Football
Associated Press 18y

Fargo South eighth-grader turns heads at state track meet

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Fargo South eighth-grader Laura Roesler
drew raves at the state track meet, after winning the Class A girls
100, 200, 400 and 800 meters in a span of about 2½ hours.

"I want to go talk to her and tell her how good she is going to
be, because she is going to be awesome," said Carrington's Whitney
Carlson, who has won 19 total state titles. "I'm excited to see
what she is going to do."

Roesler is considered pretty good already.

"Laura is amazing," said South junior Jane Erickson, who won
the pole vault with a personal-best vault of 11 feet. "It's so fun
to watch her. She loves to run. She is a huge asset to our team."

Despite Roesler's performance, Bismarck nipped South for the
team title. The Demons finished with 115 points, while South had
114½.

The Bruins looked to have the team title when Bismarck finished
fourth in the 1,600 relay, the final event of the meet. But
Jamestown, which finished third in the 1,600 relay, was
disqualified because its anchor runner didn't have the baton when
she crossed the finish line.

The Bruins would have defeated Bismarck by one-half point.

"We definitely had a roller coaster of emotions for about 20
seconds," said South co-coach Lisa Svaleson. "It's heartbreaking,
not just for us but for Jamestown as well. But we had a great day
and we have to be happy for what we accomplished."

The 800 was Roesler's final event of the day and it proved to be
her toughest, even though her top-seed time (2:11.62) was nearly
eight seconds faster than the No. 2 seed.

Roesler was boxed in at the 400-meter mark and was in eighth
place with 300 meters left in the race. But she maneuvered to the
outside of the pack and grabbed a lead on the final back
straightaway. In the final 50 meters of the race, Jamestown
sophomore Katie Conlon made a strong challenge. Roesler had one
final burst to hold on for first place.

"I got a little nervous," Roesler said. "I got boxed in and I
had to go around."

Roesler ran a 2:20.53 to win the 800, well off her personal
best. But that didn't matter.

She won four open races in sweltering conditions with
temperatures in the 90s.

She came from behind to win the 100, 200 and 800.

"I like having someone in front of me to push me," Roesler
said. "The times didn't matter. I just like to have fun."

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