Voss third in boys’ 110 and 300-meter hurdles, McGee ninth in girls’ shot put at MSHSL Class A state track & field championships


Courtesy Dan Condon/Jackson County Pilot

Aiden Voss stoked the fire once more Friday evening in St. Michael, as the Pipestone Area junior claimed a pair of third-place finishes at the MSHSL Class A state track & field meet at St. Michael -Albertville High School.

A surprise medalist at last year’s season-ending event, Voss upped the ante by qualifying in two events this spring and taking the podium in both the boys’ 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles.

Setting a personal record of 15.07 seconds during Thursday’s preliminary race, Voss entered Friday’s finals in second place – just .05 behind Triton’s Owen Petershon. 

The finals proved a slow race, and Voss’ third-place time of 15.32 wasn’t what he expected.

“I didn’t really expect a slower race and if I had run the time I ran at sections I would have won it,” he said. “I had PR’d the day before and was wanting to break 15 (seconds). I was 15.07 the day before and I didn’t quite make it.”

Which stoked Voss’ fire for the 300s later that evening.

“I was a little upset by my finish in the 110s and it helped me really push hard in the 300s,” Voss said. “That one went really well. The first hurdle wasn’t the best, but the straightaway was where I really started picking up speed and I ended up catching and passing some people to get third.”

Voss clocked in with a PR mark of 40.32 seconds in the 300s, fewer than .40 seconds off Petershon’s mark of 39.97 that gave the Triton senior the hurdles double.

“Aiden ran his PR in the 110-meter prelims, but didn’t quite run to that standard after that – in the finals,” Pipestone Area head coach Todd Tinklenberg said. “No one did, though, it was kind of a slow heat, just not great times, but Aiden battled hard and earned third place – fantastic coming off of seventh place last year. That’s what you want, moving up the ladder. 

“His 300s, you know how he is … has that spurt at the end. He was in last place after 150 (meters) and ended up third. He came on really well and had a PR there. I know he’s not happy with third, but that was a great step there from last year.”

And Voss’ positive strides in both events made for a great finish to this campaign as well as providing fuel for Voss’ senior season.

“It was a good way to finish the season, and he knows what he needs to work on for next spring,” PAS hurdles coach Todd Texley said. “He works extremely hard and he’s not someone you have to tell to get in the weight room. He’ll do what he needs to do. He was mad after the high hurdles, still mad before he started the 300s and I think that might have helped him in the 300s … might help him for next season.”

Certainly the fire ignited at last season’s state meet, where Voss ran the first sub-16-second of his career, is a good indicator he’ll again use this season’s performances as a spark for the 2023 campaign. 

“My goal was to be low 16s to start the season and I ran a PR by four tenths – beat last year’s state time at the first meet of the year,” Voss said. “That really surprised me and I was able to keep it down there most of the year. I’ll keep pushing and hopefully have another good season next spring. Overall, I think I need more sprint training, and I can always put some work in on the blocks – a big part of that 110-meter race.”

While Voss hopes to remain hungry, with his eye on triumphing in both events next spring, he enjoyed the 2022 state-meet experience with three teammates this season. And each not only set a PR mark at one time or another during the meet, but appeared loose yet focused throughout.

“All you can hope for is that they have a great experience and are satisfied with how they ran or threw; they all had PRs at some point in the meet, so I think everyone was pretty happy,” Tinklenberg said. “I know Aiden wanted to place better, but you have to have something to come back for next year; he has some unfinished business and that’s how he views it.”

Also getting on the podium for the Arrows was junior thrower Arinn McGee, who garnered ninth place in the girls’ shot put at a distance of 37 feet, four inches.

Courtesy Dan Condon/Jackson County Pilot

“For Arinn, to make finals was fantastic,” Tinklenberg said. “Her first throw was the personal best of the year and of her career. She couldn’t quite match it in finals, but it got her there and got her a medal. Two other girls had to throw out of their minds to beat her in the finals … actually she was in seventh place coming into the finals.

“I loved Arinn’s mentality coming into the meet; she says, ‘you know what, I’m here to enjoy this, have fun and I’m going to put a smile on my face and do my best.’ That’s exactly what she did, and I loved her attitude. I look over at (Luverne’s) Jocelyn (Hart), she had her game-face on, and it took her final throw to move ahead of Arinn in the standings.”

Moving up five places in the standings from his entry seeding, Caden Strasser set a new PR of 4:34.24 to place 12th in the 1,600 meters Friday evening – a race the PAS junior knew would be S W I F T.

“I could feel it was going to be a fast race,” he said. “I’m surrounded by all the top runners in the state and you feel like it gives you an extra boost of energy.”

A state cross country qualifier, Strasser knew he couldn’t afford to hesitate at this shorter distance.

“I think it did have a similar to XC, with all of the fast runners, but it’s a different kind of fast on the track,” he said. “Out there, you’re zooming and you have to go with it or … get left behind. When they move you gotta move.”

And within the din of an extremely boisterous crowd, Strasser was awed by being able to hear one voice in particular.

“I’m used to small-town track meets like we have in Pipestone where it’s not too noisy, but this was really loud,” Strasser said. “Coming around the curve on that first lap and heading down the backstretch the only voice I could pick out in all that was my dad’s. I thought that was pretty cool.”

So too was the state-meet experience Coach Tinklenberg knows Caden Strasser and his sister Caiya Strasser will use as a springboard for next season.

“He had a PR, knew he was going to go up against those elite runners and used it as a learning experience,” Tinklenberg said. “He went out in a sprint with them, hoped to finish hard, and he did. It was fantastic and he too had a smile on his face the whole weekend.

“Caiya PR in the prelims of the the girls 100-meter hurdles and it just wasn’t enough to get her to finals, but she too had a great experience and we’ll see how hungry she comes back for next year.”

“It was really exciting when she qualified; we saw her go from being nervous to being excited, but back at meet … nervous again,” Caden Strasser said of his eighth-grade sister. “We’re super proud and excited for her. I’m hoping she is too, because that would be pretty cool if we did this again.”

And the younger Strasser was right in the mix during Thursday’s prelims, hitting an early hurdle that likely kept her from the finals with a PR mark of 16.34 seconds. 

“She smacked one of the first hurdles, which threw her off,” Texley said. “She ended up having to four-step the last hurdle; if she wouldn’t have, she probably would have qualified for finals. So, that was just enough to throw her steps off a bit. Otherwise, she ran well. She was the only eighth grader to make it in the hurdles, so that says something about her potential.”

However, without health, potential counts for little. And for all his potential, Southwest Christian/Edgerton senior Micah Schaap endured a heartbreaking state meet this spring. 

After earning three medals at last year’s state meet, Schaap was favored to, at least, repeat his previous performances in the long jump triple jump and 400 meters – where he placed second, third and fifth, respectively.

Sustaining a significant hamstring injury on his second approach in the long jump at the Section 3A championships in Pipestone, Schaap qualified for state in the event with his first jump (21 feet, eight inches) and narrowly qualified in the 400. Unfortunately for Schaap, he wasn’t able to compete in the triple jump.

Despite his best efforts in St. Michael, Schaap didn’t advance to the finals of either event. He placed 11th in the 400-meter prelims at 52.54 seconds after qualifying second in the event with a mark of 49.98 – a time that woiuld have placed him third in the finals heat.

A 17th-best leap of 18’-1.25” in the long jump proved equally disappointing, as Schaap had the state’s best mark of 23’-3” and in just one jump at sections topped Makoi Perich’s winning mark of 21’-5.75” in St. Michael. 

“Micah did all he could, but his leg just wouldn’t allow that to be anything close to his normal abilities,” SWC/E head coach Brian Tschetter said. “I am most certain that Micah, on two healthy legs, would be a state champion. It was also heartbreaking to not be in the triple jump competition. Micah was not able to get any jumps in at the section meet and had a season-best jump of 45’-05.5.” The state winner hit a jump of 46’-01.5,” while the second and third places were 44’-07.75” and 44’-01.75.” For all the joys you see in sports, there most certainly are gut-wrenching moments as well. Micah simply had an unbelievable high school career. He has school records in the long and triple jumps and would have been gunning for the 400 record as well.”

SWC/E teammates Reece Wassink and Grant Busker tried to support Schaap while competing themselves, in the girls’ discus and boys’ high jump respectively. Wassink was close to a PR in the discus, placing 12th overall with a toss of 105’-3,” while Busker cleared 5’-10” to tie for 17th place in the high jump.

“The state meet was a great way to cap off a great career for Reece,” Tschetter said. “She threw right around 100 feet most of the season, and her season best (113’-4”) was also a career best and a school record. 

Grant had a few meets where he cleared six feet this season and being a sophomore, this was valuable experience for him. He was a multi-meet winner in the high jump competition and his presence will be a boost for the team for the next couple of years.”