North Branch track and field tops CL at their home meet

Chisago Lakes Invitational
Last Friday, May 2, the Wildcats hosted the Chisago Lakes Invitational. The other teams that participated were North Branch, St. Francis, Columbia Heights, North Lakes Academy and Somerset (Wisc.). The Vikings won the meet on both the girls and boys side. North Branch scored 203.5 points on the guys side, while Chisago Lakes came in second with 156.5. In the girls half, North Branch dominated the meet with 256.5 points. The Wildcats again finished second, scoring 114 points. “The weather was sketchy at first,” said Wildcat head coach Mike Holmquist. “But it turned gorgeous halfway through. We had our full roster there and so did North Branch and three of the other teams only sent about half a roster. Everybody is scrambling right now. We’ve had so few meets it’s about as clear as mud as far as what’s going on in the conference. The next couple of weeks should tell us a lot.”

Girls
Holmquist highlighted some of the outstanding individual performances from the meet. Sophomore Emma Leah Trandahl knocked over three seconds off her times in the 100 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles. “We didn’t find out till a couple of weeks ago that she was battling shin splints,” said Holmquist. “We are looking forward to see what she can do now that she’s back healthy.” Junior Hannah Nordby took first in the 400 meter dash. Senior Sammy Fusco placed third in the 3200 meter run. Sophomore Sally Nelson took third in the 200 meter dash. Holmquist said “Sally is coming on strong.

This is her first year in track and she’s really helping us out in the sprints.” Holmquist also had some good things to say about junior Sarah Greene. He said “Sarah is peaking at the right time. She ran one-tenth of a second less than her conference time last year in the 800 and won the race. She also added six inches in the triple jump. She’s continuing to improve her personal records (PR) instead of plateauing.” The Viking girls had a bevy of top finishes in the meet. They swept the relay spots, winning the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400. Jessica Stendahl won both hurdling events, Mikayla Johnson finished first in the 100 meter fash, Rhianna Rinke came out on top in the 1,600 meter run, and the wins just kept coming. The Vikes got first places in the 200 from Cassie Kunshier, the 3,200 from Emily Dolezelak, the pole vault from Katie Burnside, the long jump from Katy Trunk and the shot put from Josee Axberg.

Boys
Senior Andy Magnuson could have won the 1600 meter run for the boys. But he ran with teammate and fellow senior Carson Velaski and pushed him. It worked, as Velaski shaved over two seconds off his mile time and finished second for the day. Magnuson came in third, just behind Velaski. “Andy’s action showed nice, selfless senior leadership,” said Holmquist. “It’s something you expect from a great kid like Andy. I’ve had people tell me Andy stories that just blow my mind. He should get a scholarship just based on character. You hope your kids end up like him. It’s something we hope other schools see, because it reflects well on Chisago Lakes.” Magnuson also ran the 3200 meter run. Just running both the 1600 and the 3200 in the same meet is pretty impressive, and Magnuson won the 3200. Senior Carl Osterberg took first in the 800 meter run. He also ran the 400 meter dash for the first time since seventh grade. He ran it in 55 seconds and took third place. “55 seconds is a nice time for a distance kid,” said Holmquist. Freshman Arran Hickcox jumped 37’8” in the triple jump. Holmquist said “If Arran jumps when he’s fresh, he’s going to P.R.”

Senior Simon Eddy finished third in the 3200 meter run. Junior Quinton Lee ran the 300 meter hurdles with a time in the mid-41 second range, which is close to honor roll territory. Junior Frank Brezany jumped 11’6” in the pole vault. Senior Kenny Gustafson added 8 inches to his discus throw and added 2 inches to his shot put. Holmquist said “Coach Lopez has done a great job working with Kenny. He’s adding inches every meet. I think Kenny has been on the varsity since 7th grade.” Holmquist said “In general, the senior boys have been scoring points and helping out each other and their younger teammates this year. It has been fun to watch from a leadership standpoint.” For North Branch, they got a handful of first place finishes with Arik Steele topping the 110 and 300 meter high hurdle fields. Matt Marrin won the 200 meter dash, and helpd the NB 4x400 relay team win their event. Kyle Crandell won the pole vault event for the Vikings, jumping 12’6”, a foot higher than the rest of the field.