The Hastings Raiders closed the 2026 Minnesota State High School League Boys and Girls Track and Field Championships with a historic Class AAA state meet at St. Michael-Albertville High School. The meet ran from June 4 through June 6, with the preliminary results posted at 2:51 p.m. June 4 and the final results posted at 7:23 p.m. June 6. Hastings competed against the top Class AAA teams in Minnesota, and both Raider teams finished third overall.
It was a rare finish for the program. According to the team notes, Hastings was the only school in the state to have both its boys and girls teams finish in the top three. The Raider boys placed third with 56 points, just behind Cambridge-Isanti with 61 and Moorhead with 56.5. The Raider girls also placed third, scoring 43 points behind Wayzata, which won with 90, and St. Michael-Albertville, which was second with 49.
The sprints gave Hastings a strong start in the preliminary round, then carried right into the finals. Ellie Magnus had the fastest preliminary time in the Class AAA girls 100-meter dash, running 11.98 seconds into a headwind. She came back in the final and placed second in 11.97. Rochester Mayo’s Taylor Kurtz won the race in 11.79, while St. Michael-Albertville’s Emma Kvant was third in 12.03.
Magnus also reached the 200-meter final after running 24.46 in the prelims, the second-fastest qualifying time. In the final, she placed fourth in 24.29. Kurtz won that race in 23.67, Kvant was second in 23.93, and Centennial’s Reginae Tandoh was third in 24.28. Magnus missed third place by just one hundredth of a second, which was about as close as a finish can get without needing a magnifying glass.
On the boys side, Lane Hoffman defended his state title in the 200-meter dash. Hoffman qualified third in the prelims with a time of 21.81, then dropped to 21.09 in the final to win the Class AAA championship. Moorhead’s Zak Walker was second in 21.32, and Monticello’s Gus Staryszak was third in 21.36. Zachary Shatek also competed for Hastings in the boys 100 and 200 prelims, running 11.18 in the 100 and 22.37 in the 200.
The 400-meter races were another major strength for Hastings. Olyvia Erickson qualified second in the girls 400 prelims with a time of 55.11. She improved in the final, placing third in 54.77. Kvant won the final in a Class AAA record time of 52.77, and Prior Lake’s Isabelle Reinders was second in 54.60.
The boys 400 was one of the top races of the meet. Sebastian Strauss ran 47.02 in the prelims, which was marked as a Minnesota all-time state record in the preliminary results. He then went even faster in the final, winning the Class AAA title in 46.61. Edina’s Cooper Drake was right behind in 46.65, also under the previous all-time mark. Strauss and Drake also gave the most exciting finish of the event for fans in the 400. The two had a significant lead over the other competitors but were running stride for stride with each other down the final straight. With just feet to go, it appeared that Strauss stumbled just before the finish line, but in reality, he dove across the line like a running back desperate for that last inch of a touchdown. Perhaps a trick he learned from teammate Zachary Shatek? Hastings added more points in the same race, as Gunner Hanstad placed third in 47.69 after qualifying in 48.21. Matthew Jelks also ran the 400 prelims for Hastings and finished in 49.74.
The relays turned a strong meet into a record-setting one. The Hastings girls 4x200 relay team of Kaylin Jelks, Olyvia Erickson, Jersey Appert and Ellie Magnus qualified first in the prelims with a time of 1:39.88. In the final, the same group won the Class AAA state title in 1:39.51. Rogers was second in 1:39.61, making it a close race to the line, while Edina placed third in 1:40.35.
The boys 4x200 relay team was even faster. Gunner Hanstad, Zachary Shatek, Sebastian Strauss and Lane Hoffman ran 1:25.28 in the prelims, breaking the Class AAA record before the final even arrived. Then they came back and lowered it again, winning the state title in 1:24.29. Moorhead was second in 1:25.81, and Mounds View was third in 1:26.33.
Hastings added another boys relay title in the 4x400. In the prelims, Matthew Jelks, Gunner Hanstad, Brayden Thomsen and Sebastian Strauss qualified first in 3:18.84. In the final, Matthew Jelks, Hanstad, Hoffman and Strauss won in 3:13.09, breaking the Class AAA record. Monticello was second in 3:16.07, and Coon Rapids was third in 3:18.35.
Mya Bauer added a field event podium finish for the Raider girls. Bauer cleared 5 feet, 4 inches in the high jump and placed third. She finished in a group of athletes who cleared the same height, with final places decided by misses.
By the end of the meet, Hastings had state champions in two individual events and three relays. Strauss won the boys 400, Hoffman won the boys 200, the girls 4x200 won its final, and the boys 4x200 and boys 4x400 both won with record-setting times. Magnus added second in the 100 and fourth in the 200, Erickson placed third in the 400, Hanstad placed third in the 400, and Bauer placed third in the high jump.
For the boys, the top Hastings results were Strauss winning the 400 in 46.61, Hoffman winning the 200 in 21.09, Hanstad placing third in the 400 in 47.69, the 4x200 relay winning in 1:24.29, and the 4x400 relay winning in 3:13.09. For the girls, the top Hastings results were the 4x200 relay winning in 1:39.51, Magnus placing second in the 100 in 11.97 and fourth in the 200 in 24.29, Erickson placing third in the 400 in 54.77, and Bauer placing third in the high jump at 5-4.
The Raiders ended the season with plenty of noise, two third-place team trophies, five state titles, and a state meet that will be remembered as one of the program’s best.