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This winter, the Chisago Lakes atheltic department had one of their most successful runs in recent memory.

The girls hockey team won the consolation championship at the state tournament, three individual wrestlers made it to the state tournament and the boys alpine ski team finished in second in state behind St. Thomas Academy.

Besides those lofty achievments, the 'Cats also sent one girl to the state alpine ski meet and four boys to the state swimming and diving tournament at the U of M Aquatic Center.

This week, the alpin ski teams, gymnastics, girls basketball and boys swimming and diving lists are being published. Below this story, readers can find the girls hockey awards from their banquet earlier this week.

Next week, the wrestling and boys hockey awards will be published, and the boys basketball awards will be on April 15.

Boys and Girls Alpine Ski

In alpine skiing, the boys team was loaded with All-Conference picks to go along with their second place finish at state. Skiing is the only sport that Chisago Lakes isn't in the North Suburban Conference. Instead, they are paired with schools from the traditional Northwest Suburban Conference, including Blaine, Coon Rapids, Anoka, Centennial, Andover and Champlin Park.

Despite the large gaps between those schools and CL in their enrollments, the 'Cats still dominated the All-NWSC picks. For the boys, Mark Sandgren, Joe Cartier, Steve Wagner and Corbin Peterson all earned All-NWSC honors while Hogan Haas earned All-NWSC Honorable Mention for the 'Cats.

On the girls side of things, Katie Rayer, Teresa Sandberg, Araya Gamble and Sheila Stephani all earned All-NWSC awards while first-year skier Amanda Houle earned an All-Conference Honorable Mention nod.

Gymnastics

In gymnastics Lindsay Carlson rejoined the team this year as a junior, and she was rewarded with an All-North Suburban Conference pick. She was tops among the girls in nearly all of their events, and she was one of the top performers in the whole conference.

Savanna Stendahl, Madeline Carlson and Sam Thomsen earned All-Conference Honorable Mention from the North Suburban for their accomplishments on the gymnastics floor.

Girls Basketball

The girls basketball team had one of their most successful regular seasons, finishing 20-7 on the year, but they had their hearts broken in the first round of sections by county rival North Branch. The 'Cats had beaten the Vikings twice already in the regular season, but sections is when the stakes are higher, and North Branch stepped up to the plate.

However, it didn't diminish the season-long accomplishments made by some of the girls on the team.

Sophomore sensation Whitney Tinjum led the charge for the 'Cats almost all season, and she was rewarded with an All-Conference selection in the ultra-stacked North Suburban.

Senior Kelsey Ristow joined Tinjum on the All-NSC team, which was a big accomplishment for her in her last year of CL basketball. Ristow also earned Academic All-Conference for her performance in the classroom.

Guards Summer Young and Hannah Trandahl were the two All-NSC Honorable Mention picks for the girls basketball team.

Also, both Jeff Lindeman and Craig Walker earned awards for their accomplishments. Lindeman was the Section 3AAA Assistant Coach of the Year while Walker was the Section 3AAA Head Coach of the Year.

Boys Swimming and Diving

The boys swimming and diving team sent four boys to the state tournament, and all four earned some sort of award at the conference level also.

Ryan Smith, who earned a state berth as part of the 4x200 relay team and in the 500-yard freestyle, was the first All-NSC performer for the swim team, and he was followed by fellow 4x200 relay team members Mitch Gebauer and Alex Vitalis.

Both Gebauer and Vitalis excelled in other events, however. Gebauer was a standout in the 50-yard freestyle, as well as one of the top divers in the conference. Vitalis was a sprint specialist, earning top times in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events.

Matt Mattson earned All-NSC Honorable Mention as he was also a part of the 4x200-yard relay team that qualified for the state tournament.

Smith, Gebauer and Vitalis were also a part of the 4A All-Section Team.

The team as a whole also earned the Academic Champions for Section 4A. "This really shows that these guys can train and compete hard but know the importance of the classroom," Head Coach Mark Nordby said. " This award really says a lot about this special group of swimmers and divers."

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