HIBBING—Heading down to the Hamline Elite Meet last Friday, the Hibbing High School 4x800 relay team was seeded ninth out of 12 teams.
The expectations weren’t exactly the greatest, but the foursome of Tara Hertling, Jocelyn Strukel, Jorie Anderson and Mileena Sullivan were good enough to get the chance to compete at Hamline.
What that group did during the race surpassed even their expectations.
Hertling, Strukel, Anderson and Sullivan broke a 33-year-old 4x800 school record by running a time of 9:30.47, eclipsing the old time of 9:34.32 set in 1991 by Tara Schneider, Missy Johnson, Tina Larson and Shelby Stark.
The Bluejacket foursome finished third at the meet behind Minnetonaka (9:14.55) and Wayzata (9:20.50)
“It was exciting,” Hibbing coach Serena Sullivan said. “It was a great day. Those girls, they showed up. They were there to compete. We were seeded ninth going into it, and coming into that last lap, they were in third place behind Minnetonka and Wayzata.
“The best part about the race was you could tell there’s more in there. They have more in the tank to give. It’s going to be exciting to see where the end of the season falls.”
Going in, breaking that record didn’t seem probable.
“We were told at the beginning of the season that we were close,” Strukel said. “We dropped a lot of time before the Elite Meet. We were nine seconds off. We knew that we could do it.
“It didn’t feel that hard, just having some people to race against made it easier.”
Hertling led off the race, then handed the baton to Strukel, who, in turn, gave way to Anderson.
When Sullivan took the baton, that record was in sight.
“When we finished, we all thought about it because from the week of our last meet before Hamline, we were like, ‘There’s now way we’re breaking this school record,’” Mileena said. “We dropped it a lot.
“We had thought about it, but none of us felt the best. We go, ‘We need it. Let’s see what we can do.’ We surprised ourselves.”
Especially running against Class 3A powers like the Skippers and Trojans.
“The competition was the biggest thing that helped us out,” Anderson said. “One of our alternates said that we were locked in. That was a great way of putting it. We wanted it. We knew that this was one of the best chances we had running in this meet.
“It was either going to be this meet or the state meet. It was exciting, probably one of the most memorable track experiences I’ve had. None of us believed, necessarily, that it would happen, but as soon as Jocelyn and I saw that clock and we saw Mileena finish, it was the most exciting thing ever.”
Even though Minnetonka and Wayzata pulled away from the pack, they were both good teams to chase.
“They were always within sight,” Strukel said. “They were definitely a little ways away, but it was exciting to be in the race with some competition. I kept pushing. I was saying, ‘Stay in front of this girl. Don’t lose it.’ It was crazy.
“I’ve never raced against schools like that before. They were insane.”
According to Coach Sullivan, the girls ran on point, especially against those two opponents.
“It upped their game,” Serena said. “I told them before the race that they needed to run off effort and not worry about times. That’s exactly what they did. Tara, our first leg, had set them up perfectly. She executed our plan. She followed it to a T.
“She’s the one that set up that whole relay. The rest of the girls, they maintained. It was perfect.”
Hertling may have led off the relay, but she’s well aware that it takes more than one runner to set a record.
“It takes a special group of people to break that,” Hertling said. “You can’t break a relay record alone. If you want something, you have to work for it together and not just alone. You’re not alone. We’ve all worked so hard.
“It shows everyone that to accomplish your goals, it takes time. You don’t just break records your first year. You have to build on a strong foundation. That’s why I think relay teams are important. It feels amazing to do it with people that mean so much to me. We’ve grown so much closer because of it.”
Now that this record has been vanquished, what’s next for this group of girls?
“I think we can get into the low 9:20s, and hopefully, get a state championship,” Anderson said. “We all know what it’s going to take. We’re all willing to put in the work to get there.”
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