Dreitz takes second, fifth at State Track

Grace Drietz raced for the finish line. She was four seconds behind the leader, Ava Hill of Mesabi East.

But when she crossed the line, she had second place in the state 800-meter run in her bag — the best she's done at the state level so far in her young career.

The freshman from Canby finished in 2:17.36, which was behind Hill's 2:13.33.

Drietz was third in the prelims at a nice time of 2:16.91. Hill was behind here at 2:17.3. But, obviously, Hill poured it on in the finals to take the top prize away from Drietz.

Drietz also ran the finals on Saturday in the 1600-meter run. She finished fifth in 5:03.36.

Her old nemisis, Morgan Gehl of Heron Lake-Okabena, took third at 5:00.57. The Ping sisters of Winona Cotter finished first and second, sophomore Grace Ping at 4:59.l07 and her eighth grade sister Lauren at 5:00.57.

DRIETZ MISSED out on a third opportunity when here 4x400-meter relay team fell off the pace in the preliminaries and finished 10th overall in a time of 4:04.19. Drietz led off the relay and handed to Lizzy Gillingham. Both had their team hanging around the third spot in their heat. But somewhere between Braelyn Merritt and RyAnn Hansen they ran into trouble and fell off to 10th — destroying their chances of reaching the finals.

Belle Plaine had the best time in the prelims at 3:59.23. But in the 4x400-meter finals on Saturday, Pelican Rapids came through with a 3:49.56 to capture the title, with Belle Plaine falling off to third place.