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The North Branch track and field team lived up to their hype last week at the section 7AA track and field meet. A total of eight athletes qualified for state, including Jenny Anderson who will be making her third straight trip to the big show in the 100 hurdles. Anderson finished second last Saturday during the finals. The top two individuals in each event advance to state. The top relay team also advances.

And speaking of relays, the Vikings 4 x 800 relay team of Aaron Cedergren, Nick Sausen, Nick Ramberg and Cody Good finished first, meaning they will also be traveling to Blaine this weekend. After the group finished first at the State True Team Meet, the four-some ran their best time of the year by four seconds, giving them more than enough to run past Anoka for first.

As for the rest, Al Moore took first in the triple jump, and Billy Oehlers and Joe Lofboom each advanced to state by winning their events last Wednesday in the first day of the section meet. Moore picked up his section championship by jumping over 42 feet, which was his best jump of the year by nearly a foot. Oehlers tossed the shot 54’2.5” and Lofboom cleared 14 feet in the pole vault.

Both Lofboom and Oehlers will compete for a state title on Friday at the National Sports Center in Blaine. Prelims for the track events (except the 3200 run) will also take place on Friday with the finals following on Saturday. In addition, Moore will compete in the triple jump on Saturday as well.

As a team, both the boys and girls teams finished seventh overall. Elk River won the boys meet and Anoka won the girls.

“It was a great day overall,” said Brian Hasleiet, North Branch head track and field coach. “We only got two into state last year, so to get eight in this year is really exciting.”

Exciting is a word that Ken Orwoll has been using a lot lately as well. Orwoll’s Wildcats not only finished fourth as a team at the section meet, but the veteran head coach also saw four of his athletes qualify for state.

Three of the state entrants are seniors. Among them is John Leaf who finished second in the 3200 run, Ben Dery who won the 800 and Devin Swanberg. Despite a nagging injury, Swanberg finished second in the triple jump finishing right behind Al Moore of North Branch.

Last but not least, Chris Hitchcock took second in the 110 hurdles, giving him a free pass to state this weekend as well.

“I thought it was a very good meet for us,” said Orwoll. “It was another day where we didn’t have ideal conditions, but considering our wounded status, we did well. We got the kids in that we thought we could get in. It was a really fun meet.”

Leaf will compete in the 3200 meter finals on Friday. Prelims for the track events will also be held on Friday. On Saturday, the finals take place on the track as well as some field events, including the triple jump.

The Chisago Lakes girls squad finished 10th as a team. Their best shot at a state entrant came in the 100 hurdles and 800 meter run. In the hurdles, Laura Biersach made it to the finals, finishing eighth overall. Kara Orwoll also made the finals in the 800 meter run taking seventh. In addition, Leah Secord placed sixth in the high jump.

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