10 'Jacks head to state meet

The Section 7AA boys and girls track meet concluded on Saturday at Members Cooperative Athletic Complex in Cloquet. Chisago Lakes was a double winner, capturing top honors in both the boys and girls division. The Lumberjacks finished fourth in the girls meet while the boys from Cloquet took sixth in the 11-team field.

"Both the boys and girls teams this year are the youngest teams we've had in quite a while," said 'Jacks head coach Tim Prosen. "This is such a nice group of kids. All of them are friends and they get along so well with no drama; it has just been a joy this season."

Cloquet's top performer was Makenzie Lynch, who qualified for State in three events. The ninth-grader won the girls 300-meter hurdles in a time of 45.87 seconds, finished second in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.87 and was part of the 4x400 relay team which took second.

"Lynch had a banner day," said Prosen. "She had goals in mind, and we knew she could do it. She set her goals, and she did it."

Joining Lynch on the 4x400 relay team were Erin "Soup" Loeb, Lauren Hughes and Alexa Shepherd.

"That race was pretty special because we have two seniors, Soup Loeb and Shepherd, who wanted so badly to get to State in their final year," Prosen said. "We had a bit of a home track advantage because that race is the final race of the day, so we told them to show up later in the day and stay out of the heat and off their feet, and it paid off."

Lynch also came within a quarter of an inch of second place in the triple jump, but fell just short of her attempt to make the state meet in three individual events.

Cloquet also got a first-place finish from Ava Luiten, who won the discus with a toss of 113 feet, 5 inches, while Ahna Demenge finished third.

"Ava is a first-year kid and has kind of come out of nowhere to win the conference and the sectional meet," Prosen said. "She loves to throw, and has really improved in a short amount of time."

Cloquet boys

Cloquet's Andrew Shepherd will go to State in both the 800-meter run and as part of the 4x800 relay team. Shepherd took second in the 800 with a time of 2:01.94.

"He is just a sophomore and is kind of lanky, and has another year," said Prosen. "He is fun to watch."

The 4x800 relay team cruised to a first-place win with two seniors - Emmet Prosen and Calvin Snesrud - plus Shepherd and Evan Rothamel, turning in a time of 8:17.14.

"I was really impressed by that group, and how they just were not going to be denied the win," Prosen said.

Cloquet weight thrower Mason Sundquist is a double entrant to the state tournament this year, taking second in both the shot put and the discus. Sundquist tossed the shot put 50 feet, 5 inches and capped off a big section meet by throwing the discus 149 feet, 6 inches.

"He is another kid who just loves to throw and works hard at his craft," coach Prosen said.

The state track meet began Thursday and will run through Saturday at St. Michael-

Albertville High School.