Three track and field athletes at Cambridge-Isanti High School whose coach failed to register them for their section meet will get to compete after all.

The girls qualified for their section meet in shot put, but the Minnesota State High School League ruled them ineligible after their coach made a mistake. On Thursday, the MSHSL reversed course and said admitting the trio “would not impact the competitive integrity or effective management of the section meet.”

Last week, Cambridge-Isanti senior Evelyn Wiltrout won her conference championship in shot put.

“I started in March, and I have grown since then,” Wiltrout said.

Her teammate, junior Erin Baker, earned a fourth-place finish.

“We were just really excited going into sections,” Baker said.

The next step was the section meet for these girls and their teammate, A’Nyjah Presswood. At least that’s what they thought.

“It was a very emotional night, very long night,” Wiltrout said.

This week, the girls received a call from their coach saying he made a mistake.

“He has to enter the roster, and everyone was entered except for the shot put team,” Wiltrout said. “He was very apologetic and felt really bad.”

At first, the MSHSL made the decision that the girls would not be allowed to participate in the section meet because the coach did not make the noon Tuesday deadline and seedings had already been completed that afternoon.

“It’s just disappointing to hear that they’re just silent through this whole thing,” Baker said.

“I’m appalled, I’m shocked, I can’t believe it came to this,” said Shari Wiltrout, Evelyn’s mom.

Shari Wiltrout believes the MSHSL should have fixed this right away, and that it wasn’t teaching any lessons.

“If Evelyn and her teammates had done something wrong, if they had gotten caught actually breaking a rule, I would tell her she needs to live with her consequences and learn that lesson, but she did nothing wrong here,” Shari Wiltrout said.

The shot put section meet will take place Friday at 5 p.m.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS spoke with the girls before the MSHSL reversed its decision, and they said they have been practicing just in case such an event occurred.