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The Wildcat track team will be sending two athletes to the state track meet this year.  In last Saturday’s Section 7AA finals at Princeton, Quinton Lee won the 400 meter dash with a time of 50.80 seconds.  Last year, Lee was part of the Wildcat 4 x 800 meter relay team that made it to the podium at the state meet, finishing ninth.  And for the girls, Sarah Greene qualified for statein two events.  She was the section champion in the high jump, with a height of 5’4”.  Greene also won the 800 meter run with a time of 2:18.78, just a tenth of a second over the second place finisher.

The state track meet will be held at Hamline University.  Lee will run in the 400 meter dash preliminaries at 11:26 a.m. this Friday, May 5. Greene will begin her day at 9 a.m. in the high jump before moving to the 800 meter run at 11:54 a.m.
 
Boys
“It was a fun meet,” said Wildcat boys’ head coach Ken Orwoll.  “A lot of kids had personal bests.  In the preliminaries on Wednesday, Quinton had the fastest time, 50.86 seconds.  In the finals he led the entire race.  I was so pleased to see him earn a trip to the state meet but also win a Section title.  It was well deserved.  Our 4 x 800 relay team of Nic Bartz, Zac West, Luke Crouse and Quinton also performed well.  Nic had an amazing first leg, running under two minutes to hand off the baton in first place.  Unfortunately, we could not hang onto the top two places.  We finished fifth but improved our season best by five seconds. “

The 4X100 meter relay team improved its season best by almost a second to finish fifth.  Orwoll said, “Their hand-offs made the difference.”  Team members were junior Andrew Schneider, sophomores Dylan Blaul and Arran Hickcox and freshman Peter Vitalis.  All will be back next season.  

Orwoll talked about one of his toughest athletes.  He said, “Frank Brezany has had an amazing season in the pole vault this year.  Unfortunately, he has been having some issues with his knee.  The knee made it very difficult for him to run.  At sections, it was one of the gutsy-est performances I have ever seen.  Every time he ran the runway he was in pain.  He has jumped 12' 6" in most of the meets this season, but Friday the knee only got him to 11' 7", missing his trip to state.  The senior deserved better, but I'm so proud of his effort and how he never gave up on his dream.”

Some athletes who achieved personal records (PRs) at sections included:  juniors - Phil LaPlante, 400 and Andrew Schneider, 100; sophomores – Dylan Blaul, 200, Corbin Lee, 1600; freshmen - Jack Hallstrom, discus, Peter Vitalis 100 and Nick Lindsey 1600.
Orwoll said, “It was an exciting meet for me because of the improvements we made.  We had kids that didn't place but finished the year doing their best and will reach the podium next year.”
 
Girls
Wildcat head girls’ coach Kara Odegaard said, “We had some great performances at sections this week.  Most of our girls had personal bests for the year.  I couldn't ask for much more!  Each girl really went out there and gave it her all.  It was a great finish for the year.”
Sarah Greene had a great meet.  

In addition to her section championships in the high jump and the 800, she ran in two relays, and she was section champion in the high jump and the 800.  

Odegaard observed, “Everything really came together for Sarah in those jumps.  She knew exactly what she needed to do to win this event and she went out there and executed her jumps perfectly.   In the 800, Sarah really kicked-it in that last 100 meters to pull out a first place finished.  The second place finisher was only 11 one hundredths of a second behind her.  I cannot be more thrilled for Sarah as she advances to the state meet.  Sarah is the type of athlete who works hard every single day.  She is a great role model and leader to other athletes both on and off the track.  She will be competing in both events on Friday at Hamline.”

In the 400 meter run, Isabel Hindt was third with a time of 1:00.26.  

Odegaard said, “It was great to see Isabel finally go under 1:01.  She has been working towards that most of the season.”  

The 4x800 meter relay team of Greene, Natalie Sandstrom, Katie Christy and Jessica Bartz finished fourth with a time of 9:54.31.  This team consisted of Sarah Greene, Natalie Sandstrom, Katie Christy, and Jessica Bartz.  The 4x400 team also finished fourth with a time of 4:10.36.  That team consisted of Greene, Christy, Sandstrom and Hindt.

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