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WILDCATS VS. NORTH BRANCH - DUAL MEET

Girls

Although they lost to the Vikings last Tuesday, April 15 at North Branch, the Wildcat girls turned in some good performances.

The Wildcats' two sprint relay teams did a nice job, winning both races. The 4 by 100 team consisted of senior Linnea Osterberg and juniors Mackenzie Maher, Sam Genung and Lindsay Fowler-Wacholz. Osterberg and Maher also ran on the 4 by 200 team, joined by senior Tory Zais and freshman Camille Uher. Uher had a good day as an individual, as well, coming in first-place in the 100 meter dash. And Genung set a personal best of 14 feet 5 inches with a winning effort in the long jump.

Brenna Coyle continued to dominate the throwing events, winning both the shot put and the discus. The Wildcats threw well as a team, sweeping the top three places in the shot put and the top two in the discus. Freshman Laura Althaus finished second in the 200 meter dash and "ran a really good race," according to Wildcat coach Ken Orwoll.

"We had some good performances in a number of areas," said Orwoll, "but we didn't get any points in the long races or the hurdles. The Vikings are quite impressive. They have pretty tough talent everywhere. For example, they've got three or four runners who can compete well in the distance races and they have an ace sprinter, Sarah Swanson. Unfortunately, it looked like Swanson injured her hamstring today. We hope she has a speedy and solid recovery."

Boys

The Wildcat boys also lost to the Vikings, but had a few bright spots. Manny Cruceru again ran a decent 400 meter dash to lead a sweep of the top three spots for the Wildcats. Cristian Arnold came in second and Alex Grahle finished third. Bard Reiniccius had another great day for the Wildcats, winning the pole vault and coming in second in the high jump. "Brad continues to have a good impact on the team," said Orwoll.

Craig Close won the triple jump with a distance of 37 feet 5 inches. Eric helps finished second in both the shot put and the discus. The always-reliable Nathan Gieske came in second in the 800 meter run. Alex Walter took second in the 1600 meter run and Mark Shaleen sped to a second place finish in the 100 meter dash.

Orwoll said, "I know the Vikings' main sprinter, Jared Grams, hurt his knee early in the football season and had surgery. I'm impressed with his recovery. He looked really good today. And all of the Vikings' relays are pretty solid. They ended up finishing a respectable third at the St. Francis invitational on Saturday and I think they'll get even better."

ST. FRANCIS INVITATIONAL

Girls

The Wildcat girls finished sixth at the seven-team St. Francis Invitational Thursday, April 17, just getting edged out for fifth place by the Vikings. Brenna Coyle once again led the way for the Wildcats, winning both the shot put and the discus. "Brenna likes to compete, is never satisfied with her performance and always works hard," said Orwoll. "It's really nice to have someone like her around." Lindsay Fowler-Wacholz finished second in the triple jump, tying her personal best with a distance of 33 feet, 5.5 inches. And eighth-grader Whitney Tinjum continued to do well, earning points for the Wildcats in both the 400 meter dash and the high jump.

The Wildcat relay teams ran some impressive races. The 4 by 200 team stayed in the race the whole way around, finishing third. In the 4 by 800, Chelsea Johnson entered the anchor leg trailing by about 100 meters and made a race out of it. She caught and passed one runner, but the runner she had passed caught back up and just nipped her for third place at the end. "That was Chelsea's best split ever in the 800," said Orwoll. "We competed pretty well in all the relays, with one third place, two fourths and a fifth. I was pleased with our performance."

Orwoll continued "Looking at how the girls scored, we know the areas we need to work on. We need to find some hurdlers. We didn't get any points in the 200 or 3200. And we need to get Danielle Vitali healthy."

Boys

The boys' portion of the St. Francis Invitational took place Saturday, April 19, with the Wildcats placing tenth out of 11 teams. The boys' overall team performance was hampered with over half of the team missing due to confirmation classes and a traveling soccer tournament.

Nathan Gieske had the Wildcats' best finish on the day, coming in fourth in the 800 meter run. "There were four players fighting for second in this race," said Orwoll. "It was a photo finish. Nathan is finishing races so much better for us this year. He's coming through and getting points." All four of the Wildcat relay teams placed. Kyle Duncan was injured in the triple jump, and his status was unknown at press time.

Orwoll said "With a lot of people missing, I was overall pretty pleased with how we preformed. The kids got in there, worked hard and helped us out."

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