Track and field athletes will try to summit the peak this week at state championships

The blur of a high school track and field season reaches its zenith this weekend at the Minnesota State High School League’s state meet.

The meet begins Thursday and runs through Saturday at St. Michael-Albertville High School. While the field doesn’t offer last year’s collection of athletes with four all-time records, strong marks have produced myriad school records. So the talent is there. And the strength of the state meet field should coax the best an athlete can produce.

In Class 3A, Minnetonka senior Tobias Williams was the state champion in 100-meter dash (10.47 seconds) and second in 200 (21.29). Williams, who has signed with Duke, faces a capable challenger for both sprints in Apple Valley senior Dwyne Smith Jr., who has signed with the Gophers.

Tickets: Cost ranges from $8 to $13. Purchase at mshsl.org/tickets.

Streaming: By the Neighborhood Sports Network (subscription required). Link to the streams here.

Schedule: Event-by-event

Live results starting Thursday morning: Event by event.

And while Irondale senior Juriad Hughes Jr. will take part in both sprints, he drew attention last spring for his long jump performance and broke the record from 1982 with a mark of 24 feet, 11 inches. He has signed with Arkansas.

Leaping ability also serves Minnetonka senior Claire Kohler well. She returns to defend titles in the 100 hurdles (13.80) and 300 hurdles (43.03). Kohler has signed with Iowa.

Wayzata sophomore Madelyn Gullickson is back to defend her title in the 3,200-meter run with the best qualifying time of 10 minutes, 39.67 seconds. Gullickson isn’t alone among talented Trojans distance runners. She also will compete against two of her sophomore teammates: Jazleen Malherek-Osorio (10:59.60) and Lila Golomb (10:43.89).

In Class 2A, watch for Holy Angels senior Ashley Fisher, who a year ago won the 100-meter dash (12.07 seconds). Fisher has signed with Notre Dame. She faces strong competition from Providence Academy senior Brooke Hohenecker. Beyond the 100, Hohenecker is going for a sprint sweep in the 200 and 400.

Rockford senior Brian Schloeder will shoot for his third consecutive pole vault title. He takes the top qualifying vault of 14 feet, 5 inches into the state meet. A year ago, Schloeder became the fourth Minnesota boy in history to vault 16 feet or higher.