The boys team placed first with a score of 114, followed by United South Central/Alden-Conger (84), New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (46), Westbrook-Walnut Grove/Red Rock Central (36) and Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop (31) The girls team placed first with a score of 127.5, followed by WWG/RRC (53.5), USC/AC (45), GFW (43) and NRHEG (38).

The boys team had six first-place finishers, including Josh Bentler in the 55-meter dash.

“It feels good,” Bentler said. “I’m coming off of a high-ankle sprain from last football season that ended my season as a running back. So I wasn’t able to train much in the offseason, but so far it’s feeling good.”

Bentler placed first with a time of 6.61.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Minnesota Valley Lutheran/New Ulm Cathedral’s Tucker Kohls competes in the boys hurdles on Monday at Myers Field House in Mankato.

“I felt fast,” Bentler said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it felt good.”

Also placing first for the MVL boys were Micah Horack in the 400, Jeremy Feistner in the 1,600 and Trace Gunderson in the triple jump (37-5). The 4×200 relay team of Ethan Schauland, Eli Schauland, Bentler and Gunderson placed first with a time of 2:01.56, and the 4×800 relay team of Austin Vee, Max Fischer, Tyler Fischer and Logan Klawitter placed first with a time of 12:04.17.

Owen Manthe (58.38) and Tyler Fischer (1:00.53) placed second and third in the 400, respectively, while Tucker Kohls placed third in the 55-meter indoor hurdles (9.02). Feistner placed second in the 800 (2:24.99) and Austin Vee placed third (2:31.85). Bentler placed second in the 200 (24.89), and Benjamin Rossow placed second in shot put (41-4). Ben Riesgraf took second in the long jump (18-7.5), and Manthe placed second in the triple jump (36-11).

For the GFW boys, Dominick Krumwiede placed first in shot put (42-1). Brayden Miller took four in the 55 (6.92), and Chris Ruiz placed fourth in the triple jump (31-2.5).

On the girls side of the meet for MVL, Avery Freier placed first in the 55-meter high hurdles (9.42), Tiphany Dos Santos placed first in the 55-meter dash (7.71), Emily Brown took first in the 55-meter indoor hurdles (9.39), and Kamryn Davey placed first in the triple jump (31-3.5). Averyelle Hopp placed first in the 200 (30.84) and long jump (13-4.5) and was a part of the 4×200 relay team that placed first, along with Freier, Davey and Dos Santos (2:01.86).

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Chris Ruiz competes in the boys triple jump on Monday at Myers Field House in Mankato.

“It was definitely very nerve-racking [to start the season],” Hopp said. “I was definitely really nervous coming into today. We hadn’t practiced handoffs, so that was quite scary. It was really fun to cut in, though, because at outdoor meets you can’t do that. But it was a lot of fun to cut in this meet.”

Hopp was the runner for MVL who pulled away from the rest of the teams, being the second athlete to run in the 4×200.

“I definitely know that my starter Avery [Freier], she got me there so I could get it,” Hopp said. “But it was a lot of fun to be able to get that pull ahead and get my team ahead so they can take it the rest of the way.

The 4×800 relay team of Natalie Matzke, Grace Peters, Faith Peters and Kylie Berdan placed first as well with a time of 12:04.17.

Also for the MVL girls, Brown placed second in the 55-meter high hurdles (9.68), while Davey placed third (9.73). Freier placed third in the 55-meter dash (8.03), and Davey placed second in the 55-meter indoor hurdles (9.49). Juliet Langjoen placed second in the 200 (30.94), and Jenna Bates took second in the shot put (31-9). Raegan Tiegs finished second in the triple jump (31-1), and third in the high jump (4-4), while Brown placed third on pole vault (6-6).

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Minnesota Valley Lutheran/New Ulm Cathedral’s Natalie Matzke hands the baton off to Grace Peters in the girls 4x200 relay on Monday at Myers Field House in Mankato.

For the GFW girls, Lucy Dvorak placed first in the 800 (2:50.21) and second in the 1,600 (6:18.25). Kinley Bruns placed second in the 55-meter dash (7.75) and third in the 400 (1:11.10), while Keydence Juts placed third in the long jump (12-10).