Posted: 6/4/03

Rangers run away with 7AA championship
Forest Lake girls qualify nine athletes for state track meet

Berk Brown
Sports Editor
For the third time this year, the Forest Lake girls track team can call itself a champion.
The Rangers qualified a total of nine athletes for the 2003 Minnesota State High School League AA Girls Track and Field Championships in nine events while winning the team title at the Section 7AA meet in Grand Rapids Saturday.
Forest Lake, which earlier this year won the section true team and Suburban East Conference team titles, ran away from the field in Grand Rapids, finishing with 153 points. Grand Rapids finished a distant second in the 14-team meet with 93 points.
ìWe had a good day,î Forest Lake coach Janet Howe said. ìThe kids all ran really well. Itís fun to see them get the recognition and rewards because theyíve all worked so hard. Itís all well deserved for them. Iím proud of them as a team.î
When the Rangers compete at the state meet this weekend at the National Sports Center in Blaine, they will do so with one of the largest number of athletes theyíve had at the event in recent years.
The top two individuals in each event and the first-place relay teams in each section meet qualify for state.
For the Forest Lake 3,200-meter relay team, it took a record-breaking performance to reach state.
The team of Kristen Howe, Rachel Charpentier, Shawna McNamara and Laura Edlund narrowly finished ahead of Grand Rapids and won the event in a new school-record time of 9:40.17.
Grand Rapids held a lead on the Rangers in the 3,200 relay when Edlund started her 800 meters as the anchor leg.
Edlund close the gap on her first lap and used a late burst of speed to overtake Grand Rapids. Her split time was 2:17, which was a full five seconds faster than the time she ran in the open 800.
ìAll the girls ran well in the relay,î Howe said. ìBut Laura ran a fast last 800.î
Edlund was one of three double-qualifiers for the Rangers. The junior also qualified in the 800, where she placed second with a time of 2:22.82.
Howe, who ran the first leg of the relay, also finished first in the 1,600 with a time of 5:25.80.
Senior Jackie Larson qualified for state in both the long jump and triple jump. She won the section triple jump title with a leap of 36-4 1/2 and was second in the long jump at 16-9 1/4.
Senior Carrie Evenson was second in the 200 for the Rangers with a time of 26.92 while eighth-grader Kristi Buerkle was second in the 400 with a time of 1:00.06.
Becky Shirmer will return to state in the 300 low hurdles after finishing second in that event with a time of 47.57 and senior Beth Zienty qualified in the pole vault, after clearing 9-2 to win the event.
Section 7AA
Girls Championships
Team Standings
1, Forest Lake 153; 2, Grand Rapids 93; Duluth East 82; 4, Cambridge-Isanti 56.5; 5, St. Francis 55; 6, Mora 39; 7, North Branch 38; 8, Cloquet 34; 9, Chisago Lakes 30; 10, Proctor 29; 11, Virginia 27; 12, Hibbing 26.5; 13, Princeton 23; 14, Duluth Denfeld 15.
Event Winners and
Forest Lake Placers
100 HH ñÝ1, Sather, P, 15.78; 4, Shirmer, FL, 16.45; 5, Bayer, FL, 16.50; 8, Zienty, FL, 16.82.
300 LH ñÝ1, Anderson, NB, 47.55; 2, Shirmer, FL, 47.57; 6, Bayer, FL, 49.59.
100 ñÝ1, Aronson, CI, 12.66.
200 ñÝ1, Nelson, DE, 26.91; 2, Evenson, FL, 26.92.
400 ñÝ1, Nelson, DE, 59.84; 2, Buerkle, FL, 1:00.06; 4, Bolenbaugh, FL, 1:02.60.
800 ñÝ1, Joelson, V, 2:21.82; 2, Edlund, FL, 2:22.82.
1600 ñÝ1, Howe, FL, 5:25.80.
3200 ñÝ1, Glowacki, V, 12:13.70.
400 relay ñÝ1, Mora, 51.12; 2, Forest Lake, 51.47.
800 relay ñÝ1, Mora, 1:46.16; 2, Forest Lake, 1:48.18.
1600 relay ñÝ1, Grand Rapids, 4:08.23; 2, Forest Lake, 4:10.82.
3200 relay ñÝ1, Forest Lake, 9:40.17.
High Jump ñÝ1, Letourneau, SF, 5-1; 8, Koski, FL, 4-10.
Pole Vault ñÝ1, Zienty, FL, 9-2; 4, Pringle, FL, 8-6; 5, Buck, FL, 8-6.
Long Jump ñÝ1, Nelson, DE, 17-1; 2, Larson, FL, 16-9 1/4; 7, Bolenbaugh, FL, 15-5; 8, Kouneski, FL, 15-4 1/4.
Triple Jump ñÝ1, Larson, FL, 36-4 1/2; 5, Bolenbaugh, FL, 33-10; 8, Kouneski, FL, 32-8.
Shot Put ñÝ1, Schmidt, CL, 43-8 1/2; 5, Wintheiser, FL, 34-7 3/4.
Discus ñÝ1, Schmidt, CL, 128-3; 5, Alexander, FL, 106-7; 6, Wintheiser, FL, 105-8; 7, England, FL, 98-4.

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