Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

Way back in August, on just the fourth day of practice, boys cross country coach Deno Johnson talked about the realistic shot of his crew qualifying for the state meet.

If that were to happen, his only other wish was to see Forest Lake represent Section 7AA with a solid performance.

On Saturday, Nov. 3, the Rangers faced Minnesota’s best at St. Olaf College, and ended up with a more than respectable 12th place finish (294 points) out of 16 teams.

“State was good. We are pleased — a great end to the year,” Johnson said. “The racing is at such a high level, with athletes of the highest caliber, and the experience was priceless for the future of distance running in Forest Lake.”

Some running programs are so far ahead of the pack it’s hard to compare Forest Lake to a first-place Wayzata (62 points) or even a neighboring school like fourth-place Stillwater (161 points).

But there were obvious gains when tracking the Rangers’ improvement over the past three weeks.

At the Suburban East Conference meet in October, Mounds View ended up ahead of Forest Lake, with their top runner, Erik Anderson, coming in on the heels of the Rangers’ Zach Waldoch. The next Mustang to cross the finish line was eight seconds faster than junior Nate Moen, and nearly 30 seconds in front of senior Ben Brodin.

But in Northfield, Waldoch was 18 seconds better than Anderson, while both Moen and Brodin turned in sub-17 minute races. Trailing the two of them on Saturday was Mounds View’s No. 2 man, at 17:03.9.

“We’ve been chasing Andover (13th place) and Mounds View (14th) for a long time and to beat them at the showcase meet was fantastic,” Johnson noted. “Twelfth place was a great finish.

Waldoch capped off his junior season with a stellar posting of 16:37.2, which landed him in 21st place. For a little perspective on Waldoch’s progress, he was 19th in the conference in 2006, with a time of 17:13.

“This program is building itself into something special and we’ll be back stronger than ever next fall,” Johnson said.

Of Saturday’s top seven Forest Lake runners, five will return in 2008.

PETERSON, LANGE

Also taking part in the state meet were Elizabeth Peterson and Gina Lange, who qualified for the girls race by finishing in the top 10 of Section 7AA.

As the season went on, these two were turning in similar times, which was hammered home at sections when they both crossed the finish line at 15:44.

On Nov. 3 it wouldn’t be much different, as a mere four seconds separated Peterson in 87th place and Lange in 94th.

“The girls ran well and got an experience that we will use for our team in next year’s state meet,” girls head coach Eric Kaluza shared.

“I felt they were tentative through the first mile and didn’t feel as dialed-in as they were at the regional meet. But they charged the hill with 1000 meters to go and picked off a number of runners.”

Peterson would wrap up her freshman year with a posting of 15:55.7, while Lange completed her junior year at 15:59.6.

“All in all, the experience was great, and I stress the team portion as it’s always better when the team makes it,” Kaluza added. “We had around 20 people come down to watch and we thank them for their support.”

STATE MEET — BOYS
12th place, 294 points

21. Waldoch 16:37.2
44. Moen 16:57.0
48. Brodin 16:59.3
87. Andrew Orth 17:43.9
94. Ryan Wright 17:54.4
97. Dave Medina 18:02.9
104. SpenceCossalter 18:14.8

STATE MEET - GIRLS

87. Peterson 15:55.7
94. Lange 15:59.6

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