Lakeville North and South Girls Track Teams Make it to True Team State Meet

There were multiple shots fired, kids and adults running, and girls screaming. It was an anxious situation, not frightful or panicked, but one that had students and teachers alike willing to run for their lives. For some, it would be a terrifying time of life-altering heart attacks and a failure to catch their breath, but for younger and more efficient hearts, it’s just another track workout.

It was a rare gem of a day during a spring season that has shown a barrage of stereotypical, Minnesota bad weather, and the Lakeville North and South girls track teams were taking advantage of it. After all, they had a lot of work to do, as both squads made it into the True Team state meet on Friday.

The Panthers, who did well at sections last week, took first place and grabbed the automatic bid into the True Team state meet on Friday. But it wasn’t that easy for the cross town rival. The Cougars once again had to hope for the wildcard, and for the first time since the school opened in 2005, the South girl’s track team earned a bid to compete at True Team.

The True Team meet—as opposed to the Minnesota State High School League state meet in the beginning of June—is based on the track team as a whole, and places importance on the depth of a team’s roster.

“You are trying to prove that you are the most well rounded and competitive team,” Lakeville South senior Brianna Gohman said. “Every point counts and everyone plays a part in the success of the team.”

In True Team competition, each team is allowed three participants in every individual event in Class AAA. Teams are allowed one participating group in each relay event. During the meet, every participant is placed and scored according to their order of finish, with the idea that a team’s second and third participants become just as important as their first.

This is the part of track and field which hinges on a team’s unity and overall hard work, things that aren’t difficult to find on the Lakeville North squad.

“We are all close and encourage each other,” Lakeville North senior Nicole Naatjes said. “A team that isn’t unified isn’t going to progress.”

But unity and family are at the heart of the Lakeville South team as well. After spending an afternoon of workouts with the Cougars, you would think the team consists of a close band of sisters, not just a group of fast girls from a big suburban high school. And they aren’t strangers to hard work either, making each other go the extra mile, even to total exhaustion or dry heaving on the sideline.   

“We don’t have many elite athletes, but we have a lot of hard workers,” Lakeville South coach Andrew Hilliard said. “They believe in the team, encourage each other, and push each other.”

Although the two cross-town rivals have competed against each other regularly in the past, this will be their first time battling at the True Team meet. The Panthers have built a reputation of success, but the Cougars have been catching up, beating the North squad in conference last year and at the relay meet this year.

“I’m glad they don’t get to go another week without us,” Hilliard said. “It’s good to have a friendly rivalry, but come Friday we want to get after them.”

Although the Panthers have made it to the True Team meet numerous times before, they came in sixth place last year and are making sure they put in the right amount of preparation to improve on last year’s performance. Both teams used the days before the meet to improve their depth.

“It’s about getting kids ready that normally aren’t under the kind of stress or expectations of performance like the top kid,” Lakeville North coach Todd Endersbe said. “How you prepare kids for that is the key.”

On Friday, the Panthers will be looking to ride on strong performances from their throwers, jumpers, and sprinters like junior Angelica Anyaogu, who came in first in the 100 meter dash at sections. The Cougars, however, will be looking for a strong performance from its distance team and high jumpers in order to be successful at the meet.

With both teams now in the running for the True Team state championship, many supporters will be making their way to the meet to support both squads. Both teams look to make their community proud and compete at the highest level possible.

“Having two teams from the same district at the meet is pretty special for the community,” Endersbe said. “It’s a big message to send that says that track is alive and well in Lakeville.”