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Section 7AA True Team Meet

The Wildcats girls’ track team won the 12-team Section 7AA True Team meet for the second year in a row, scoring 654 points to finish ahead of the rival North Branch Vikings, who had 605 points.  The Wildcat boys came in third on their side of things, finishing behind Cloquet and Rock Ridge.  The meet was held at Hibbing High School on Tuesday, May 7.

In a True Team meet, which is apparently unique to Minnesota, teams enter exactly two athletes in each event.  Every athlete who finishes a race or successfully completes at least one attempt in a field event scores points for their team.  So, for example, while a ninth-place finisher would not score points in a regular meet, but that ninth place finisher would pick up 15 team points in a True Team meet.

Girls

The Wildcat girls were solid throughout the lineup, with their lowest finishing position being 13th place (with 24 participants in most events).  In fact, the Wildcats had just three finishers below tenth place out of 28 spots in individual events.  Not surprisingly, stars Addy Barrett and Ava Bringgold led the way for the girls.  Barrett won the long jump, finished fifth in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and led off the 4x100 relay team that finished first in their event.  Kendra Warren, Addison Griffin, and Bene’ Smith joined Barrett in the 4x100 win.  Bringgold won the high jump, finished third in the 300-meter hurdles, and sixth in the 200-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles.

Annika Hall picked up a lot of points in two distance events, winning the 3200-meter run and finishing second in the 1600-meter run.  Kaia Osmundson also scored a lot of points by coming in third in two distance events, the 800-meter run and the 1600-meter run.  The 4x200 relay team of Kendra Warren, Chelsea Stipe, Addison Griffin, and Smith won their race.  In addition to being part of the two relay wins, Smith came in third in the pole vault.  Laura Carlson won her only event, the shot put.  Lily Hubbard finished second in the high jump, and Catharine Larson’s fourth-place finish in the pole vault picked up a lot of team points.

Boys

Biruk Killeen, Ben Paulsen, and Simon Strand were the top individual point-getters for the Wildcat boys.  Killeen fished second in the 1600-meter run and fifth in the 800-meter run.  Paulsen ended up in third place in the 300-meter hurdle and fifth in the 110-meter hurdles.  Strand won the 400-meter dash and flung his way to fifth in the discus.  Trent Guth won the pole vault.  Remy Larsen came in second in the 3200-meter run, and Nathaniel Bear finished third in the pole vault.  Blake Seifert picked up a lot of team points for the Wildcats with a fifth-place finish in the triple jump and a sixth-place finish in the high jump.

Simley Invitational

The Wildcat girls won yet another meet, this time besting four other participating teams in the Simley Invitational at Simley High School on Friday, May 10.  They won by just one point over the host Simley Spartans, 170-169.  Kaia Osmundson had a great day, winning the 800-meter run and the 1600-meter run.  Ava Bringgold also had two first-place finishes, coming in first in the 200-meter dash and the high jump.  And the Wildcats finished first in the 4x200 relay with the team of Kendra Warren, Addison Griffin, Bringgold and Addy Barrett.  The boys finished fourth out of five teams.  Kaden Osmundson won the 1600-meter run, and Biruk Killeen finished first in the 3200-meter run.  Trent Guth won again in the pole vault.

Girls

Other top finishers for the girls included Bene’ Smith, second in the pole vault and fourth in the 100-meter run; Lauran Kowarsch, second in the 1600-meter run and fourth in the 800-meter run; Amelia Anderson, third in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the pole vault; Barrett, third in the long jump; Eden Appleby, third in the triple jump;  Catharine Larsen, third in the pole vault; Arianna Husfeldt, second in the 3200 meter run; Lainey Hallan, third in the 1600-meter run; and Warren, second in the triple jump.  Two Wildcat relay teams finished second in their respective races.  In the 4x100, it was the team of Barrett, Warren, Bringgold, and Smith.  In the 4x800, it was the team of  Claire Mickelson, Lillian Mickelson, Arianna Husfeldt and Eleanor Undem.

Boys

Other top finishers for the boys included Nathaniel Bear, second in the pole vaults; Franklin Stark, second in the discus, and Logan Carlson, third in the shot put and fourth in the discus.

Track Tidbits

By virtue of their Section 7AA True Team Section 7AA championship, the Wildcat girls’ team will participate in the State Class AA True Team Championship meet this Saturday, May 18 at Stillwater High School starting at 4 p.m.  And on Wednesday, May 22, both the boys and girls will head to Zimmerman High School for the Mississippi 8 Conference Championship, which will get underway at noon.

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