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All is right in the world- the track world. Two weeks ago, North Branch got a section true team championship out of their boys team. Last Thursday, the Chisago Lakes boys squad picked up the other piece of the coveted puzzle by winning the Rum River Outdoor Conference Meet. The Wildcats defeated the Vikings by 19 points. After finishing second year after year, it’s the ‘Cats first title in six years.

Like most championship performances, it was a total team effort. From one event to the next, Chisago Lakes came through with their best performance of the season. When it was all said and done, 13 athletes ran or jumped their way to all-conference honors while three more all-conference honorable mention ribbons were given out. Those numbers include three relays teams which finished either first or second in their event. The top two places are named all-conference; third place is given all-conference honorable mention.

“At the section true team, some of the kids started to come back. They were still hurting a little bit but it was good to see them back out there competing,” said Ken Orwoll, Chisago Lakes head boys track coach. “We had a good week of practice, not really a hard one, but we got a lot accomplished. The kids just really went in refreshed and ready to go.”

Chisago Lakes was ready to go at the beginning of the season as well. After winning the Indoor Conference Meet in April, injuries started to hamper the weekly line-up. It wasn’t the section true team meet until everybody returned. Still, things weren’t 100 percent until last Thursday.

“The frustrating part was that we knew we were a much better team if we were only healthy but that’s a part of track,” mentioned Orwoll. “The sweet part about it (conference meet) was that they all came together when we needed them.”

Athletes like Devin Swanberg, Ben Dery, Chris Hitchcock, Rob Sandgren, Christian Swanberg and Joe Jungmann, who all picked up all-conference honors in more than one event. Devin Swanberg finished first in the triple jump, surpassing 41 feet. He also placed second in the high jump. In addition, Dery won the 800 meter run, Chris Hitchcock crossed the finish line in second place in the 110 hurdles, Sandgren came in second in the pole vault and both of Christian Swanberg and Jungmann’s awards came during the relays. The 4 x 200 (Hitchcock, Christian Swanberg, Chris Golv, Joe Jungmann) and 4 x 400 (Christian Swanberg, Jungmann, Dery, Blane Maher) relay teams each won their event. The 4 x 100 (Sandgren, Brian Arndt, Mitch Klimek, Brian Jennissen) team finished second.

“I changed all of my relay teams. I knew we had a chance in the 4 x 200. I never had my 4 x 400 group run together until the meet. Having all three teams get all-conference was great,” mentioned Orwoll. “It was neat, I had different kids runs the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200.”

It worked. Everything worked.

“We had our best performance of the season. Everyone contributed,” added Orwoll. “We got 35 points from fourth place down, that was huge for us also. The young kids stepped in and did a great job.”

The sign of a championship team.

The Chisago Lakes girls team traveled back from Big Lake last Thursday with smiles on their face as well. The ‘Cats finished fourth as a team, scoring 75 and a half points, 10 points behind third place St. Michael-Albertville. North Branch won the meet with 169 points.

A total of five Wildcats picked up all-conference honors. In the shot put, Kim Johnson came in second, right behind Shelly Oehlers of North Branch. In addition, the ‘Cats 4 x 800 relay team also finished second, good enough for all-conference ribbons. That team consisted of Kara Orwoll, Emmy Wold, Dani Vitali and Kristen Tengwall.

“Going into the season, I kind of had the hope of finishing fourth or better,” said Beth Carlson, Chisago Lakes head girls track coach. “We talked before the meet about the boys team and how they were really excited about things. I told the girls, let’s just shock some people. Let’s surprise some people.”

They did. In addition to their all-conference finishes, Laura Biersach (100 hurdles), Tory Zais (400) and Brenna Coyle picked up all-conference honorable mention consideration. In addition, the 4 x 100 relay team finished third as well, giving Shana Meath, Shannon Monson, Danielle Voigt and Biersach some hardware.

“Winning three places in the shot put was big. Laura Biersach finished third in the hurdles. That was such a well-deserving honor for her, I was really happy because she has worked so hard. Also, Tory and what she did was tremendous. She just came out for track and for her to place in three out of her four events was impressive,” commented Carlson. “Also, Kara Orwoll ran well and Kristen Tengwall ran well also. We just had so maybe great performances, it’s hard to list them all.”

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