Posted: 4/14/04

State participants are back for more

Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

With half of this years girls track and field team freshmen, Forest Lake High School girls head track coach Janet Howe will be relying on last years state participants to be leaders and show the younger athletes the ropes.

ìWe lost all the triple jumpers,î Howe said, ìour senior class that we lost was very good. We have some work to do to fill the gaps but we have a base of good athletes and over the course of the season weíll fill those gaps and be a competitive team.î

Some of the top athletes on this seasons team will be Laura Edlund, Kristen Howe, Kristie Berkeley, Annie Dehmlow, Katie Martin, Lacy Enfield, Shawna Macnamera, Laura Shoberg and Becky Alexander.

Edlund, Howe, Dehmlow and Macnamera are back as the top distance runners on the team again this season. Berkeley will be a thrower as well as a sprinter, with Martin a hurdler. Shoberg and Enfield will be sprinters as well.

ìI think we will probably be pretty balanced,î Howe said. ìWe do have two senior leaders in the distance in Howe and Edlund, but I think our goal is to pull points in all the different events.î

Pulling in points in all the different events, Howe will be depending on several athletes to help in earning points for the team.

Berkeley will most likely earn points for Forest Lake in sprints as a returning state participant. Howe and Edlund will be a two person threat in the 400-meters race, and Alexander is back in both the shot put and discus after competing at the state meet last season.

Three of the four 4-by-800-meter relay team members that broke the school record and competed at the state meet last season are back again as well. The trio of Kristen Howe, Laura Edlund and Shawna Macnamera will be waiting to see who fills in that fourth spot.

ìWe have some ideas of who will fill the spot, but weíre not sure who yet,î Howe said. ìDehmlow who ran well with the cross country team could fit in as well as some incoming runners.î

Aside from the mentioned, there are many open spots that could be filled with the younger athletes who are in the program.

ìI think there is definitely some potential in the younger kids,î Howe said. ìTime will tell. Weíll get a taste of what the younger kids can do at our first meet and go from there.î

This seasons freshman class reminds Howe of last seasons graduating class that was very successful. Howe says that like last years graduating class, this years freshmen came out in big numbers giving the coaches more quality athletes to use at meets.

ìI think theyíre enthusiastic and hard workers,î Howe said. ìTheyíre open to trying different events.î
Competition

With the season barely underway, it is hard to say who is going to be a strong team in the Suburban East Conference and who isnít.

ìEach year things can change so quickly,î Howe said. ìWhite Bear Lake was a real young team last year so theyíve got a year of experience under their belt, Mounds View can be a strong team. Weíll have to see what they have.î

Howe says itís hard to size up the section competition as Elk River and Anoka have joined the section. Last season Forest Lake won the section meet.

ìItís going to mix things up a lot and spread the points differently,î Howe said. ìWe hope to go up to the section meet and do well and get some athletes in the state meet again.î

Top of Page