By Bob Hamar
bob.hamar@theindependent.com

The Red Hornets competed Monday at the Shelton Invitational a meet that was postponed from last week and then turned right around for the Palmer Invitational Tuesday in St. Paul.

Heartland Lutheran coach Jamie Burmeister said she was easy on her team on Monday.

"I scratched most of them yesterday," Burmeister said. "Most of them did one or two less. I think this will help us for conference and maybe even the state meet."

Heartland Lutheran hurdler Jesse Bartels said it was a tough two days for him.

"It was pretty tiring," Bartels said. "I was pretty stiff, but I pulled through."

He certainly did. Bartels took advantage of some bad luck for High Plains' Marcus Bender to win the 110-meter hurdles at the Palmer Invitational.

Bender, the favorite in the race, fell on the next-to-last flight of hurdles. Bartels, running in the lane next to Bender, had to avoid the crash and went on to nip Fullerton's A.J. Shotkoski at the wire.

"It was pretty crazy," Bartels said. "It felt pretty good. Some people fell and it got pretty tangled up. I had to jump over one guy to get through it, but I guess it worked.

"I knew the kid who fell. He's pretty good, so I got kind of lucky."

Bartels came back later to finish second in the 300 hurdles. The competitors were running into a strong south wind coming down the stretch.

"The wind kind of pushed me pretty hard, but you just have to live with it," Bartels said. "It would be better if it was at the beginning (of the race)."

The hurdles have been a strength for the Red Hornets this year. On the girls side, freshman Ava Mackey won the 300 hurdles Tuesday while older sister Claire Mackey was third in the 100 hurdles.

"I'm very proud of my hurdlers," Burmeister said. "Every time they just keep pushing. Jesse is looking at trying to improve his time each meet."

The small Heartland Lutheran team has been putting some points on the board this season. The girls scored 54 points Tuesday to finish fifth at the Palmer Invitational while the boys were also fifth with 40 points.

The boys got 14 team points in the 3,200 when Daniel Gibson and Brad Einspahr battled down the stretch to finish second and third, respectively.

"We've been pretty close," Bartels said. "A couple of meets we were third or fourth.

"We're scoring points, but we don't have as much depth as the other teams."

Indeed, the Red Hornets have 11 girls and 10 boys on the track team. With such small numbers, Burmeister was certainly pleased with her team's fifth-place finishes.

"That's pretty good for us," Burmeister said. "They're tired and they keep telling me they're tired, but I think down the road next week with conference coming up, we'll be able to show ourselves when we're rested."

The girls' 400 relay team of Ava Mackey, Paige Leis, Ezarah Williams and Claire Mackey finished second Tuesday after setting a school record Monday in Shelton.

"We're scoring a few points and we're breaking school records," Burmeister said. "It was a very good day. I'm proud of them."