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Yes the state true team was just around the corner. Yes, the gas tanks were already in the red. Yes, the season was turning into a long one. Even so, when the North Branch girls track team traveled to Big Lake last Thursday for the Rum River Conference track and field meet, they weren’t about to use those as excuses. Instead, it was even more of a motivator to go in and do what they’ve done all season- win.

The Vikings did just that, out-distancing Princeton down the stretch to defeat the Tigers by an amazing 57 points. It wasn’t even close. The title is the Vikings second in a row.

Everywhere Brian Hasleiet looked, he saw points. For example, in the 100 and 200 meter dash, the Vikings got three athletes to place in the top eight. In the 3200 meter run, Haley Hasleiet and Tiffany Peterson each finished in the top four. The same in the 100 meter hurdles where Jenny Anderson took first and Kelsey O’Hern placed fourth. And that’s just the beginning.

In addition, the Vikings 4 x 400 and 4 x 200 relay teams each picked up all-conference honors, taking first and second respectively (the top two places are named all-conference; third place is named all-conference honorable mention), and a total of three North Branch performances broke all-time records at the Big Lake Track and Field Complex. “It really was a good day. To win by 50-some points. I think there was only one event where we didn’t score any points,” said Brian Hasleiet, North Branch head track coach. “We had three girls score in the 100 and 200, so across the board, it just showed how much depth we’ve developed this year.”

The star of the show was Anderson (who else). The senior won the 300 meter hurdles, breaking a track record in the process. She also won the 100 meter hurdles and placed second in the high jump. That means she qualified for all-conference in all three events. Shelly Oehlers was also a big winner as she took the shot put title, finishing first overall. Oehlers also came in second in the discus, tossing the disc over 104 feet. As for the rest of the best, Megan Stegmeir earned all-conference recognition in the 100 meter dash (second), Jill VandenHeuvel in the 200 meter dash (second), Tess Prouty-Kunshier in the 400 meter dash (second) and Haley Hasleiet in the 3200 run (first). As for all-conference honorable mention, Trissica Bye finished third in the pole vault.

“Jill VandenHeuvel ran great in the 200. She was seeded seventh going in and she finished second,” remarked Hasleiet. “The 4 x 400 relay team was really excited. We were actually behind before Jenny (Anderson) got the baton during the last leg. Shelly Oehlers threw really well, she was excellent, and Haley was sick and she still was able to win the 3200. She had strep throat and she still ran her best time of the season. I was really impressed with that.”

As for the relays, the 4 x 400 relay team of Stegmeir, Kacie Ramberg, Prouty-Kunshier and Anderson won their race, breaking a track record with a time of 4:13.55. In addition, the 4 x 200 relay team of Allyssa Houle, VandenHeuvel, Prouty-Kunshier and Ramberg also grabbed some all-conference hardware with a second place finish.

Although things went well for the North Branch boys team, the Vikings came up short in the race for first, finished second overall to Chisago Lakes.

“I was slightly disappointed and I think that went for the kids also,” commented Hasleiet. “We went in knowing that Chisago Lakes was going to be better than they had been all year. You have to give them a lot of credit, they had a tremendous meet. Even though we had a lot going on, I put it as them going out and taking the title and not us giving it away. They wanted it and they got it.”

A total of 11 athletes picked up either all-conference or all-conference honorable mention honors.

Leading the way was Al Moore who finished all-conference in the 110 meter hurdles, high jump and triple jump. The senior won the hurdles and high jump and finished second in the triple jump. In addition, Nick Sausen took second in the 800 meter run, Josh Beach ran third in the 300 meter hurdles, Billy Oehlers grabbed a second it the shot put and Joe Lofboom won the pole vault.

Three of the four Viking relay teams finished either first or second in their events. The 4 x 800 relay team (Aaron Cedergren, Cody Good, Sausen, Nick Ramberg) won with a time of 8:27.43, almost three seconds ahead of the second place team. The 4 x 200 (Steve Grand, Lloyd Keli, Korey Hutchings, Lofboom) and 4 x 400 (Keli, Ramberg, Hutchings, Lofboom) teams each took second. The Vikings performance in the 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 broke track records, as did Moore’s jump of 6’2” in the high jump and Lofboom’s vault of 14’3”.

Rum River Outdoor

Conference Meet:

Girls team results-

1. North Branch 169

2. Princeton 112

3. STMA 85.5

4. Chisago Lakes 75.5

5. Big Lake 72.5

6. Pine City 52.5

7. Foley 50

8. Mora 46

9. Milaca 38

Girls individual results- top 8

(CL & NB only):

100 meter dash-

2. Megan Stegmeir (NB) 13.39

4. Sara Swanson (NB) 13.49

7. Shana Meath (CL) 13.71

8. Heather Schwab (NB) 13.88

200 meter dash-

2. J. VandenHeuvel (NB) 27.42

4. Sara Swansoon (NB) 27.80

5. Kacie Ramberg (NB) 27.81

400 meter dash-

2. Prouty-Kunshier (NB) 62.05

3. Victoria Zais (CL) 62.95

8. Kristen Tengwall (CL) 65.58

800 meter run-

5. Miranda Charley (NB) 2:31.18

6. Kara Orwoll (CL) 2:32.12

1600 meter run-

6. Emmy Wold (CL) 5:53.47

8. Danielle Vitali (CL) 6:02.85

3200 meter run-

1. Haley Hasleiet (NB) 12”06.37

4. Tiffany Peterson (NB) 13”01.56

100 meter hurdles-

1. Jenny Anderson (NB) 16.38

3. Laura Biersach (CL) 17.48

4. Kelsey O’Hern (NB) 17.88

5. Courtney Langer (CL) 18.08

300 meter hurdles-

1. Jenny Anderson (NB) 47.90

4. Ashley Steele (NB) 52.38

4 X 100 relay-

1. North Branch 52.41

3. Chisago Lakes 53.17

4 X 200 relay-

2. North Branch 1:51.38

5. Chisago Lakes 1:54.25

4 X 400 relay-

1. North Branch 4:13.55

5. Chisago Lakes 4:28.80

4 X 800 relay-

2. Chisago Lakes 10:19.30

3. North Branch 10:26.21

High Jump-

2. Jenny Anderson (NB) 5’0”

4. Leah Secord (CL) 4’10”

Pole Vault-

3. Trissica Bye (NB) 9’0”

Long Jump-

6. Kelsey O’Hern (NB) 15’5.25”

7. Heather Schwab (NB) 15’5.25”

Triple Jump-

8. Kelsey O’Hern (NB) 31’4.5”

Shot Put-

1. Shelly Oehlers (NB) 33’6”

2. Kim Johnson (CL) 33’0”

3. Brenna Coyle (CL) 32’11”

5. Amanda Waltz (CL) 31’1”

Discus-

2. Shelly Oehlers (NB) 104’1”

4. Claire Williams (NB) 99’1”

5. Brenna Coyle (CL) 90’4”

8. Chelsey Swanson (CL) 85’10”

Note:

First and second place finishers make all-conference. Third place finishers are named all-conference honorable mention.

Rum River Outdoor

Conference Meet:

Boys team results-

1. Chisago Lakes 145

2. North Branch 126

3. Foley 107

4. Princeton 98.5

5. STMA 65.0

6. Mora 55.0

7. Milaca 44.5

8. Big Lake 32.0

9. Pine City 29.0

Boys individual results- top 8

(CL & NB only):

100 meter dash-

7. Brian Jennissen (CL) 11.68

8. Chris Golv (CL) 11.92

200 meter dash-

3. C. Swanberg (CL) 22.93

4. Korey Hutchings (NB) 23.03

400 meter dash-

7. Ben Dery (CL) 53.57

8. Blane Maher (CL) 53.63

800 meter run-

1. Ben Dery (CL) 2:03.52

2. Nick Sausen (NB) 2:05.83

5. Zach Hunter (CL) 2:10.53

8. Aaron Cedergren (NB) 2:12.33

1600 meter run-

3. John Leaf (CL) 4:36.43

5. Nick Ramberg (NB) 4:45.08

7. Zach Hunter (CL) 4:51.48

3200 meter run-

2. John Leaf (CL) 10:18.42

6. Dan Brelje (CL) 10:57.26

7. Nathan Gieske (CL) 11:11.01

8. Cody Good (NB) 11:13.90

110 meter hurdles-

1. Al Moore (NB) 15.75

2. Chris Hitchcock (CL) 16.02

5. Josh Beach (NB) 16.90

300 meter hurdles-

3. Josh Beach (NB) 44.29

7. Jerrad Beach (NB) 45.42

8. Chris Hitchcock (CL) 45.80

4 X 100 relay-

2. Chisago Lakes 45.82

4. North Branch 45.90

4 X 200 relay-

1. Chisago Lakes 93.50

2. North Branch 93.80

4 X 400 relay-

1. Chisago Lakes 3:32.19

2. North Branch 3:32.43

4 X 800 relay-

1. North Branch 8:27.43

5. Chisago Lakes 9:13.01

High Jump-

1. Al Moore (NB) 6’3”

2. Devin Swanberg (CL) 6’2”

3. Chris Golv (CL) 6’0”

5. Jerrad Beach (NB) 5’8”

Pole Vault-

1. Joe Lofboom (NB) 14’3”

2. Rob Sandgren (CL) 12’0”

Long Jump-

2. Andy Olness (CL) 19’11.75”

4. Chris Golv (CL) 19’10”

5. Al Moore (NB) 19’8.5”

Triple Jump-

1. Devin Swanberg (CL) 41’7.25”

2. Al Moore (NB) 40’8”

4. Andy Olness (CL) 39’7.5”

6. Zach Sill (CL) 38’7”

Shot Put-

2. Billy Oehlers (NB) 51’5”

6. Rob Monson (CL) 41’11”

8. Eric Schumacher (CL) 40’4.5”

Discus-

4. Zack Backus (NB) 133’3”

6. Billy Oehlers (NB) 130’7”

Note:

First and second place finishers make all-conference. Third place finishers are named all-conference honorable mention.

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