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Girls

Some Wildcat athletes continue to show remarkable consistency this season. Brenna Coyle, Lindsey Fowler-Wacholz and Sam Genung came through with first place finishes at the North Branch Invitational last Thursday, May 22. But the Wildcats finished sixth out of seven teams at the event. In order for the young Wildcats to compete with the top teams, they'll need to develop a good deal more depth. The performances of some of their youngest athletes this season have provided some of that hope for the future.

Coyle had a great day in the discus, with three throws over 116 feet. She won the event with a throw of 117 feet, 6 inches and also finished second in the shot put. Wacholz won her specialty event, the triple jump, and Genung finished first in the long jump. "They're zeroed in good right before sections," said Wildcat head coach Ken Orwoll.

Senior Tory Zais finished fourth in the 200 meter dash with a personal best time of 27.71 seconds. Alex Thomsen came in second in the pole vault with a vault of 8 feet, 6 inches.

At the Columbia Heights invitational earlier this season, junior Makayla Grote and eighth-grader Whitney Tinjum battled each other to the end in the 400 meter dash, with Grote winning by just three-tenths of a second over Tinjum. In the 400 at the North Branch invitational both runners set personal bests and Tinjum beat Grote by less than two-tenths of a second. Tinjum finished fifth with a time of 1 minute, 4.96 seconds. Grote earned a sixth place finish with a time of 1 minute, 5.13 seconds.

Boys

The boys also finished sixth out of seven teams at the North Branch Invitational. Their relay teams struggled as Mark Shaleen and Dom Novak couldn't run due to non-track-related injuries. "There's not a whole lot to tell about the boys," said Orwoll. "We were scrambling to fill in spots. It did give the younger kids a chance to compete at the varsity level. Nathan Gieske, our only senior, had another good day and finished fourth in the 1600. And Brad Reineccius showed his consistency by again getting some points for us, coming in fourth in the high jump."

SECTION PREVIEW

The Section 7AAA meet will be held this week at Elk River. The preliminaries and a few event finals were scheduled to be held yesterday, Wednesday, May 28. The bulk of the finals will be held this Saturday, May 31 starting at 11 a.m.

The top girls' teams in the section include powerhouse Grand Rapids, host Elk River and North Suburban Conference Champion St. Francis. On the boys' side, St. Francis and Forest Lake are the favorites. One of Forest Lake's brightest stars is sophomore Josh Nielsen. Nielsen has posted the seventh best 400 meter dash time in the state this season. Nielsen is also part of the Rangers' 4 by 100 and 4 by 200 relay teams, which have each posted the top times in the state this season. Why does this have significance for Chisago Lakes? The dividing line between the Forest Lake and Chisago Lakes school districts runs right through Nielsen's property, and Nielsen's house is built on the Forest Lake side of the line.

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