---

CHISAGO LAKES TRIANGULAR GIRLS

The Wildcat girls christened the brand new track at Chisago Lakes High School by winning its first official race, the 4x800 meter relay, last Tuesday, April 21 at the Chisago Lakes Triangular. The team of freshman Mary Cross, junior Danielle Vitali, freshman Kelsey Sorensen and junior Chelsea Johnson crossed the line in 10:30.06. Overall, the Wildcats finished third to powerful Spring Lake Park and Fridley in the meet.

Cross also gave the Wildcats a win in the 3200 meter run with a time of 13:05. "Mary ran a great race," said Wildcat head coach Ken Orwoll. "It was really nice to see one of our youngsters pick up a win there." In the 800 meter run, Johnson earned the Wildcats' only other first place finish of the day with a time of 2:27.20. "It's nice to be able to count on Chelsea for that one," said Orwoll.

The Wildcats had a surprise entrant in the 4 by 100 relay. One of the runners withdrew due to injury not long before the start of the race. Freshman discus thrower and distance runner Maggie Gerty was standing near the finish line to watch the end of another race. The three remaining members of the 4x100 team, freshmen Brittney Land and Araya Gamble and senior Mackenzie Maher, saw Gerty and said "Hey, we need you" and drafted her to run in the relay. Gerty, who hadn't practiced a handoff all year, agreed to run and helped the team to a second-place finish in her surprise stint as a sprinter.

Seniors Lindsay Fowler-Wacholz and Sam Genung were both held out of the meet because of injuries. Orwoll said "Missing Lindsay and Sam and some others in key spots really cost us some points."

Junior Bailey Elwood took second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.70 seconds, just .04 seconds ahead of third-place Land. "Hopefully we can keep Bailey healthy," said Orwoll. In the 400, senior Makayla Grote and freshman Cassandra Schultz finished second and third, respectively. Sorenson finished second in the 1600 and junior Danielle Vitali came in fourth in the 800. Orwoll said "Our middle distance kids are running tough and the distance kids have done a good job all year. It's nice to be able to pick up some points there."

BOYS

Orwoll likes what he sees from senior Brad Reiniccius. Reiniccius finished third in both the pole vault and the high jump at the Chisago Lakes Triangular. His vault of 11'0" was his personal best this season. "Brad is really starting to get his technique down," said Orwoll. "It's nice to see him have some success in these events. He also helps us out in the 4 by 800 and 4x400." The boys finished a distant third to Spring Lake Park and Fridley in the meet.

Senior Eric Helps finished third in the discus and was the top Wildcat finisher in the shot put. "Eric had a pretty good day," said Orwoll. "Spring Lake Park has some horses in the field events, so it's nice to see Eric get in there and place against those guys."

Competing in the 3200 meter run for the first time, sophomore Josh Olinger finished third. Brad Johnson took second in the 300 meter hurdles. The Wildcats' other points from individuals came through fourth place finishes from freshman Trevor Thurnbeck in the 100, junior Riley Myers in the high jump, sophomore Alex Vitalis in the pole vault and sophomore Jordan Fowler-Wacholz in the triple jump.



CAMBRIDGE-ISANTI INVITATIONAL

Nearby lightning strikes interrupted the nine-team Cambridge-Isanti Invitational halfway through the meet last Friday, April 24. With the temperature at 45 degrees, the wind blowing and the Wildcats nursing an assortment of aches, pains and sore muscles, Wildcat coaches decided to head back to Chisago Lakes during the delay. Both the boys' and girls' teams were in seventh place at the time of the departure. The meet resumed after a suspension of approximately one hour, but the Wildcats were already on their way back home.

BOYS

"We had some decent performance from both the boys and the girls before the lightning came," said Wildcat head coach Ken Orwoll. Senior Craig Close finished third in the triple jump with a personal best leap of 40'8.25". Freshman Trevor Thurnbeck finished fourth in the 100 meter dash, which was a "nice surprise'" according to Orwoll. Junior Riley Myers was leading the high jump competition when the meet was suspended, and senior Mark Shaleen was seventh. Both the 4x800 and 4x200 relay teams took second.

GIRLS

Senior Sam Genung came in second in the long jump and freshman Whitney Tinjum finished third in the high jump. Freshman Zoe Hansen set her personal best time while finishing fourth in the 100 meter hurdles. Senior Bri Claeson soared to fourth place in the pole vault. "It was nice to see her place in a big meet," said Orwoll. Freshman Kelsey Sorensen finished seventh in the 1600 and freshman Ally Hagglund came in seventh in the triple jump. The 4x800 relay team finished third and the 4x200 team came in fifth.

NOTES

Three Wildcats girls narrowly missed being invited to last Friday's Hamline Elite meet. Each year, Hamline invites the top twelve statewide participants in each track and field event (determined by best time, height or distance in any outdoor meet so far this season) in both Class A and Class AA to compete in a precursor to the state tournament.

Senior Sam Genung missed a high jump invitation by a half-inch. Senior Lindsay Fowler-Wacholz was just three inches short in the triple jump. And junior Chelsea Johnson missed qualifying for the 800 by 1.5 seconds.

The Wildcats' new track will get quite a workout over the next week. Tomorrow, Friday May 1, the Wildcats will host the eight-team Chisago Lakes Invitational starting at 3:30 p.m. Next Tuesday, May 5 the Wildcats will host the Section 7AA True Team meet beginning at 3 p.m. And the JV will get a chance to show what they can do as they host the JV version of the Chisago Lakes invitational on Wednesday, May 6 at 3:30 p.m.

---