Posted: 6/4/03

Freshman lone boy to reach state

Berk Brown
Sports Editor
At the beginning of the year, Forest Lake boys track coach Paul Kendrick Derek Peterson had a chance to break the schoolís freshman shot put record.
Two months later, not only has Peterson shattered the old freshman record by former Gopher Mark Fahey, but he will be the lone representative at the 2003 Minnesota State High School League AA Boys Track and Field Championships this weekend at the National Sports Center in Blaine.
Peterson got there by winning the Section 7AA title last week with an effort of 53 feet, 1 inch, which was three feet better than his previous personal best.
ìDerek has that explosiveness you donít see in a lot of young throwers,î Kendrick said. ìNow heís going to be getting some experience (at state) that 99 percent of the population donít get.î
As a team, Forest Lake finished fourth in the 13-team meet. While Peterson was the only member of the team to qualify for the state meet, a handful of other Rangers barely missed qualifying.
The top two individuals in each event and the first-place relay teams all qualify for state.
Junior Lorin Skoglund turned in his best time of the season in the 400-meter dash, but his 51.83 placed him third, less than half-a-second out of qualifying for state.
In the 800, senior Chris Clark finished fourth in 2:02.04, missing state by less than four seconds. Junior Tom Frericks went 20-2 1/2 in the long jump, placing fourth and missing a trip to state by eight inches.
Senior Bryan Brodeur was fourth in the shot put at 48-0 1/4 and the Rangersí 1,600 relay team of Clark, Skoglund, Chad Bjorklund and Kyle Fuller placed second in 3:31.29.
ìIt was a pretty good overall performance for our team,î Kendrick said.
The Forest Lake coach also is expecting a solid outing by his freshman at the state meet.
ìWeíre still looking for improvement, just like we have all year,î Kendrick said. ìThereís no reason why (Peterson) canít improve at state.î
Section 7AA
Boys Championships
Team Standings
1, St. Francis 114; 2, Duluth East 95; 3, Grand Rapids 69; 4, Forest Lake 68; 5, (tie) Cambridge-Isanti, Princeton 64; 7, Duluth Central 48; 8, Chisago Lakes Area 42; 9, Proctor 41; 10, Cloquet 26; 11, (tie) Hibbing, North Branch 24; 13, Mora 21.
Event Winners and
Forest Lake Placers
110 HH ñÝ1, Nelson, GR, 15.21.
300 IH ñÝ1, Nelson, GR, 39.01.
100 ñÝ1, Lautzenheiser, DE, 11.33; 7, Schneider, FL, 11.77.
200 ñÝ1, Sharpe, SF, 23.18.
400 ñÝ1, Gronli, P, 50.65; 3, Skoglund, FL, 51.83.
800 ñÝ1, Johnson, CI, 1:58.21; 4, Clark, FL, 2:02.04; 8, Schweitz, FL, 2:07.30.
1600 ñÝ1, Johnson, CI, 4:22.50; 8, Bjorklund, FL, 4:44.73.
3200 ñÝ1, Heitzman, GR, 9:54.28.
400 relay ñÝ1, St. Francis, 44.02; 3, Forest Lake, 45.40.
800 relay ñÝ1, St. Francis, 1:31.72; 6, Forest Lake, 1:35.06.
1600 relay ñÝ1, Duluth East, 3:28.95; 2, Forest Lake, 3:31.29.
3200 relay ñÝ1, Duluth Central, 8:17.92; 3, Forest Lake, 8:32.46.
High Jump ñÝSanford, P, 6-4.
Pole Vault ñÝ1, Sworsky, SF, 13-4.
Long Jump ñÝ1, Hickman, CI, 21-1 1/4; 4, Frericks, FL, 20-2 1/2.
Triple Jump ñÝ1, Hickman, CI, 43-4 1/4.
Shot Put ñÝ1, Peterson, FL, 53-1; 4, Brodeur, FL, 48-0 1/4.
Discus ñÝ1, Brace, GR, 143-10; 6, Brodeur, FL, 132-10.

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