The Pelican Rapids Girls’ Track and Field team opened the season in Fergus Falls April 4.

The team was well under it’s usual roster capacity as over 50 percent of the team had just returned from New York City with the high school band.  However, the athletes who had not traveled with the band were prepared to compete and signaled their intent for the upcoming season throughout the day with their strong performances.

Before the running events even started, Riley Berg put in a very strong season debut in the high jump, finishing with a respectable 5th place in a very competitive field that saw Berg clear 4’8″.  Adriana Torres also had a very strong first day out in the throwing events, with a personal best throw in the discus of 75’2″ which exceeded her best throw from one year ago by over 12 feet.

On the track, Maddie Guler led the Vikings  in the 100 meter dash where she crossed the line in a time of 13.64 which was good enough for 3rd place. She returned in the 200 to cross the line in 1st place with a time of 27.56 and then anchored the 4×400 meter relay (Abby Syverson, Mandi Sjolie, Chloe Paulson, and Guler) to a 2nd place finish.

Abby Syverson also had a strong opening day with a dominant performance in the 400 as she broke the tape with a time of 63.50 seconds.  Chloe Paulson also had a very strong day in the 1600 meter run where she ran a career best of 5:54.8 seconds to finish 3rd overall.  In the 800, Mandi Sjolie also ran a strong race finishing 4th with a time of 2:39.75.

Also competing for the Vikings were Larissa Seifert (14.3, 30.5), Riley Paulson (14.7, 30.2) and Emma Kress (15.1, 31.9) in the 100 meter dash and in the 200 as well.

The Vikings full squad opened the season in Barnesville on Tuesday, the 11, but results were not available as of press time.