Posted: 6/5/02

Rangers qualify six for state track meet

Berk Brown
Sports Editor
Itís hard to expect perfection, but thatís what Forest Lake boys track coach Paul Kendrick felt like the Rangers needed to be to win the Section 7AA team title Saturday.

The Rangers werenít perfect, but they came close.

Forest Lake qualified four boys for this weekendís state track meet and finished second in the team standings while the Rangers placed third as a team in the girls standings and qualified two individuals for state.

For the Forest Lake boys, with the lowest number of participants the squad has had in several years, strength wasnít in numbers but in effort.

ìWe had to have everything hit perfectly to win it,î Kendrick said. ìWe were close. It was a very good meet overall.

ìThe seniors stepped up and did a very good job (Saturday).î

Duluth East won the team title with a score of 108 while Forest Lake finished with 93. The difference came in the relays where the Greyhounds placed first in all four.

It was on Wednesday, May 29, when the Rangers went to Cambridge-Isanti and set the tone for a strong showing in the 7AA meet.

On that day, senior Adam Wilson qualified for state in the shot put with a throw of 56-6 1/2 and seniors Tyler Anderson (43-0 1/4) and Matt Kraska (42-9 3/4) went 1-2 in the triple jump to each earn a trip to state.

Forest Lakeís other state qualifier came on Saturday when Matt Lovgren placed second in the pole vault by clearing 13-1.

Forest Lakeís boys also had a handful of athletes just miss a trip to state.

Chad Bjorklund placed fourth in the 1600 as did Matt Rivard in the 110 high hurdles, Andy Moryn in the pole vault, Ben Myrick in the shot put and Wilson in the shot put. The top two finishers in each individual event qualified for state.

Wilson nearly qualified in his second event with a personal-best throw of 150-2 in the discus in his final attempt.

ìHis best throw came on his last throw of the year,î Kendrick said. ìThatís impressive.î

For the Forest Lake girls, Stephanie Howe didnít win an event but she qualified for state in two.

She finished second in the 3200 on the first day of competition and then finished second in the 1600 on Saturday. She and Grand Rapidsí Veronica Sackett had a photo finish in the 1600 with Sackett winning by .17 of a second.

ìStephís two-mile time was a little slow, but because of the heat, all that really mattered was the place and not the time,î Forest Lake coach Janet Howe said. ìShe ran an excellent mile race even though she got passed at the very end of it. It will be fun to see them compete against each other at the state meet.î

Forest Lakeís other state qualifier is junior Becky Shirmer, who placed second in the 300 hurdles in 48.45.

ìShe ran a nice race (Saturday),î Howe said of Shirmer. ìIt wasnít one of her fastest times, so there is room for her to drop. So, only good things can happen.î

Even though the Rangers placed third as a team, Howe said Forest Lake couldnít have asked for much more.

ìOverall, I think the girls competed to the best of their ability,î she said. ìI think the heat got to some of them because we havenít had the opportunity to practice in it. But, it was the same for everybody, so the heat isnít an excuse, just a factor.î

ìWe didnít have any shoe-ins (for state) this year. Nobody was a for-sure. Some of them that were close didnít go our way, but the girls did give it their all.î

The state track meet is Friday and Saturday at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

Howe will compete in the finals of the AA girls 3200 at 10 a.m. on Friday in the AA girls 1600 at approximately 12:36 p.m. on Saturday. Shirmerís preliminary heat for the AA girls 300 hurdles is scheduled for Friday afternoon with finals at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Lovgren will compete in the AA boys pole vault at 10 a.m. on Friday while Wilson will compete in the AA boys shot put at 11 a.m. on Friday.

Anderson and Kraska will compete in the AA boys triple jump at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Section 7AA

Boys team standings

1, Duluth East 108; 2, Forest Lake 93; 3, North Branch 73.5; 4, St. Francis 71; 5, Grand Rapids 61; 6, Cambridge-Isanti 54; 7, Cloquet 52; 8, Proctor 50; 9, Duluth Denfeld 49; 10, Princeton 31; 11, Chisago Lakes 27.5; 12, Duluth Central 14; 13, Mora 11; 14, Hibbing 7.

Boys event winners and
Forest Lake placers

110 High Hurdles - 1, P.J. Nelson, GR, 14.74; 4, Matt Rivard, FL, 15.59.
300 Int. Hurdles - 1, Nelson, GR, 40.55.
100 - 1, Rolando Peco, DC, 11.09; 8, Matt Keller, FL, 11.82.
200 - 1, Denis Jacobson, DD, 22.24.
400 - 1, Tony Roman, DE, 50.71; 7, Chris Clark, FL, 54.18.
800 - 1, Bjorn Batdorf, DE, 2:02.69; 9, Chad Bjorklund, FL, 2:09.76.
1600 - 1, Todd Johnson, CI, 4:29.84; 4, Bjorklund, FL, 4:45.62; 8, John Fahnhorst, FL, 4:51.03; 24, Doug Joyer, FL, 5:10.17.
3200 - 1, Grant Johnson, DE, 9:47.94; 23, Peter Bailey, FL, 11:28.51; 29, Jordan Koch, FL, 11:37.26; 39, Bill England, FL, 12:45.83.
4 x 100 - 1, Duluth East, 43.24; 3, Forest Lake, 44.17.
4 x 200 - 1, Duluth East, 1:30.57; 5, Forest Lake, 1:35.59.
4 x 400 - 1, Duluth East, 3:30.86; 2, Forest Lake, 3:35.27.
4 x 800 - 1, Duluth East, 8:11.19; 12, Forest Lake, 9:19.75.
Long Jump - 1, Cole Hickman, CI, 21-1; 3, Tyler Anderson, FL, 20-7 1/2; 5, Matt Kraska, FL, 20-3 1/4.
Triple Jump - 1, Anderson, FL, 43-0 1/4; 2, Kraska, FL, 42-9 3/4.
High Jump - 1, Nick Hoffman, PRO, 6-0.
Pole Vault - 1, Brian Sworsky, SF, 13-7; 2, Matt Lovgren, FL, 13-1; 4, Andy Moryn, FL, 12-0.
Shot Put - 1, Joe Remitz, NB, 59-0 1/2; 2, Adam Wilson, FL, 56-6 1/2; 4, Ben Myrick, FL, 49-7 1/4; 7, Bryan Brodeur, FL, 47-10 1/4.
Discus - 1, Adam Brace, GR, 161-0; 4, Wilson, FL, 150-2; 10, Myrick, FL, 125-9; 12, Brodeur, FL, 122-0.

Section 7AA
Girls team standings
1, Grand Rapids, 148; 2, North Branch, 94.5; 3, Forest Lake, 90; 4, Duluth East 61; 5, St. Francis 54; 6, Cambridge-Isanti, 45; 7, Chisago Lakes, 43; 8, Cloquet, 40; 9, Hibbing 38; 10, Proctor 27; 11, Mora, 20.5; 12, Virginia 18; 13, Princeton 15; 14, Duluth Denfeld, 8.

Girls event winners and
Forest Lake placers

100 High Hurdles - 1, Kayla Lightfoot, GR, 15.87; 5, Ashley Bayer, FL, 16.84; 6, Becky Shirmer, FL, 16.92.
300 Low Hurdles - 1, Lightfoot, GR, 46.95; 2, Shirmer, FL, 48.45.
100 - 1, Bethany Keene, GR, 12.42.
200 - 1, Keene, GR, 25.94; 4, Samantha Haseltine, FL, 26.96.
400 - 1, Megan Garrity, H, 59.60.
800 - 1, Alli Joelson, V, 2:21.49; 5, Laura Edlund, FL, 2:28.10.
1600 - 1, Veronica Sackett, GR, 5:15.57; 2, Stephanie Howe, FL, 5:15.74; 13, Emily Buck, FL, 5:58.61.
3200 - 1, Jessica Goeden, GR, 11:19.18; 2, Stephanie Howe, FL, 11:47.83; 4, Kristen Howe, FL, 12:18.49; 27, Christina Purps, FL, 14:28.96.
4 x 100 - 1, North Branch, 50.58; 2, Forest Lake, 52.00.
4 x 200 - 1, North Branch, 1:48.04; 7, Forest Lake, 1:53.25.
4 x 400 - 1, Grand Rapids, 4:05.03; 2, Forest Lake, 4:16.16.
4 x 800 - 1, Grand Rapids, 9:45.75; 2, Forest Lake, 10:09.74.
Long Jump - 1, Melissa Nelson, DE, 16-10 1/2; 4, Jackie Larson, FL, 15-9; 10, Katie Bolenbaugh, FL, 15-0 3/4; 18, Julia Kouneski, FL, 14-2 1/4.
Triple Jump - 1, Nelson, DE, 36-0 1/2; 4, Bolenbaugh, FL, 33-7 1/2; 8, Larson, FL, 33-1 1/4; 19, Kouneski, FL, 30-2 1/4.
High Jump - 1, Rauna Dallman, NB, 5-2; 9, Lindsey Anderson, FL, 4-10; 9, Heather Jackson, FL, 4-10.
Pole Vault - 1, Taylor Debel, CI, 10-9; 4, Beth Zienty, FL, 9-6; 9, Buck, FL, 8-0; 9, Brianna McMahon, FL, 8-0.
Shot Put - 1, Sheena Devine, NB, 42-7 1/2; 6, Ashley Wintheiser, FL, 35-4; 19, Becky Alexander, FL, 29-2; 23, Rachel Boyd, FL, 27-8 1/4.
Discus - 1, Danyelle Guinn, SF, 120-7; 12, Alexander, FL, 92-8; 21, Stephanie England, FL, 83-0; 26, Wintheiser, FL, 75-3.

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