This year, two Benilde-St. Margaret’s track and field athletes competed at the Hamline Elite Meet, located at Hamline University on Friday, April 23. These top athletes included junior captain Trevor Yedoni, and senior captain Alana Profit, who have worked extremely hard this season to qualify for the meet.

At the meet, the top athletes at that point in the season qualify to go; for example, Yedoni was ranked first in state in high jump at the time, so he qualified and was seeded first. This is the first time in about three years that BSM has sent an athlete to the meet. “A couple of years ago we sent Andrew Quinn to the meet for the two mile and he came in second,” said head coach John Porisch.

Yedoni competed in the long jump, where he was seeded fourth, and high jump, where he was seeded first. “He ended up placing first in the long jump with a jump of 21’7, and third in high jump, jumping 6’4,” said Profit, who was seeded at thirteenth in shot put. “I ended up placing twelfth and did not throw nearly as well I normally do.”

Yedoni was a bit disappointed in his showing at the Hamline Elite Meet in the high jump competition. Although placing third is a great accomplishment, he didn’t meet the high standards he has set for himself this year, jumping only 6’4 at the meet.

Yedoni, a captain was also a featured athlete of the week in the Star Tribune for jumping 6’10”, a Benilde-St. Margaret’s school record. This is his fifth year in track; he has competed for BSM for the past three years, and previously was on the Eden Prairie track and field team in junior high.

Profit is in her sixth year of track and field for BSM and has competed in other events apart from shot put. “I used to high jump, but i’ve always done shot [put] and sprints,” said Profit.

Yedoni has always participated in the same events since he first started, “I high jump and long jump,” said Yedoni, “I also do the 4×100.” Apart from training each day with the BSM track and field team, he also trains with a private coach named Hugo Munoz, a former Olympic jumper, on Sunday mornings.

The high jump is his favorite event, and while he may make it look easy, it also takes a lot of hard work and effort. “The hardest part about high jump is the technical stuff,” said Yedoni, “for the high jump, I do the Fosbury flop.” The flop is the dominant style of the event and was named after Dick Fosbury, who won a gold medal in 1968.

While setting a school record and being a featured athlete of the week is a great accomplishment, Yedoni hopes to set his goals even higher and will continue to strive to do his best in high school and later on in college. “My goals for the rest of the season are to win state and jump 7’1.”

The Hamline Elite Meet is a great experience for the athletes who qualify to go, giving them a feel for this year’s level of competition. “This [meet] is a measuring stick for what’s hopefully going to take place in June at the state meet,” said Porisch.