Perham girls win Mike Anderson Invitational, boys take bronze

Perham left the Mike Anderson Invitational with a clear sign of program strength: the girls won the team title with 213 points, and the boys finished third with 107, putting both Yellowjacket squads on the podium at the same meet in Glyndon.

The invitational was held Tuesday at DGF HS Track and brought together familiar section competition, with Park Rapids Area winning the boys team race at 164 points and Ada-Borup-West second with 124. On the girls side, Perham finished ahead of Park Rapids Area, which scored 120, and host Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, which placed third with 105. Hillcrest Lutheran Academy and Breckenridge also scored in both divisions, giving the meet a broad regional field and a useful early look at how teams are stacking up.

Perham’s girls did more than simply outscore the field. The 213-point total reflected balance across the track and the field, the kind of meet-long production that usually points to depth rather than one or two isolated wins. That matters in a spring season where every event can swing a team total and where a strong invitational showing often carries into the next round of competition.

The boys’ third-place finish had a different profile, but it was just as revealing. Matt Jorgenson won the 400 meters in 52.72, Reid Wokasch won the 1,600 meters in 4:31.70, and Perham closed with a win in the 4x400 relay in 3:33.78. The Yellowjackets also leaned on their distance group, with Brody Freeland, Ethan Johnson, Dylan Guck and Ben Mathiason part of a run that put seven Perham athletes inside the top 10 in the mile.

That kind of spread across events is what makes the result stand out beyond the standings. A girls title and a boys medal at the same invitational suggests Perham is not depending on a single event area to carry the load. It also shows the Yellowjackets building a track and field profile that can score in sprints, distance and relays, the sort of mix that often travels well when postseason meets get tighter. Perham’s spring success also follows a familiar pattern after the Yellowjackets won both boys and girls team titles at the Anderson-Cole Invitational on April 11, 2025.