Onalaska. The boys’ team also earned an eighth-place finish in the 4×200 meter relay.

“Those 4×400 guys picked up right where they left off last week,” Haskins said. “They felt a lot better about the race that they turned in on Saturday (MSU) than they did on Friday. Friday was the first indoor 400 that any of those guys had run. They felt better, but they still know that they can race smarter and have more left in the tank.”

Haskins spoke about how immediately after the race ended, the relay athletes began speaking about how they can improve that time and get better as the season continues. The Wildcats also earned a fifth-place finish in the 4×800 meter relay, which featured senior Dustin Sheely in the leadoff spot.

While Sheely was in one of the relay events, he also competed in the 800-meter run, where he earned a sixthplace finish. Coach Haskins spoke about the pleasant surprise of Sheely having success early in the 800-meter event.

“We’re super impressed with Dustin (Sheely),” Haskins said. “He was in the second heat, not in the fast heat because he’s never been in the 800 before. He’s been a surprise coming into this season. He’s been hurt, so we didn’t know what we would get out of him. He won his heat by five or 10 seconds. For him to turn out a 2:04.00, had he been in the fast heat, I think he’s capable of getting a better time.”

The girls also had success at the Minnesota State Mankato meet against some top-tier competition. In the 60-meter dash, junior Rebecca Randleman earned a third-place finish and in the 400-meter dash, senior Morgan Prigge and junior Ella Peters finished seventh and eighth respectively for the Wildcats.

The aforementioned Randleman also earned a runnerup finish in the 200-meter dash, falling to Jordan Grell of Waconia by less than a quarter of a second. In terms of relays, the lady Wildcats earned a fifth-place finish in the 4×200 relay, which included the group of Randleman, junior Brooklyn Silloway, and seniors Elise Frisbie and Allie Humburg.

Final results for the day include the boys’ sixth-place finish out of 25 total teams with 25 points scored. As for the girls, they earned a 12th place finish with 21.50 points out of 28 total teams at the MSU Varsity Showcase. Haskins provided final comments about the success of the day.

“It was awesome to see them ratchet it up against some really good competition,” Haskins said of River Falls. “This was another level of kids with those 28 teams. Everyone was bringing the best of the best. It’s always fun to watch those races because there is all that competition, and our kids didn’t back down.”

Up next for the Wildcats is the first Big Rivers Conference meet of the year on Tuesday, April 5, when River Falls travels to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to compete at 4 p.m. with other Big Rivers schools.

Freshman Charlie Loesch (right), junior Cade Myszewski (middle) and sophomore Jacob Lane (left) compete in the 55-meter dash at a meet earlier this season. Loesch, Myszewski and Lane have all improved this year, which contributed to the success of the team at the Mankato Varsity Showcase on Saturday, April 2. Photo by Reagan Hoverman