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They’re making up for lost time. After finishing second A LOT over the years at the Rum River conference meet, last Thursday, the Chisago Lakes boys cross country team added another second, as in for the second straight year, the ‘Cats ran to a conference championship. It makes all of those years of second place slowly melt away, doesn’t it?

“It’s nice to win the title again. We haven’t had a lot of luck in recent years at the conference meet,” smiled Ken Orwoll, Chisago Lakes head cross country coach.

This season, the Wildcats made their own luck. Led by three runners in the top six, the ‘Cats built up more than enough points to repeat as conference champs. It’s the Wildcats third conference title since 1999.

Individually, John Leaf crossed the finish line third overall, coming in 21 seconds off the pace. Right behind him was Zach Hunter and Ben Dery, following at fifth and sixth. If that wasn’t enough, senior Dan Brelje also finished in the top 15, coming in 14 overall, giving Chisago four all-conference runners (top 15 make all-conference).

“It was fun, it was really fun. We knew that John would probably end up third. Zach was phenomenal and Dery ran super like he always does,” replied Orwoll. “Brelje finished strong like he always does, and then over the last mile to mile and a half, David Olson just kicked it in gear. He brought along Andrew Turner, who ran his best time of the year also.”

Six runners in the top 26 was more than enough. To put it in perspective, no other school had more than two runners finish in the top 15. Chisago Lakes had four.

“We just tried to focus on what we had to do individually, who we needed to beat,” replied Orwoll. “You knew that John had to beat Nick Ramberg. We knew that Dery had to beat out their second guy. We just figured that everybody had to run their race and it worked out perfectly.”

After all, that was the plan.

Girls finish eighth overall

Meanwhile, in the girls race, things didn't not go according to plan. First of all, the ‘Cats best runner, Emmy Wold, was still battling an injury, making her less than 100 percent. Actually, it put her more at 50 percent. The Wildcats missed her. Even though Wold was still the first Chisago runner to cross the finish line, the sophomore was more than a minute and a half off her pace. She finished 38 overall. Secondly, as a team, the Wildcats ran eighth overall, finishing with 229 points.

“She’s been running hurt. She wanted to run so bad that she pretty much limped through the whole thing,” remembered Orwoll. “It was a real gutty performance by her, she did the best she could.”

Following Wold was Chelsea Johnson and Makayla Grote who finished 45 and 46 respectively. Julie Arnold, Kelsey Campbell, Ashley Wilkie, and Kirsten Ruser rounded out the field.

“Pretty much, all the girls had close to personal bests or personal bests,” mentioned Orwoll. “They all did well compared to what they’ve done in the past. They ran the best they have all year, so from that standpoint, I’m happy. The thing that I’m really excited about is that most of them are back next year with a lot of experience under their belt.”

Still on the way for the Wildcats is the section meet coming up next week. The state tournament follows that on November 6.

Rum River Conference

Cross Country Meet

Boys Results:

Team:

1. Chisago Lakes 54

2. North Branch 76

3. Pine City 89

4. Mora 129

5. STMA 135

6. Big Lake 135

7. Milaca 146

8. Princeton 199

9. Foley INC

Girls Results:

Team:

1. North Branch 47

2. Princeton 78

3. STMA 85

4. Big Lake 95

5. Pine City 101

6. Mora 137

7. Milaca 161

8. Chisago Lakes 229

9. Foley INC

Individual Results:

Boys

Chisago Lakes-

*3. John Leaf 17:12

*5. Zach Hunter 17:41

*6. Ben Dery 17:43

*14. Dan Brelje 18:11

26. David Olson 18:43

27. Andrew Turner 18:49

36. Nathan Gieske 19:09

North Branch-

*4. Nick Ramberg 17:37

*11. J.J. Koerber 18:02

#16. Brandon Nagle 18:21

#22. Aaron Cedergren 18:34

#23. Mitchell Pohlkamp 18:37

31. Nick Sausen 19:03

35. Cody Good 19:07

Girls Results:

Chisago Lakes-

38. Emmy Wold 18:26

45. Chelsea Johnson 18:51

46. Makayla Grote 18:53

49. Julie Arnold 18:54

51. Kelsey Campbell 19:20

55. Ashley Wilke 19:45

56. Kirsten Ruser 20:26

North Branch-

*2. Haley Hasleiet 15:58

*6. Rachel Souther 16:32

*8. Amanda Peterson 16:44

*14. Miranda Charley 16:55

#17. Tiffany Peterson 17:13

#20. Aileen Shanley 17:20

32. Maggie Kriz 17:56

*All-Conference

#All-Conference Honorable Mention

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