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Ranger boys sharp in sections; two girls also qualify for state
The Rangers show off their third straight Section 7AA championship trophy.
(Photo submitted)
Clint Riese
Sports Editor
A season that has had more twists and turns than a cross country course will end at the state meet for the Forest Lake boys.
The Rangers slopped through a downpour to capture the Section 7AA title for a third straight year Thursday in Cloquet. They edged Cambridge-Isanti by seven points, avenging two losses to the Bluejackets earlier this season.
This state berth may be the sweetest of the three, considering what the team has overcome this season. First, the Rangers returned only one of the five runners who scored at state last fall. Then, injuries and illnesses plagued the team for most of the schedule, and they were not able to run as a full squad until the conference meet in late October.
“I’ve never seen more obstacles for a team to overcome, ever,” said coach Deno Johnson. “We really were beaten up at times. Psychologically, lesser teams would’ve really taken it hard...These guys have some real tenacity and good will power to get the job done.”
Three Cambridge-Isanti runners completed the sectional course before the first Ranger crossed the finish line, but Forest Lake used a tight pack to get six members to the wire before the next Bluejacket. Just over 18 seconds separated Matt Maki, who took 11th, from Ben Long, the fifth Ranger to finish. Maki, a senior, posted a time of 17:14. In between him and Long were Joe Jackson (17:17), Aaron McNamara (17:30) and J.J. Weigel (17:33). Mike Howe and Eric Herbert did not score, but finished in the top 25 for good measure.
The pack running is a change from last year, when the team had two top runners and a secondary wave.
“Of all the teams I have coached, this is really going to be one I remember,” Johnson said. “They work so hard for each other, the obstacles they’ve overcome, and to see them come to an 18-second spread is mind-blowing stuff. You just don’t see that happen.”
The team has a healthy mixture of veteran runners and newcomers. The sophomore Jackson and seniors Maki and Howe were varsity regulars last fall, and Weigel, another senior, saw some action as well. The rest of the lineup has seemingly come out of nowhere. McNamara has made the most of his first year on the team. The senior has finished third on the team in each race he has been in. Long, a sophomore, has begun to make good on his talent and is capable of being the squad’s front-runner. Herbert, also a sophomore, was, like Long, a JV regular in 2008.
“They threw a monkey wrench in the plans of some other teams,” Johnson said.
Forest Lake would have advanced to Saturday’s state meet with even a second-place finish, but taking first surely turned heads considering some of the results from earlier in the season. According to Johnson, the team hit bottom after a seventh-place effort at the 15-team Bluejacket Invitational in early September. They also took 39th in the loaded Roy Griak Invitational after placing ninth at the same event in 2008.
Once everyone got healthy, though, the team suddenly had an abundance of similar runners and a formidable, albeit unknown, lineup. Fifteen of the state’s elite programs will get a look at the Rangers Saturday at St. Olaf College. The boys’ race begins at 10 a.m.
Liz Peterson edges an Elk River runner by the narrowest of margins at the finish line of Thursday’s sectional meet in Cloquet. Holly Winberg, pictured in background, finished less than a second later to give Forest Lake two runners in the top 10 and earn a trip to state individually.
(Photo by Greg Hunt/Isanti County News)
Two girls to state
The Forest Lake girls made big strides over the season but came up just short of a state bid, taking third place at sectionals. Elk River rolled to victory with 28 points and Grand Rapids wrapped up the other state berth. The Thunderhawks scored 82 points, while Forest Lake had 111.
Individually, junior Liz Peterson and sophomore Holly Winberg qualified to race at state. Peterson placed seventh in 15:33 and Winberg ninth half a second later. Peterson qualified individually in 2007 and took 87th, but was sidelined with an injury when the team qualified last season. Winberg took 64th in 2008.
“Liz and Holly did an incredible job running this year and we hope to be top-50 at state,” coach Eric Kaluza said.
For awhile on Thursday, it appeared Forest Lake was in good position to knock off Grand Rapids. The Rangers were up on the Thunderhawks by 10 after each team’s top three runners finished. Grand Rapids had a tight pack, though, as their five finished in the top 23.
Shannon Nelson was the third Ranger to finish, hitting the line in 15:48. Cassie Thobe came in 38th in 17:00 and Laura Goedeke’s time of 17:19 was good for 46th.
The margin separating Grand Rapids and Forest Lake shows vast improvement by the Rangers over the course of the season. And with no seniors in the varsity lineup, Kaluza is already looking forward to next fall.
“It really stung to see Grand Rapids beat us by 165 points in September, then we narrowed it to 29,” he said. “It’s remarkable what our gals did today, but there’s so much more.”
The return of Mackenzie Galleberg will help greatly. The sophomore ran stride-for-stride with Winberg and Nelson in 2008, but missed this whole season with an injury. Kaluza also hopes to find a handful of new recruits in the off-season.
“It will only take one or two people to be driven to work through the summer heat and tough it out during the fall to be back at the state meet as a team,” he said.
State preview
The boys of Wayzata are in the hunt for their third consecutive Class AA championship. Ten of last year’s 16 teams will be back, including the two-time defending champions from Wayzata. The Trojans have five runners with previous state meet experience. Other teams returning from last year’s meet are Owatonna, Willmar, Burnsville, White Bear Lake, Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Forest Lake, Moorhead and Alexandria. The other teams in the field are Lakeville North, Mankato East, Stillwater, Totino-Grace, Andover and Cambridge-Isanti.
The final rankings from the state coaches association for the qualified teams have Eden Prairie in the top spot, followed by Wayzata, Stillwater, White Bear Lake and Burnsville.
In the individual competition, junior Lukas Gemar of Moorhead returns to defend his title. He was ranked No. 8 in the final coaches poll. In addition to Gemar, two other 2008 top-10 finishers also return: senior Marty Joyce of Woodbury (seventh) and senior Kemal Jarso of St. Paul Central (ninth). Joyce was ranked No. 3 in the final poll.
The Eden Prairie girls, who won the team title last year, return this year, as do Lakeville North, Shakopee, Prior Lake, Woodbury, Minnetonka, Grand Rapids and Moorhead. Lakeville South, Chanhassen, Rosemount, Roseville, Totino-Grace, Mounds View, Elk River and Monticello round out the girls’ field. Eden Prairie is ranked No. 1, while Elk River, Roseville, Shakopee and Lakeville South round out the top five.
Last year’s third-place finisher, sophomore Jamie Piepenburg of Alexandria, leads the field of five returning top-10 finishers. The others are Eden Prairie junior Laura Lawton (sixth), Elk River senior Emma Bates (seventh), Mound-Westonka junior Julia Harrison (eighth) and Shakopee ninth-grader Maria Hauger (ninth). Hauger was ranked No. 1 in the final coaches poll, followed by Bates at No. 2 and Piepenburg at No. 12.
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