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As the season winds down, not only are the Chisago Lakes cross country teams battling the cold weather and the sore legs, they're now battling sickness too.

The flu bug hit the cross country teams -- the boys especially hard -- last week before the Centennial Invitational.

The girls were able to battle through some of their absences and finish in second place overall in the meet behind host Centennial, but the boys struggled a bit more with their lineup and came in fourth place out of five teams, including two from the North Suburban.

As always, Chelsea Johnson led the way for the girls, but this time, she won the meet in a personal record time that gave her some huge confidence with sections and the state meet just around the corner.

Johnson ran a smart race, staying with two Centennial runners until the last 600 meters, where she dug deep and blew by the pair of Cougars to finish in 15:15. "Chelsea ran a very relaxed and comfortable race," Head Coach Ken Orwoll said. That mentality will suit Johnson well for the stretch run of this season.

Not just Johnson had a special day for the Wildcats, either. With the Centennial course being fairly flat and a fast course, according to Orwoll, all six girls who participated in the varsity race had personal records.

Mary Cross was the next Wildcat to clear the finish line, coming across in 15:58 for sixth place honors. It was Cross's first time breaking the 16 minute barrier.

Kaylee Ryan barely missed out on the same milestone when she finished in eighth place with a time of 16:03.

Madi Vukich was the fourth girl to cross for the Wildcats, and she came in the chute at 17:45 in 16th place.

Just behind her was Katie Christy, who was running her first career varsity race. She finished in 17th place with a time of 18:05. Another first time runner, Kyra Danielkowski, finishing in 19:49 for a 21st place finish.

"It was the first varsity race for seventh grader Katie Christy and eighth grader Kyra Danielowski," Orwoll said proudly after the meet. "Both ran very well with Katie's finish being the team's fifth score that allowed us to take second place."

The girls final score of 48 was good for second place, behind Centennial's 25. NSC foe Spring Lake Park came in fourth place with 69 points and Fridley rounded out the team scores with a 105.

Boys

Although sickness limited participation for some of the boys varsity team, they still managed a fourth place finish, beating Christ Household of Faith, and finishing just four points behind Spring Lake Park.

Andy Magnuson paced the Wildcats with a 17:51, good enough for third place overall in the meet. The time was a double milestone for Magnuson, as it was the first time the young man broke the 18-minute mark, and it was his personal record time.

His progression throughout the race is what really stood out to Orwoll. "At the one mile mark Andy was in a pack of running about 15th to 20th place," he explained. "At the two mile mark, he was in tenth place, and he ran a great last mile to finish in third place."

Josh Olinger finish a minute later, breaking the 19-minute barrier with an 18:58. The time put Olinger in 12th place overall in the meet.

Senior Riley Myers contributed a nice score to the Wildcats, finishing the race in 20:24 in 21st place. Freshmen Noah Rockenback and Liam Coulter rounded out the Wildcats' lineup with a 27th and 30th place finishes, respectively.

The final team score for Chisago Lakes was 93 points. Centennial won the meet with a great score of 19. Fridley finished way back in second with a score of 63.

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