A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
The varsity boys start the Proctor Lions Cross Country Invitational race Oct. 15.
Spencer Hoeffling keeps up the pace during the Proctor Lions Cross Country Invitational Tuesday afternoon.
Cromwell-Wright runner: Emaleigh Olesiak.
Cromwell-Wright runner: Cameron Dickey.
Cromwell-Wright runner: Noah Foster.
It's been a banner year so far for many Carlton County cross country runners, and it's all coming down to the line this week at the Cloquet Country Club.
The Section 7 cross country meet will take place in Cloquet Thursday at CCC, after this issue of the Pine Knot News went to press. The Class A girls will kick things off at 11 a.m., the Class A boys follow at 11:45 a.m. Then it's the Class AA girls at 3 p.m. and things will wrap up at 3:45 p.m. with the Class AA boys race.
Expect the weather to be unpredictable - it always is.
But first, more about the most recent meets of the season. The Cloquet boys and girls teams swept the Lake Superior Conference meet Oct. 10 in a dominating performance. All seven runners on the boys team placed in the top 12, with Jordan Allen taking first, Jesse Bahen third, Cale Prosen fourth, Miles Fischer fifth, Sam Buytaert eighth, Josh Sanders 11th and Dennis Osvold 12th. That meant a team score of 21, with the second-place team, Proctor, at 65 points.
The Cloquet girls team won the conference meet with 45 points, followed again by Proctor, with 57 points. Harmony Tracy took second, with Amelia Allen in seventh and Lauren Cawcutt in eighth, less than 8 seconds behind. Charlotte Ripp took 11th, Araya Kiminski 17th and Bella Genereau 25th.
At their own Polar League Conference meet on Oct. 10, Cromwell-Wright eighth-grader Emaleigh Olesiak took first place, well ahead of two South Ridge runners: Jillian Sajdak, in second, and Addison Burckhardt in third. Lilly Petty of ML/WR took fifth, Emma Cid of Carlton/Wrenshall took sixth and Esko's Grace Hrabik took seventh at the conference meet. Rounding out the top 10 girls were Coriella Sheetz (ML/WR) in eighth and Abby Cid (Carlton/Wrenshall) in tenth. The South Ridge girls won the meet.
Cromwell-Wright ninth-grader Noah Foster took second place at the conference meet, followed by teammates Cameron Dickey in fourth and Ben Hansen destroying two competitors in his final sprint for eighth place as the Cardinal boys placed second to Cook County as a team. Other top 10 individual finishers for Carlton County included Maverick Koecher (ML/WR) in fifth place and three Carlton/Wrenshall runners: Trent Bagne in sixth, Jack Riley in ninth and Spencer Hoefling in 10th. Top finishers for Esko were Nate Rengo and Jeremiah Foucalt in 12th and 13th place, respectively.
Last Tuesday, Oct. 15, the Cloquet boys took top honors in the Proctor Lions Invitational by five points over Staples-Motley while the girls team took third.
Other local top finishing teams in the boys race were Cromwell-Wright in fourth, Moose Lake/Willow River/Barnum in eighth, Carlton-Wrenshall in 11th and Esko in 15th place. ML/WR/Barnum placed seventh for the girls and Carlton/Wrenshall placed 11th as a team.
Top local finishers at Proctor individually were Cloquet's Allen in fourth place for the boys, Cromwell-Wright's Cameron Dickey in seventh, Cloquet's Bahen in ninth and Cromwell-Wright's Noah Foster in 11th, while Cloquet's Harmony Tracy took eighth and Cromwell-Wright's Emaleigh Olesiak took 11th in the girls' race.
The Cloquet boys team is among the favorites to fight for the Class AA title Thursday with a host of runners who are capable of running in the top 10. Look for Cloquet senior Allen to fight for the top spot individually and his teammates to be hot on his heels. Depth is the key to the 'Jacks this year, and the boys won't relent in their quest for a trip to State.
Look for the Cloquet girls to contend for a top-2 spot in the section - and a trip to State of their own - led by the duo of Tracy and Cawcutt, who have consistently placed high for the 'Jacks. Amelia Allen, Ripp and Kiminski have also scored well for Cloquet this season at different meets.
Look for strong individual performances from Cardinals Dickey and Foster in the boys' race, and Olesiak on the girls' side for Cromwell-Wright.
Another team that could surprise on both sides is Carlton/Wrenshall, with a pretty solid lineup of runners.
Check out the Pine Knot News Facebook page for coverage of the section races Thursday.
