By John RittenhouseWhat has become a spring ritual didn’t happen this year during Thursday’s Section 3A Track and Field Championships in Pipestone.For the first time in three years and the third time in the past 22 years, no Luverne Cardinal girls qualified for the state meet.Athletes advance to state by placing first or second in individual events, winning a relay race or meeting state-qualifying standards that are in place for every event at the section level.Luverne, which has sent girls to the state classic every year except 1994 and 2003 since 1984, didn’t meet the criteria Thursday.The Cardinal girls did place in five events and scored 16 points to finish 16th in the team standings.However, the best efforts by LHS were fourth-place performances turned in by Lexi Heitkamp and the 1,600-meter relay team.Heitkamp, who placed second at the state meet in the 800-meter run last season, placed fourth at the section event with a time of 2:24.23 in Pipestone.She also ran a leg with the 1,600-meter relay, which finished fourth with a time of 4:13.22. Katlyn Sawtelle, Victoria Arends and Britton Dyer joined Heitkamp in the relay.Luverne’s 3,200-meter relay finished fifth with a time of 10:12.58.Sawtelle, Kayla Raddle, Kelsey Dooyema and Heitkamp ran the 3,200.The Cardinals received eighth-place efforts from Arends and the 800-meter relay.Arends recorded a time of 50.73 in the 300-meter hurdles. Stephanie Hendricks, Dyer, Brittany Mulder and Erin Hoiland turned in a 53.21 to place eighth in the 800 relay.