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The Wildcats ran, jumped and threw in just one meet last week. Both the boys and girls finished second to St. Francis at the Columbia Heights triangular Tuesday, April 22. Columbia Heights finished third. Wildcat Brenna Coyle, one of the top throwers in the state, participated in the shot put and discus competitions at the Hamline Elite Meet on Friday, April 25 at Hamline University in St. Paul.

"Up and down the line, St. Francis is very good" said Wildcat head coach Ken Orwoll. "They're really solid in their relays, other than the 4 x 800. We had one boys' team and one girls' team disqualified from relays today. We really need to keep working on handoffs."

Girls

At Columbia Heights, Coyle once again led the charge for the girls, easily winning both the shot put and the discus. She had a personal best in the discus with a throw of 117 feet, 2.5 inches. Freshman Camille Uher won the 100 meter dash. "Camille keeps on running pretty well," said Orwoll. "She had a very good day again today."

Junior Makayla Grote and eighth-grader Whitney Tinjum went into the home stretch fighting for first in the 400 meter dash. Grote surged ahead at the end, beating Tinjum by just three-tenths of a second. "Oh, did they have a nice race," said Orwoll. Sam Genung won the long jump with a personal best leap of 14 feet, 6 inches. And the team of sophomore Danielle Vitali, junior Becca Schmidt, eighth-grader Kelsey Ryan and sophomore Chelsea Johnson won the 4 x 800 relay for the Wildcats' only relay win of the day.

The Wildcats captured three of the top four spots in both the high jump and the triple jump. In the high jump, Alicia Giese's, Tinjum and Ali Turnquist finished second through fourth, respectively. Giese jump of 4 feet 8 inches was her personal best. And in the triple jump, Lindsay Fowler-Wacholz, Lisa Spehar and Heidi Willhite took second, third and fourth place, respectively.

Freshman Lauren Althaus came in third in the 200 meter dash with a personal best time of 27.6 seconds.

Boys

Senior Max Molina won the 3200 meter (2 mile) run with a time of 11 minutes, 51 seconds. Molina led from the start and "had a nice, even consistent race," said Orwoll. Bart Vurich came in second in the 3200 for the Wildcats. Craig Close won the triple jump as the Wildcats took three of the top four spots in that event. Sophomore Brad Johnson finished second and Tony Olmschenk came in fourth.

"Craig had another great day in the triple jump," said Orwoll. "He's been very consistent for us this season. Overall, I was very pleased with the points we got out of the triple jump."

The Wildcats' only other first-place finish on the day was Brad Reineccius' win in the high jump. Two other Wildcat athletes set personal bests. Eric Helps' throw of 119 feet, 6 inches in the discus was good enough for third place as the top Columbia Heights thrower set a school record.

"Eric was really competing against some horses down there," said Orwoll. "He did very well." And freshman Alex Vitalis vaulted 11 feet in the pole vault for the first time, coming in fourth.

Orwoll talked about one of his most consistent performers, this season, junior Mark Shaleen. "Mark Shaleen has been doing a good job in our sprinter crew, in the relays and in the high jump. He picks up points for us in every event he enters. He's valuable, versatile, a hard worker and great to have around. He's not a very vocal leader, but if you line up next to him he expects you to work hard."

Hamline Elite Meet

Brenna Coyle was invited to the prestigious Hamline Elite Meet as one of the top twelve throwers in the state in both the shot put and the discus. Coyle did not fare as well as the Wildcats had hoped, getting knocked out of the competition after the first three throws in both events.

"She never got into a rhythm," said Orwoll. "Like the other competitors, she had a hard time staying warm. She may have been a little nervous. This is something she needs to learn from and move on. It's quite an honor just to be invited to this meet. She'll be fine. From this point on, it's all about getting ready for sections."

Coyle certainly has it in her to compete with the top throwers in the state, as her top throws in both the shot put and the discus in the Columbia Heights meet would have put her in fourth place at the Hamline Elite Meet.

The Wildcats are scheduled to run in the seven-team North Branch Invitational Friday, May 2 starting at 3:30 p.m.

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