Lumberjacks dominate conference meet

It seems Mother Nature is the most formidable foe for Northland track and field, as the weather is the only thing slowing down the Lumberjacks this spring.

With 140 kids on the varsity roster and another 80 on the middle school roster, the Cloquet program just keeps growing in number and talent, according to head coach Tim Prosen, who said he's been very pleased with their progress, despite having only one outdoor meet going into the last week of April.

"We have lots of new young kids this year," Prosen said. "We are not really sure what they can do yet, but I know they are talented."

The longtime track coach was thrilled to report that Cloquet swept the 4x400 meter relays at Cambridge last Thursday, April 18, which he called "one of the most prestigious races of the year."

The winning relay teams for Cloquet were Alex Leuzzo, Damien Diver, Riley Leslie and Alex Leuzzo for the boys, and Kelly Lorenz, Katie Turner, Alexa Snesrud and Kendra Kelley for the girls.

Both the Cloquet boys and girls track teams finished in first place at the Lake Superior Conference Indoor Invite in Ashland Tuesday, April 16. On the boys side, the Lumberjacks scored a total of 134 points to take first place, while the Cloquet girls scored a team-high 147 points.

At the conference meet, the girls team was led by Kendra Kelley, who took first place in the 55-, 200- and 400-meter dash. The senior track star turned in a blazing time of 7.1 seconds in the 55-meter dash to defeat her sister Katelyn Kelley, a sophomore, who tied for second with a time of 7.5 seconds. In the 200, Kendra Kelley won with a time of 26 seconds while Katelyn Kelley finished third in 28.5 seconds. Kendra also won the 400 with a time of 60.5 seconds - more than two seconds faster than the runner-up in that event.

Cloquet sophomore Lauren Cawcutt finished a strong third place in the 3200-meter run; she also finished sixth in the 1600-meter run. Harmony Tracy, a freshman, was fifth in the 1600.

Freshman Olivia Jameson had a big day in Ashland too. Jameson took first place in both the triple jump and the high jump, plus a fourth place in the 200-meter hurdles. Jameson set a school record in the triple jump Tuesday and then at Cambridge Thursday she broke her own record, which now stands at 35 feet, 3 inches.

Eighth-grader Taylor Wick took second place in the high jump while freshman Katie Turner was fourth in the triple jump. Turner also scored a point in the long jump by finishing sixth.

Freshman Ashtyn Schneberger finished in a tie for first place in the pole vault while Ilei Benson ended up jumping the same height as the top two in the pole vault but ended up finishing third by virtue of more misses.

Maddie Dostal, a junior, won the shot put with a toss of 36 feet, 2 inches, and teammate Makayla Suominen was second with a throw of 34-3. Heavynlee Husnik-Dixson also scored a point in the shot put by finishing in sixth place.

Cloquet also took first place in the 4x200 relay, third in the 4x800 and fourth in the 4x400 events.

In terms of surprises, Prosen said Alexa Snesrud has been very strong in the mid-distance races, Lexi Serafin has done a great job hurdling and Olivia Jameson has emerged "as a top tier athlete on our team."

Captains on the girls team are: Kendra Kelley-sprints, Elise Pickar-distance, Payten Schneberger-PV, Kelly Lorenz-hurdles, and Makayla Suominen in throws.

Results: Lake Superior Conference Indoor Invite

Final girls team scores:

Cloquet 147

Hermantown 102

Ashland 101

Marshall 48

Superior 45

Proctor 32.5

Denfeld 19.5

Boys outdistance conference teams

The Cloquet boys also had an impressive showing by nabbing first place and easily outdistancing the rest of the field.

'Jacks distance runner Jordan Allen won both the 1600- and the 3200-meter runs. In the 3200, Allen ran a time of 10 minutes, 28.6 seconds, which was well ahead of the second-place runner from Ashland. Cloquet's Josh Sanders and Ben Bauer came in third and fourth, respectively, also giving Cloquet big points. In the 1600 Allen ran an impressive 4:48.5 and he needed every bit of that fast time because his teammate Jesse Bahen was second, less than two seconds behind in 4:50.5.

In the 400-meter dash, Cloquet's Blaine Bong smashed the field with a winning time of 53.9 seconds, more than two seconds faster than the runner-up. The Lumberjacks also got points in the event from Reese Miller and Logan Dushkin.

Cloquet's Mario Genereau was a

solid third in the 800-meter run, with AJ Maijala finishing sixth and scoring a point in the meet.

The Lumberjacks had a great showing in the 200-meter hurdles with Nathan Genereau, Alex Leuzzo, Brady Anderson and Nathan Blatchford finishing second through fifth, respectively, in the race.

Sophomore Dylan Heehn captured the high jump with a leap of 5 feet 7 inches with Cloquet's Adam Schneider finishing in sixth with a jump of 5-2.

Alex Leuzzo was strong in the long jump and the triple jump by finishing second in the triple jump and third in the long jump. Riley Leslie finished fifth in both events to also score points for Cloquet.

Junior Josh South took fourth place in the pole vault for Cloquet with a 9-0

effort which was enough to add four more points to the 'Jacks point total, while Cody Tibbets also finished fourth in the shot put with a toss of 39 feet and 1.5 inches.

Results: Lake Superior Conference Indoor Invite

Final boys team scores:

Cloquet 134

Denfeld 93

Ashland 85

Superior 79

Hermantown 48

Marshall 32

Proctor 25

Cloquet was also impressive in the relays by taking first place in the 4x400, second in the 4x800 and fourth in the 4x200.

Prosen said Nathan Genereau looks very good in hurdles, Logan Dushkin very impressive in mid-distance, and Riley Leslie strong in 400-meter distances.

Captains on the boys team are: Blaine Bong-mid distance, Riley Leslie-sprints, Alex Leuzzo and Dru Senich-jumps, Luke Konietzko-throws, and Josh South on pole vault.

"I expect us to be competitive in both the Lake Superior Conference and also 7AA True Team sections," Prosen said. "I also expect we can send several athletes to the individual state meet at the end of the year."