June 25, 2009 at 9:10 a.m.
Top 10 HS stories of 2008-09
Top 10 HS stories of 2008-09
Wow, how things fly by when you get the enjoyment of covering high school sports as a job. Since last year's column, I am much more familiar with the Chisago Lakes sports scene. Last time I penned one of these columns, I was still only a few months into the job and a month into Chisago Lakes sports.
Last summer I couldn't have pointed out the likes of Josh Figini, Andy Willhite or Alex Thomsen. Now, after a few state tournaments and broken records, the faces that shape Chisago Lakes' athletics are more recognizable to me.
I've always known the North Branch scene, since I covered the Vikings in my previous job. But, I am a year wiser about their programs and individual athletes.
With more knowledge comes a more refined list. Last year, North Branch wrestling dominated the list. Their thrilling win over Chisago Lakes came in at #10, their first conference title since 1977 checked in at three, and Boyd Suparat's state championship at 130 pounds claimed the top-spot easily.
Last year, the list played out perfectly, with four North Branch headlines, five Chisago Lakes headlines and one that included winners from both.
How will this year's list shake out? And how many repeat offenders do we have? What fresh faces vaulted into the top 10? Keep reading and see who impressed the most in the high school sports season.
This week, I'll only be chronicling numbers 10 through six. The countdown from five to one will be in next week's issue. Last year, this column took up nearly a page and a half of space in one issue, so to not drag this on too long, I figured I'd chop it up.
And one more thing, I'm making the executive decision to make this a top 11 list. Everybody does top 10's, and I just couldn't settle on which ones to include and which ones to leave out, so from here on out, this is a top 11 list.
11. Jarrett Sachs nets six goals in one game
The North Branch boys hockey program hasn't had much to brag about in their four-year existence.
started to change some when junior Jarrett Sachs scrawled his name into their burgeoning record books.
Sachs scored a hat trick in the first period of a game against Meadow Creek Christian, and that set the tone early for a big night. He added another tally in the second period, then notched two more goals in the final stanza.
The six goals that Sachs netted matched numerous other players for the second most ever in a game in Minnesota's storied hockey history. The Minnesota State High School League lists the single-game record as seven goals by John Mayasich of Evelith in 1951.
It also broke the old North Branch record of four goals in one game by Alex Nelson, and it broke Nate Obitz's record of five points in one game.
10. Whitney Tinjum's freshman campaign for Chisago Lakes
Rarely does a freshman have such a large impact on a varsity basketball squad. But, Whitney Tinjum is a rare talent in basketball.
The six-foot freshman began the season with a bang. Over the first two games, she averaged 26 points and 19 rebounds, which included a school record 22-rebound effort over St. Louis Park.
Even though she couldn't keep up that torrid pace -- and who could? -- she impressed older and more experienced players throughout the season, averaging 20.1 points per game over 27 games and 9.9 rebounds. If she had grabbed two more total rebounds, she would've averaged a double-double in her freshman year, an extremely rare feat.
9. New Chisago Lakes stadium opens...at last!
After what seemed like an enternity, the new Chisago Lakes football stadium was opened just in time for the Wildcats Homecoming game against Irondale.
The target was to get homecoming at the school, but officials didn't know until a week before if they were going to be able to hold the festivites at the freshly minted stadium. The Wildcats were even lined up to play their homecoming at a different school before the finishing touches were applied to the field.
The tough part about the opening was the opponent at hand. Irondale only had one loss on the year coming into the game, and were getting recognized state-wide as one of the better teams in terms of talent. The Wildcats grabbed the early lead when quarterback Andy Willhite scored the first touchdown in the new stadium. Irondale took the lead back, but Henry Fitzpatrick nearly won the game for the Knights when he intercepted a screen pass and returned it for a touchdown for a fourth quarter lead. Eventually, though, the Wildcats succumbed to the Knights.
It was a raucous and spirited crowd for the Wildcats, and the senior class was just glad to have gotten a chance to play on the beautiful new field.
8. Chisago Lakes alpine ski teams crack top five in state
The Wildcats had been strong in the alpine skiing department for some time. They had one the Northwest Suburban Conference championship over the past few years, and they finally had two important senior leaders.
It all came to a head though, in February, at the state alpine ski meet at Giant's Ridge in Biwabik, MN. Each team was led by a key senior -- Philip Bottjen on the boys side, and Simone Raedeke on the girls side -- and both teams finished in fifth place in the state tournament.
Raedeke, who had pulled the rare sweep of the Northwest Suburban Conference races in the regular season, was the top finisher for the girls, placing 11th in the 88-girl field.
The other girls who helped propel the team to a fifth-place finish were Katie Garbe, who finished in 19th place, Amanda Angel, 27th place, Teresa Sandberg, 53rd, Katy Rayer, 60th, and Araya Gamble in 62nd.
The boys had a similar finish in the other half of the event.
Bottjen, a senior captain for the 'Cats, finished in 7th place in the 88-person field. After Bottjen, Joe Cartier came in 19th place, Steve Wagner in 33rd, Corbin Peterson in 53rd, Mark Sandgren in 60 and Jake Sandgren in 61st.
The performances marked the first time that the alpine ski teams both finished in the top five at the state tournament.
With the lofty achievement, Head Coach Dan Raedeke decided to leave on that high note. The coach of ?? years resigned at the end of the season.
7. John Morrison blasts the competition in whatever he wants
For most student-athletes in high school, it's a thrill to get to the state tournament in any sport. For North Branch junior John Morrison, it's becoming commonplace in his young career.
In the fall, although he didn't make the state tournament in football, he did earn All-Conference honors for the North Branch football squad. His relentless work on the offensive and defensive line also paved the way for the Vikings' first win in football in over two years.
Some would consider that a successful sports year already. Not Morrison.
In the winter, Morrison took to the wrestling mats in hopes of earning his first state tournament berth in grappling. He burned through the North Suburban Conference heavyweights, and also through most non-conference foes to finish the regular season with a 29-4 record.
Morrison knew it'd be tough to get to the state tournament as his section had Princeton heavyweight, and odds-on-favorite for the state title, Billy Frank. Morrison blasted his way through to the final and a match up with Frank. Although the Tiger beat him 3-2 to win the section, the top two wrestlers went to the tournament, which mean Morrison earned a spot in the prestigious tournament.
Sporting a 32-5 record going into the tournament, Morrison won his first match before dropping a 3-2 decision to Charlie Gelhaye of Simley. Morrison was able to win another match in the wrestlebacks, but ran into Casey Johnson of Kasson Mantorville, the eventual third place winner, and bowed out of the tournament.
Morrison didn't stop there, however. He threw on the tank top and shorts of the black-and-red North Branch track and field team and started tossing the shot put and discus around in the spring.
Although he had some long throws last year, he didn't have anything that approached the state tournament level. This year was a different story. Morrison was tossing both the shot and disc farther and farther as the season wore on. It finally piqued for him at the section meet. He had personal bests in both the shot put and discus, and he rode the lengths to the state tournament in both events.
His distance of 51'9" in the shot put was nearly a foot longer than his previous best, and it earned him a second place finish in the section. In the discus, his toss of 151'5" was over four feet longer than his personal best, and he finished in first place with the length.
At the state tourney, Morrison finished in 10th place in the discus and 16th place in the shot put.
Not a bad sports year for a junior who has a full year of promise ahead of him.
6. Chisago Lakes swimmer and diving tandem climbs the podium
Although girls and boys swimming and diving happen in two different seasons, one thing stayed consistent for the two sports this year -- amazing diving performances.
The girls are first each year, diving in the fall season, and diving coach Lisa Willhite wasn't sure what her lineup was going to look like. One thing that was for sure, however, was Alex Thomsen. The junior was a pinpoint diver and a hard worker, she just needed to master the technique to take the next step into the upper echelon of Minnesota divers.
Thomsen had been diving well all year, but she saved some of her best work for the 11 dives at the state meet. After her first five dives, Thomsen actually led the meet full of talented divers, but she fell back down to earth when they hit some of their difficult dives and she struggled a hint.
In the end, Thomsen finished in seventh place with a total of 293.95 points.
Sophomore phenom Brogan Lee was the next girl to earn some hardware for the Wildcats. Although it was a very steep obstacle to try and catch the top-seeded Marissa Wood of Sartell-St. Stephen in the 500 yard freestyle, Lee, who was seeded sixth in the finals of the event, had plenty of the other girls within her reach.
In the first couple laps, Lee set a good pace, trailing Wood, but keeping up with McKenna Jones and Alissa Tinklenberg, who were in second and third, respectively.
As the race wore on, however, senior Krystal Carlson of Richfield used her saavy swimming moves and experience to manuever past Lee. In the end, it was a battle between Lee and senior Heather Crandall of Hill Murray for fifth place. Lee just edged out the more experienced swimmer, finishing in 5:17.43. Crandall touched the wall in 5:17.57.
The medal was the first of what is expected to be many for the young swimmer in her Wildcat career.
In the winter, the boys splashed around in the pool, and Andy Willhite added another medal to his growing collection. In 2008, Willhite earned fifth place at the state swimming and diving meet with a total of 333.2 points.
In '09, he was back to hopefully move up the totem pole a few spots. Although he didn't focus as much on diving throughout the regular season, Willhite still qualified for the state tournament in diving.
Two of the guys that finished ahead of him in 2008 were gone, but new challenges arose in front of Willhite, and he wasn't able to match his score form the previous year. However, his '09 score of 319.15 was still good enough to repeat in fifth place for the departing senior.
The finish capped off an amazing season for the Chisago Lakes swimming and diving teams with three medals for some very deserving competitors.
Look for numbers five through one in next week's Chisago County Press.
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