John's Journal: Wayzata’s Once-In-A-Lifetime Relay Record

When the first race on the track was completed during Thursday’s Section 6AAA championships at Robbinsdale Cooper, the outcome was absolutely no surprise. The girls 4x800-meter relay team from Wayzata won the event easily, finishing in 9 minutes, 15.60 seconds, which is the second-fastest time in that event in Minnesota this spring.

The fastest 4x800 finish – in fact, the fastest finish of all time in Minnesota girls high school track – was accomplished eight days earlier, also by a quartet from Wayzata. Not the same four runners who ran so well on Thursday, mind you, but history is history and this historical moment came via a one-time grouping of talented athletes who ran together for the first time and will probably never run that race again.

On May 21, the Trojans unit of junior Addison Neitz, junior Jazleen Malherek-Osorio, senior Julia Link and junior Maddie Gullickson ran the relay in an astonishing time of 8:58.22. That not only is a Minnesota record, but it also is the fourth-fastest girls 4x800 time in the country this season.

The previous state record was 8:59.04, set by Wayzata at the 2023 Lake Conference championships. That crew consisted of  Grace Weber, Grace Mignone, Abbey Nechanicky and Teegan Anderson, all seniors. The new record also took place at the Lake Conference championships on May 21 at St. Michael-Albertville, which will host the state track and field meet June 10, 11 and 12.

“Going into the race we knew that we wanted to break the state record,” Gullickson said before Thursday’s meet. “That was our big goal and we knew that all of us had to have good races. The day before, we just talked about showing up, racing for each other and racing for our team.”

It was a one-time thing because in the section meet, Gullickson and Malherek-Osorio focused on the 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Gullickson has the state’s best times at both distances this season and is the defending Class 3A state champion in the 3,200. The Trojans also are the defending state champions in the 4x800, with Malherek-Osorio, Neitz, Alyson Kleyman and Link earning gold medals a year ago.

On Thursday, the winning relay team was Kleyman, Neitz, Link and Lila Golomb. The four athletes who set the state record on May 21 had never run the 4x800 together, but they knew that if they all ran their best races, magic would happen and the mark would fall.

“We were all super excited,” said Malherek-Osario. “Like Maddie said, we had been talking the day before and we were all getting in the right head space and stuff like that. And no matter what, we all just wanted to go out there and try our best. We were going to be proud of each other whether we got the record or not. We just all wanted to put our best effort out there. It was rainy but we still kept our spirits up, our hopes up, and we all just tried our hardest, and we're all super proud of each other.”

No announcement of the state record was made at the conference meet, but the Trojans knew what they were shooting for as the race approached.

“We just all went into it with confidence and with a positive mindset,” Gullickson said. “It was just like good vibes going into the race. Everybody was happy and excited to go race. And so it was really fun to go out there with our teammates, and then watch the clock as everybody came around.”

Neitz said, “It was nice to have supportive teammates, especially at the beginning of the race, and just all the positive energy. And it was really fun. Like the day after at school, people were talking about it, so that was cool.”

Wayzata has long been a powerful track and field school, and the current team is again loaded with talent. Malherek-Osorio has the state’s ninth-best time in the 3,200, Jessica Haux ranks second in the 300-meter hurdles and third in the 100-meter hurdles, and the 4x100 and 4x200 unit of Constanza Castillo, Carolyn Voss, Tessa Cherne and Tenley Senden have times that ranks second in both races. Katie Kelzenberg has the state’s second-best distance in the discus and is sixth in the shot put.

Having a roster with so much depth that talented runners are all but interchangeable in the 4x800 is a luxury, said Wayzata girls coach Alicia Pierskalla.

“We have such a deep team. For some reason our distance kids can cover the 800, and we have a collection of girls that can run super-fast 800 times.

“They take ownership of their training,” she added. “They want to have input, they want to do well and they will have ideas and suggestions in a positive way.”

In the 3,200 final at the Section 6AAA meet Tuesday, Gullickson and Malherek-Osorio finished 1-2 with Kleyman third. There was also a Wayzata sweep in Thursday’s 1,600, with Gullickson winning, Malherek-Osorio second and Miley Clark third.

Gullickson finished second at last fall’s Class 3A cross-country state championships, with Golomb placing fifth, Malherek-Osorio 10th and the Trojans claiming the team title.

The Trojans had another outstanding performance in this week’s section championships, and now they set their sights on the state meet.

“We were all like, ‘This is an amazing accomplishment’ and stuff, but we still have so much more to improve on,” Gullickson said. “We can still do so much more. So we kind of just celebrated, said our hurrahs, and it was amazing. But then we were just like, ‘Keep going back, keep putting in the work, and keep on pushing ourselves.’ ”

--MSHSL staff member John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Bluesky at johnmilleamn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected] or [email protected]