Cloquet girls have third state track champion

The Cloquet boys and girls track team headed south to the state track meet last week and came away with a number of top performances, including a state champion.

"It was really fun to have such a group at the state meet," said coach Tim Prosen of the Thursday-Friday meet at St. Michael-Albertville High School. "As coaches, we were running around between the track, the jumpers' area, throwing area, and so forth. It was difficult to watch everything and cheer our athletes on because they were competing at the same time. I hope we can continue the success."

Bella Harriman was the star of the meet for Cloquet by throwing a personal best 122 feet, 4 inches to win the discus by 2 ½ feet over second-place finisher Shay Berlin-Burns of Winona.

"We are all so proud of Bella," said Prosen. "Throwing coach Andy Elias was in tears, he was so excited and many of Bella's throwing teammates were there to watch and share in her excitement. She did this on her first throw of the meet, which was great to get out front and put pressure on the competition to know there was a nice far mark out there to chase."

Harriman became the third Lumberjack girl to win a state title in track. Krista Holmstrand won back-to-back state shot put titles in 1986 and 1987 and Kendra Kelley won the 200-meter dash in 2018.

Senior Olivia Jameson also had a huge meet for the Lumberjacks. She finished second in the high jump and eighth in the 100-meter hurdles. In the high jump, Jameson cleared 5 feet, 5 inches, which was just one inch behind winner Ainsley Hansen of Fergus Falls. Cloquet junior Taylor Wick also finished with an impressive high jump performance by placing sixth with a jump of 5 feet, 2 inches.

"On the bus ride home I could hear many athletes talking about goals for next season and how they hope to return to the state meet with a whole busload of athletes again," Prosen said. "This experience will definitely create some extra excitement in our program. As coaches we are always trying to improve what we do, and the experience for these student athletes and the creation of a third class in this sport will definitely create more opportunity."

Although Cloquet didn't change its class, the creation of a Class AAA this year for Minnesota track and field means Cloquet is no longer one of the smallest schools in the largest class. Instead, they are right where they belong in terms of size, in the middle of Class AA.

The Lumberjacks sent a record number of qualifiers to the state meet this season and Prosen was quick to give credit to his coaching staff.

"Our coaches do such an awesome job," said Prosen. "We had representation in so many events this year and that is a testament to their hard work. People comment that we have as many coaches as athletes, and we do. We have a big group, but it takes a village to work with all of the athletes and events on a track team."

Prosen was also quick to give big thanks to his coaching staff for all the efforts they made this year and how helpful they were in getting the team ready during what has been a trying spring, with the weather.