Sprinters finish strong

ST. PAUL - The "Beau Show" has come to a close.

After qualifying for the 100- and 400-meter championship races at Day 2 of the Class AA state track and field championships, Marshall senior sprinter Beau Bofferding brought home a pair of medals, taking third in the 400 and sixth in the 100, ending his high school career in style.

"Sadly, we'll pass it onto Duluth so the Bulldogs can have the 'Beau show,'" said Tigers boys' track and field coach Mike Jacobs about Bofferding, who will head to the University of Minnesota-Duluth to play football next fall.

Article Photos

Photo by Joe Brown
Marshall’s Beau Bofferding, middle, sprints down the home stretch of the 400-meter dash past Wayzata’s Michael Smith during the Class AA state track and field championships Saturday at Hamline University in St. Paul. Bofferding took third in the 400, and also took home sixth in the 100-meter dash.

"It's been just an excellent career for him," Jacobs added. "You look at all the athletes you've coached, there's nobody who's more coachable than Beau. ... He just does everything you ask him to and 18 times more, because he's got an incredible work ethic."

Along with Bofferding's pair of medals, Marshall girls' sprinter Sarah Buysse also reached the podium on Saturday, taking ninth place in the 400 dash.

Starting off with the 100, the pressure was big enough as Class AA's top speedsters took the blocks. But a slipped block forced everyone back to the start, building up more tension in the process.

"That miscue on that start, that rattled everyone, it kind of builds the pressure," Bofferding said. "I think I handled it well. Both of my starts felt really good."

Seeded ninth with a time of 10.94 on Saturday, Bofferding's quick start propelled him up the standings with a time of 11.00 seconds. Winning the 100 was Blaine's Ayuk Tambe, who crossed the line with a time of 10.79.

"I think that's really what helped him in that 100," Jacobs said of Bofferding's start. "That drive and motivation to get everything right really paid off in that."

Then in the 400, Bofferding was in a nearly-identical scenario as last year's state championship: working from an inside lane, keeping the top runner, Hopkins' Austin Salargo, in his sights for the whole race.

After trailing at the back of the pack around the final turn, Bofferding turned on the boosters in the final stretch to squeak into third place with a time of 48.49, over a second better than his third-place time last year. Winning the 400 was East Ridge's Nathan Roese (47.79), who edged the defending champion Salargo (47.91).

"I wanted to get out strong and go out really hard," Bofferding said. "At the 200 mark, we picked it up a little bit, and I was going all out, giving it everything I got. Fortunately, I was able to pass some guys down the home stretch and take third. It was a satisfying third. The same two guys from last year (Roese and Salargo) beat me, and hats off to them. Those guys are fun to race with."

While Bofferding wrapped up his prep career, the Marshall girls' track team got to showcase some of its future building blocks on Saturday, starting with the 4x800 relay team.

Working from the outside lane, junior Madi Verschaetse admitted there were some nerves on her end before getting set at the line.

"I was super nervous, my stomach was in knots," Verschaetse said. "You try to think of it as any other meet, just with a lot more people out there."

Faced as the lowest seed in their heat, senior Haley VanKeulen continued to try and push the pace for the Tigers at the second handoff.

"I know I had to try and make a move," VanKeulen said. "The team was counting on it."

And on the third handoff to fellow senior Becca Fedde, Marshall was able to put a scare into the back of the pack, moving up two spots before Buysse got the final handoff.

"I ran hard like it was my last race, and it was my last race," said Fedde, who also represented Marshall at the state cross country meet last November.

In the end, the Tigers finished with a time of 9:50.54, finishing 14th in the 16-team field. A perk for the Tigers: they were able to defeat Holy Family Catholic, which won the Section 2AA championship ahead of Marshall. The Fire foursome finished in 16th with a time of 9:59.58.

The relay team from Minnetonka won the 4x800 with a time of 9:21.51.

"You compete against these great big schools and you think, 'We come out in 14th place.' But that's 14th place in the state," said Tigers head coach Marie Sample. "That's not bad at all. I think it's been a long time since we've brought a relay (to state)."

But the day was not done for Buysse, who took to the blocks for the girls' 400 dash. Just a freshman, Buysse admitted she was a little beat after running the 4x800 relay on Saturday and the 400 qualifier on Friday.

"With this heat and being sore from (Friday), it was tough," Buysse said. "Holy cow. It's hard competing at this level."

Buysse finished with a ninth-place time of 59.50 seconds, which was .48 seconds slower than her qualifying time on Friday. Winning the 400 was Cretin-Derham Hall's Megan Linder (56.53).

Buysse got a taste of state. And with three years left to go in her prep career, she intends on being back again.

"Next year, I'm going to get higher than I did," Buysse. "After (Saturday), I'm going to try and get there."

Sample added, "She's ready to do some summer running and some off-season training, and she's never done that before. I told her, 'Next year, we're going to come back and give you a shot at that state championship as a sophomore.' It's a good start, she got here as a freshman."

At the jumpers' pits, Marshall junior Sarah Andersen didn't like her chances to medal on Saturday, as she came into the triple jump seeded 16th out of 19 contestants.

"I thought I was going to do really bad," Andersen said. "I was really nervous and didn't think I would make it into the pit. (Jumps coach Chris Schaffer) and everyone kept me sane."

Coming in with a seeding mark of 35-9, Andersen got her first mark at 34 feet, 10 inches, but her confidence waned after a mark of 34-6 1/2 after the second jump.

"Mr. Schaffer told me to keep my head up, keep my chest out and I'll go farther," Andersen said. "I thought, 'OK, I haven't gotten my best jump yet, so I'm going to do it this time.'"

But in her final attempt, Andersen got her best jump of the day at 35-5, putting her right on the cusp of making the finals.

"I prepared myself a lot better and I just made myself think about how I wouldn't be able to do another jump if I couldn't get a better distance," Andersen said.

Andersen just missed a chance to get on the podium, taking 10th place in the triple jump with the 35-5. Winning the event was Eden Prairie's Taylor Johnson (37-9 3/4).

"Good future for (Andersen), too," Sample said. "She just found (the triple jump), what, three weeks ago? And she's 10th place at the state meet. That's not bad."