SPORTS WRAP
Surprise. Nerves. Time management. All of these components came into play for Owatonna’s track and field athletes at the MSHSL Class AAA state meet. Sophomore Jozie Johnson unexpectedly qualified in triple jump, having only started it this season. “I just randomly one day said that I wanted to try it. It was a little weird at the beginning because it’s something I’ve never done,” she said. Johnson set the school record and is also a state gymnast in vault, which has the similarities of both a long run up and flying through the air.
Sophomore Seth Johnson made it to state in the 110-meter hurdles. “It was actually a pretty big surprise because my main event is the 300-meter hurdles,” he told the Owatonna Live Coaches Show. “I came out of the blocks really well.” Coach Doug Maine recruited him freshman year. “I was like, ‘I’m just going to go try it.’ It worked out pretty well.”
Sophomore Lucas Webber is the third leg on the school-record 4x200-relay team. He gets a few butterflies when the gun goes off. “Before Nolan [Ginskey] gets the handoff, I’m pretty worried. But typically, Nolan’s always in the lead so my nerves calm down. So, I’m just thinking about hitting my mark well [for the baton handoff].”
Senior David Smith shifted to the anchor leg of the school record 4x800-relay team. “A lot of times I ran second when we went to state last year. That was because I would always catch whoever was in first and build the gap as much as I could.”
Senior Justin Gleason competed in four events. “It gets a little tough sometimes because I sometimes leave the triple jump or long jump to do the 4x200. My coach has to watch the time to make sure I don’t miss the events.”
Trap team on target
OHS senior Taylor Busho has qualified for the MSHSL individual clay target competition. She’ll be gunning for the first-of-its-kind girls’ title. Coach Mike Kingland says her success starts at home. “Mom and dad are very supportive. Taylor has plenty of opportunity to get down there. Frankly, she just loves it. And it’s something she found out she was good at and just kept going and going.” She led the team with a rate of 23.9 successful shots per 25 targets.
Senior Dawson Risser averaged 23.6. Kingland describes him as a technical shooter. “He pays attention to everything any coach had ever said to him. He came into this year super focused. He’s been just lights out the last couple weeks of the season,” said Kingland.
OHS finished second in the biggest conference in the state. “It was awesome. We had seniors carry us. Seven out of our top 10 athletes were seniors and we had 36 new kids. It was a great season.” The Huskies shoot June 20 aiming for a bid to the MSHSL meet.
Kingland attributes success to multiple sources. “I’ve got plenty of coaches that help us out and kids that once they decide it’s something they like to do, they do it. They get down to the club and bring others with them. That’s been a team-builder for us. Just everybody diving in. We also have plenty of parents that are involved.” He says many athletes work at the gun club or go there to hang out together.
K’s and double plays
The Owatonna Aces downed Dodge County 6-1 recently at Fuller Field. Four pitchers combined to fan 13 Diamondbacks. Koey Kiel, Chris Homuth, Addison Andrix, and Theo Giedd scattered eight hits and kept Dodge County off the board until the seventh inning.
Owatonna turned a trio of double plays and Payton Beyer made a great running catch in centerfield. Kiel had two RBIs on the night. Mitch Seykora and Brian Simon had two hits and an RBI. Matt Seykora smashed an RBI double. Their next home game is June 23 against Plainview.
