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Section 7AA True Team Meet

The Wildcat girls’ track team won the Section 7AA True Team meet and will head to the state tournament for the second year in a row. The Wildcats piled up 500.5 points, finishing 75 points ahead of second-place North Branch. The Wildcat boys finished fifth with 382.5 points, 24 points ahead of sixth-place North Branch.

The True Team format showcases a team’s depth, as every athlete who finishes an event scores points for their team. Each team is allowed two entrants in each event, with the exception of relays, where only one team per school is allowed. The only athlete in a race awarded bonus points is the winner of the event.

Girls

The keys to the Wildcats’ first place finish were no surprise to the Wildcat faithful. Annika Hall won both the 3200-meter run, with a time of 11:30.93, and the 1600-meter run, with a time of 5:18.31. Mariana Cooksley won the shot put with a personal best throw of 39’11”, and Madison Eagle finished second. In the discus, Cooksley took third and Eagle came in fifth, both adding key points to the Wildcat total. And second place finishes by the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x800 relay teams contributed significantly to the Wildcat score.

Other events that really helped the Wildcats were the 200-meter dash, with Addison Griffin and Rowan Klinkner finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, both with a time of 27.68 seconds; and the 800-meter run, with Lauren Kowarsch coming in second and Kara Hall taking fifth. In the 100-meter hurdles, McKaylie Malke ran to a second-place finish, and Mataya Malek came in fifth with a personal best time of 18.00 seconds. In the 300-meter hurdles, Mariah Cave finished fifth and McKaylie Malek finished right behind her in sixth. Mikenna Fritzke came in second in the high jump, and Olivia Schleif came in eighth, which was good for 12 points. In the long jump, Addison Griffin finished fourth and McKaylie Malek came in fifth in a personal best 15’9”, just an inch behind Griffin. Their efforts of Griffin and Malek added a combined 33 points to the Wildcat team score.

Girls’ Team Results

1. Chisago Lakes 500.5

2. North Branch Area 425.5

3. Hibbing 384

4. Esko 382

5. Pine City 374

6. Hermantown 328

7. Mora 320

8. Proctor 312.5

9. Duluth Denfeld 297.5

10. Cloquet 256

Boys

For the boys, field events, distance races and one relay team provided most of the feel for the Wildcats’ fifth-place finish. William Pearson won the shot put with a personal best heave of 51’9”, with Everett Otte taking second. Pearson was on fire at the tournament, winning the discuss with a personal best fling of 156’6”. Charles Boarman finished sixth in the discus. Lincoln Battles sprung to a first-place finish in the pole vault.  Cohen Underhill came in third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump, adding 35 points to the Wildcat team score. In the 1600-meter run, Remy Larsen came in second with personal best time of 4:42.27 and Cian O’Halloran finished fourth with a personal best time of 4:47.77. The two combined to contribute 36 points to the Wildcats’ final score from that race. Larsen also came in third in the 3200-meter run in a personal best time of 10:23.89. And the 4x800 relay team ran to a first-place finish in their event.

Boys’ Team Results

1. Cloquet 507

2. Hibbing 428.5

3. Hermantown 428

4. Mora 400.5

5. Chisago Lakes 382.5

6. North Branch Area 358.5

7. Duluth Denfeld 308.5

8. Proctor 271

9. Esko 265.5

10. Pine City 238

Track Tidbits

The girls will head to Eden Prairie High School this Saturday, May 16 for the state Class AA True Team meet, which gets underway at 1 p.m.

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