By Rich Winter

605 Sports

After taking a year off from the hurdling events Burke’s Piper Hanson picked them up again in 2021. The results were tangible as the then freshman finished second in the 100-meter hurdles and sixth in the 300-meter hurdles. 

At the Dan Lennon Invitational in March, Hanson beat defending state champion Mackenzie Hemmer (Colman-Egan), a win that she says is pushing her even harder during the outdoor season. 

“That gave me a lot of confidence,” Hanson said. 

A student of the hurdles, Hanson looks forward to their next matchup on the track. 

“I’m going to see her at the Menno Relays on May 9,” she said. “I will be the only athlete from Burke at that meet but coah (Ron Determan) wants me to run hurdles and have some better competition.” 

Through the early part of the season Hemmer has the top Class B time in the 100 hurdles with Hanson right behind. 

1. Mackenzie Hemmer, Colman-Egan, :16.31

2. Piper Hanson, Burke, :16.44

Same story in the 300-meter hurdles as Hemmer (:50.21) and Hanson (:50.50) have the top two times in Class B.

At the 2021 state meet Hanson ran the 400-meter dash. In the very next event on the track, the 300 hurdles, Hanson ran a lifetime best (:49.40) despite being fatigued from the earlier race.

“I felt like I had more gas to give,” Hanson said. “Hopefully I can get that time down to around :47 seconds.” 

The school record at Burke is the :47.3 from Dani Baker in 2011. 

At the 2021 state track meet, with a smallish roster, the Burke girls eked out a fourth-place team finish by scoring 39 points. 

With an expanded 2022 roster, 25 girls out between 7th and 12th grades, and with girls scoring points in a wide range of events, Burke will be a team to watch at this year’s state track meet. 

Freshman Kailee Frank has the fastest Class B 1,600 meter run (5:28) and fastest 3,200 meter run (12:14). 

“She is really competitive and she does not like people to beat her,” Burke girls track coach Ron Determan said. “She works hard and does some running on her own despite being involved in multiple extracurricular activities.” 

Leading the scoring in the throwing events is freshman Paige Bull, who has the fourth best Class B discus mark (111-07). Her 32-8.50 mark in the shot put is less than a foot being in the top-10 in that event. 

“One of her goals is to break her mom’s school record,” he said. 

That record is 40-05 by Tamara (Serr) Bull. Her father Carter Bull is the Burke throws coach.