Perham track teams place in Section 8AA, three qualify for state

Perham left the Section 8AA prelims with three athletes headed to state and both teams in strong position, a result that kept the spring season alive for the Yellowjackets. The boys finished third with 20 points, the girls placed fourth with 16 points, and Brody Freeland, Jovie Larson and Trystan Larson each qualified for state in their events.

The prelims were held Wednesday, May 27, in Thief River Falls, with the section finals set for Saturday, May 30, at Rocori. That two-step setup gave Perham a clear snapshot of where it stood in the section race and which performances had already done enough to extend the season.

For Perham, the biggest value in the day went beyond the team scores. Freeland, Jovie Larson and Trystan Larson all advanced, turning the meet into more than a checkpoint and putting their names on the next stage of the postseason calendar. All three are listed on Perham High School’s current track-and-field roster, and their advancement gave the program another visible sign of depth on both the boys and girls sides.

The finish also fit a recent pattern for Perham athletics. The track and field program brought home multiple medals from the Class A state meet in 2023, and Freeland later helped Perham’s boys cross-country team place second at the Class AA state championships in 2024. Those results have helped establish the school as a regular postseason contender, not just a participant when section meets arrive.

The Section 8AA prelims gave Otter Tail County readers another concrete marker for how the spring has unfolded in Perham: a third-place boys finish, a fourth-place girls finish and three athletes earning the right to keep going. With the section finals at Rocori and state berths on the line, Perham’s strongest medal hopes remained centered on the athletes who already cleared the first postseason hurdle.