Viking boys perform well in first outing– despite missing athletes on band trip

The Pelican Rapids boy’s Track and Field team got the season started by competing in the Harrington Early Bird Invite at Fergus Falls.

It was a day almost too nice to be true so it was a great opportunity for the team to get competition started.  “We were missing about half the team due to the band trip to New York City, but it was great to have the remaining guys get out and compete,” said head coach Dave Haugen. 

Donovan Young got the season off to a good start with a second place finish in the 100m dash. His time was 11.78 seconds and puts him in an early season position to progress well and be really competitive in the 100m dash as the season progresses.

The other athlete getting a top 6 finish was David Johnston with a 5th place finish in the 3200m run.  His time of 10:53.2 is a very good start to the year as he has already eclipsed his best time from a year ago.

“I’m excited to see how David is able to progress through this season,” said Coach Haugen. 

The first meet of the year gives the Viking athletes the opportunity to establish some performance standards and see where they are at with early season fitness levels, noted Haugen.

“As we move into our schedule now we’ll be able to monitor the progress of the guys and watch improvement in both the track and field events,” said Haugen. “We had several guys that I was very pleased with and look forward to continued improvement throughout the season.”  

Up next is the Barnesville Early Bird meet on April 11.