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I’ll start this year’s top 11 list off with an apology on the late arrival. Typically, the list is done around the July 4th holiday, but with North Branch’s baseball team making a deep run this year, a lot of things got pushed back and this was the week that finally worked out.

The funny thing is, we’re almost into the 2016-17 season already. We are just a few short weeks away from two-a-days and summer practices starting for fall sports, so I’ll get it just in the nick of time.

Last year’s list was topped by the North Branch gymnastics team finishing in fourth place at state, surprising even the most optimistic observers. However, they missed out on the state tourney, so there will be a new number one at the top of this list.

Each season had plenty of highlights, so without further ado, here is the first half of the top 11 sports stories of the 2015-16 season.

11. Individuals who competed at the state tournament
In 2015-15, there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic for state chances. Some of those dreams came to fruition and some came up short, but this area still produced a boatload of state tournament participants.
They came in all different sports and were built in different ways. They all had strived for the same goal this year, and here are the ones that made the state tournament in their respective sport.

North Branch
Rhianna Rinke (cross country and track and field);    Reece Armistead (boys golf); Kennedy Ashley, (boys track and field); Mikayla Johnson, Aliah Williams (girls track and field)

Chisago Lakes
Kalli Jo Olson and Payton Nelson (girls swimming and diving); Anders Brown,  and Ellie Frischmon (alpine skiing);  Austin Turman, Jake Carlson, Derek Frank, Alex Sagendorf, Sam Gustafson, Matt Braun, Josh Falkowski (boys swimming and diving); Teddy Pierce, Kyle Schoenecker, Adam Klick, Aaron Sistrunk (wrestling); Izzy Hindt,  Thomas Strand, Alex Morehead, Arran Hickcox and Dylan Blaul (track and field; Thomas Gillach and Blake Lizotte (boys tennis); Andrue Trelstad (boys golf).

10. Chisago Lakes boys golf season
Golf is about being consistent. Many golfers can put together a great round or two throughout the season, but being able to consistently churn out low scores separates the good from the great.

That was the tale of Bryce Thompson’s senior season  with the Chisago Lakes boys golf team.

He averaged a score of 73 throughout the season, which won him the Mississippi 8 East championship, as well as helping to lead the Wildcats to a team title on the east side.

Thompson’s average was second only to Trey Fessler of St. Michael-Albertville in the overall conference. He was the only East Division golfer to not register a round over 80 on the year.

The championships of the East were essentially wrapped up by the last meet at Wild Marsh on Monday, May 23, but there was some unfortunate luck with the weather for CL to make any sort of upward move towards St. Michael.

The ‘Cats were shooting extremely well at the course and Thompson was two-under through 16 holes and in a potential competition to unseat Fessler for the full conference title.  

But, Mother Nature swooped in and ruined any plans of a change atop the standings.

“Unfortunately, the weather got us so we had to default to the scores at the mid-conference match,” Head Coach Bryon Rogers said.
In the section tournament, Thompson had a tough round, but Andrue Trelstad made the most of his opporunity and earned his way to the state tourney.

9. Courtney Selbitschka and Morgen Coleman’s senior seasons
The two seniors have been linked since their middle school days in basketball and volleyball. They led a surge in both the sports, culminating in a state tournament berth in volleyball. They were both named All-State Honorable Mention, Coleman as a setter and Selbitschka as an outside hitter.

Selbitschka is the career leader in kills for North Branch while Coleman set the career mark for assists.

They both ended their basketball careers with over 1,000 points, and both will be sorely missed by their respective programs.

8. CL SWIMMERS
The Chisago Lakes boys swimming and diving team represented themselves well at the state tournament last week, with the highlight being Jacob Carlson’s eighth place finish in diving, despite battling pneumonia.

Austin Turman, Sam Gustafson, Derek Frank, Alex Sagendorf, Matt Braun and Josh Falkowski also participated in the state tournament for Chisago Lakes.
At the time, Head Coach Brian McNally said, “Jacob Carlson battled pneumonia all week, including the days of the state meet.  It was fun to see him dive one last time, but he never quite hit his form that I know he is capable of.  He is one of the very top divers in the state.  At full strength, he would be among the top few fighting for the state championship.  Even with a tough illness, he was able to be in 11th after prelims and semi finals.  He dove three great dives at finals and jumped up to eighth place, earning our only All-State honor this year.  That is a true testament to his abilities.  No matter what the circumstances, Jacob earned his place among the elite divers in Minnesota.  He is such a rare talent that he is a very good diver AND a talented swimmer.”

7. CL SKIERS
Both Chisago Lakes state participants had high hopes going up to Giant’s Ridge in Biwabik last weekend.
Anders Brown and Ellie Frischmon have both made multiple state tournament appearances and have both finished high in the standings, so they knew what to expect.

Brown took the hill with a bit of zest in his first run on the Innsbruck Course. He flew through the hill with the elite skiers in the state, coming in fifth place. His first run time of 36.19 seconds was a good sign for the day.

He was hoping for a fast run on the Helsinki Course in the afternoon and to move up in the final standings a bit.

He got his wish of being fast, getting down the course in 35.15 seconds, unfortunately, a few other skiers were faster and he was 15th on that course.
His combined total of 1:11.34 put him in a painfully close mish-mash of skiers from fifth to 12th place. All eight competitors were within a second and a half of each other. Brown fit in the middle in ninth place with his time. Hermantown’s Austin Danelski came in fifth place but was less than a second faster than Brown, and four spots separated them in the final standings.

“He was a little disappointed, but ninth in state is still awesome,” Assistant Coach Su Leslie said. “This was his fifth consecutive state race!”

6. Chisago Lakes Boys Tennis Season
Thomas Gillach and Blake Lizotte made a return trip to the state tournament after a near flawless section run. They were looking to improve on their fourth place finish from last year, but despite playing at a higher level, they had a tougher draw. The pair’s season is one of the top runs in Chisago Lakes’ tennis history.

They also helped captain the ‘Cats to a undefeated regular season in the Mississippi 8 Conference and a conference title before their section and state run.
They got their rematch against Anthony Rosa and Carter Masonafter winning the first round match up, but it didn’t go as planned.

Rosa and Mason broke Lizotte’s serve all game, despite some fiery points from the senior, and that led to a 6-2, 6-2 loss from the CL pair.

Their first round match up was a bit more taxing than they hoped against Nicholas Portz and Lucas Conboy.

Gillach and Lizotte won the first set fairly handily, 6-2, and hoped to cruise into a match up with Rosa and Carter on fresh legs. But, Portz and Conboy found some powerful strokes in the second set and kept Gillach and Lizotte off balance throughout, winning 6-0. In the third set, the Wildcats buckled down and eliminated the errors and went on the offensive instead of waiting around. The strategy reversed the result from the second set as CL won 6-0 to move on, but a third set hadn’t been a part of their plan.

In the second round against Rosa and Mason, the Eden Prairie pair took the early lead 1-0 in the first set. On Gillach’s serve, however, the ‘Cats held and tied the score up at one apiece. That’s where EP took over though. They held serve before breaking Lizotte’s serve and holding serve again, giving them a commanding 5-1 lead. Gillach was able to hold but when service went back to Eden Prairie, they finished the set out with a 6-2 win.

The second set followed the exact same blueprint for the two teams. There were a few energetic, highly skilled rallies that decided a few of the points, but they mostly came out in favor of Rosa and Mason. Lizotte and Gillach just couldn’t get that big point when they needed it, falling 6-2.

That’s the first half, we’ll get to the second half next week. In the meantime, have a GREAT rest of the summer and I’ll see you in the fall!

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