Jackson Heidesch Leans Past Birnbaum At The Tape At Heartland Regional
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Results: Boys Championship l Girls Championship
You can't ask for much more than an all-out sprint to the line.
And in the case of Rapid City Steven's (SD) Simeon Birnbaum, Dowling Catholic's (IA) Jackson Heidesch and Iowa City's (IA) Ford Washburn, this one started from well out, as far back as 300 meters.
With the finish line in sight, first it was Washburn taking the lead, and then Birnbaum, and then, in a last-gasp effort, it was Heidesch stealing the win in the final breaths.
The Dowling Catholic (IA) senior clipped Birnbaum by two-tenths of a second to take the win at the Team Heartland Regional in 14:39.00, while Birnbaum followed in 14:39.20.
As always, the Yankton Trail Park course in Sioux Falls, South Dakota played fast.
Admirably, Iowa City's Washburn was in third in 14:41.60. All three locked up the first three berths to Team Nationals, while Robbinsdale Armstrong's Noah Breker, shaking off a tough finish at the Minnesota State Championships the previous weeks, was fourth (14:51.00) and St. Thomas Aquinas' Colby King was fifth in 14:55.50.
Time will only tell if that sixth-finisher, Minneapolis Washburn's Aidan Jones -- the Minnesota 3A state champion -- will get a ticket to nationals.
He needs some fortune out of Heidesch's Dowling Catholic squad, which finished third overall, to make his way to Portland.
CHAMPIONSHIP BOYS 5000 METER RUN FINALS
PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT POINTS
1 Jackson Heidesch 12 Dowling Catholic High School 14:39.00 1
2 Simeon Birnbaum 12 Rapid City Stevens High School 14:39.20 0
3 Ford Washburn 12 Iowa City High School 14:41.60 2
4 Noah Breker 12 Robbinsdale Armstrong High School 14:51.00 0
5 Colby King 12 St. Thomas Aquinas High School 14:55.50 3
6 Aidan Jones 12 Minneapolis Washburn High School 15:01.20 4
7 Manny Putz 10 St. Paul's Lutheran - Onalaska 15:02.40 0
8 Wyatt Haughton 12 Shawnee Mission East High School 15:06.90 5
9 Jack Witte 11 Millard West High School 15:07.30 6
10 Nick Gilles 12 Minnetonka High School 15:08.30 7
11 Aloysius Franzen 11 Stevens Point 15:10.70 8
12 Sam Scott 11 Minneapolis Southwest High School 15:11.00 9
13 Bode Erickson 11 Stevens Point 15:11.50 10
14 Micah Blomker 11 Shawnee Mission North 15:12.00 0
15 Juan Gonzalez 10 Fremont High School 15:12.40 11The girls championship, meanwhile, was a little easier to predict.
Wayzata's Abbey Nechanicky, the second-ranked runner in the MileSplit50, paced herself before making a move into the second mile that gapped Ballard's Paityn Noe, and then the future Buffalo was off to the races, winning in a time of 16:44.70.
Nechanicky's victory was well-earned, spelling out an equally fruitful day for the No. 7 ranked Wayzata girls team, which won the meet with 75 points.
In fact, the Trojans were downright dominant, becoming the only team to average under 18 minutes, posting a top time of 17:53.
Olathe West, a MileSplit50 honorable mention pick and public school out of Kansas, was second with 140, locking up another automatic berth to Team Nationals. Meanwhile, third- and fourth-place Minnetonka and Dubuque Hempstead are left to wait on where the at-large berths go.
Noe didn't let Nechanicky completely out of her sights. She finished second in 17:02.70, while Nevis' Jade Rypkema was third in 17:09.80 and Hopkins' Sydney Drevlow was fourth in 17:16.80.
Claiming the last two tickets to nationals were Forest Lake's Norah Hushagen and Sioux Falls' Ali Bainbridge.
CHAMPIONSHIP GIRLS 5000 METER RUN FINALS
PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT POINTS
1 Abbey Nechanicky 12 Wayzata High School 16:44.70 1
2 Paityn Noe 12 Ballard High School 17:02.70 0
3 Jade Rypkema 12 Nevis High School 17:09.80 0
4 Sydney Drevlow 10 Hopkins High School 17:16.80 2
5 Norah Hushagen 10 Forest Lake Area High School 17:17.40 0
6 Ali Bainbridge 12 Sioux Falls Lincoln High School 17:20.50 3
7 Brionna Holso 12 Rapid City Stevens High School 17:27.20 4
8 Luna Scorzelli 11 Saint Paul Highland Park High School 17:30.70 5
9 Amanda Overgaauw 12 Murray County Central High School 17:33.20 0
10 Sara Mlodik 11 D. C. Everest 17:34.70 0
The Scoop:
Page 2: Team Northwest opens up national qualifying
Page 3: The Virginia State Championships didn't disappoint
Page 4: Delaware State Championships were on the calendar
Page 5: Fast and furious rallies at the South Carolina State Championships
Page 6: Big-time moments from the New York State Championships