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The Milaca Mega Meet is unlike any other meet in the country. It brings together over 100 teams from all overthe region and puts some of the best runners on the course at the same time.

So it’s a feather in the cap to finish high in the meet, no matter what level you’re at. Head Coach Ken Orwoll decided to run his 10th graders at the 10th grade level, despite five of them consistently registering varsity scores for the ‘Cats during the regular season.

The move paid off for Orwoll, as the 10th grade Wildcat team finished second in the field to only Wayzata.

Douglas paced the Wildcats with a time of 21:47, good enough for 13th place. Zemlin was just behind her in 14th place with a time of 21:54. Olinger still broke into the top 25, finishing in 22nd place with a time of 22:22 -- maybe she should have someone buy her a lottery ticket.

Mariah Sistrunk finished in 44th place with a time of 23:20 and Annika Dubbs came in 46th with a time of 23:24.

“Madi Douglas was our first one in with Ellie close behind.  Madi just got stronger as the race went on,” Head Coach Ken Orwoll said. “I have never seen her finish this strong. Our next three were lead my Mariah Sistrunk.  Annika Dubbs, Juliette Martin followed Mariah the entire race, until Mariah made a move with about a half mile to go.”

Both the varsity squads were incomplete since Orwoll ran everyone at their grade level but Eli Olson had an all-time personal best to finish in 19th in the 149 runner field. “He is such a competitor,” Orwoll said. “He never gives up and works all the way to the end.”

Senior Hunter Worden also had an all-time personal best, running a smart race to finish in 77th place.

For North Branch, their varsity girls finished 10th in the 16 team field. They were paced by Rhianna Rinke, who finished her race in 19:51, which was good enough for seventh place in the team competition and ninth place overall when incomplete runners were factored in. The Lady Vikings also got a 33rd place finish from Jillian Yerges, which really helped vault them up the standings past Austin and Detroit Lakes.

Gail Nelson and Emily Dolezalek each finished in the 60s, giving the Vikes strong finishes in the third and fourth spot, but the Vikes just couldn’t get that fifth runner across with them, as Melina DeMars was the next one to cross in 25:02, good enough for 90th place.

Chisago Lakes Invitational
The ‘Cats had their girls finish second and boys finish third and their home invite. “Overall, both teams ran really well,” Orwoll said.

Olinger finished in fourth place in the meet on the girls side and Olson came in second on the boys side. The girls finished just behind Benilde-St. Margaret’s and the boys were behind BSM and North Branch.

Rinke won the meet with a time of 20:30, but the Vikings just narrowly missed out on second place, earning 59 points to Chisago Lakes’ 57.

Yerges backed up Rinke’s strong time with a third place finish in 21:46 and Gail Nelson came in fifth, but then North Branch didn’t have any finishers until Emily Dolezalek in 22nd and Annie Gladitsch in 28th.

On the boys side, the Vikings took second place, just edging out Chisago Lakes.

Their top finishes came from Scott Ramberg in sixth place with a time of 18:24 and Aiden Bear and Noah Pick in 10th and 11th place. Dylan Andrews came in 13th place and Jake Bear rounded out their score in 23rd place.

“We had a fabulous meet and we really did well,” North Branch Head Coach Anna Geary said.

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