TRACK:

The Caledonia/Spring Grove/Mabel track teams had their best year ever at this yearís state track meet in Blaine June 10 and 11. A state record was broken, and two athletes came home with first place medals. Ten athletes received all-state awards for being among the top nine in their events.

As a team, the boys finished in second place with 33 points. Hermantown was the state champion team with 36 points.

Brianna Polus broke the 10-year-old Class A record of 5'8.5" in the high jump with a jump of 5'9". She subsequently attempted a jump of 5'10 1/2 " to break the all-time state record of 5'10," but didnít clear the bar.

The second-place winner, Krista Skoglund of International Falls, jumped 5'7".

Polus is a recent CHS graduate and plans to attend the University of Minnesota this fall where she will compete in track.

ìBri is just a fantastic person, she has grown up so much,î said coach Paul Stevens. She started track as a youngster in the kidsí program, and has stayed with it.

Polus has competed in state track since eighth grade, and the experience she has gained, along with her experience playing soccer and basketball in state tournaments, has helped her develop the ability to stay calm in a pressure situation, Stevens observed.

Travis Steele finished first in the 100-meter finals, crossing the line in 11.29. In second place was Isaac Anderson, Blake School, who set a new Class A record of 10.94 in the preliminaries a day earlier. Andersonís time in the finals was 11.43.

Steele said he went into the finals confident because he had his best time ever in the prelims, breaking the school record by finishing in 11:03. He wasnít intimidated by Anderson, who had broken the record the day before.

ìMy coaches both said that they thought I could beat him,î said Steele.

He went into the finals with a goal of beating 11:00, but the boys were running into the wind, which gave some advantage to Steele, who is 6'2" and weighs 200 lbs.

ìI can react better to the wind,î explained Steele. ìTimes were all slower in the finals.î

Junior Andy Marnach took fourth in the 400, coming in at 50.08.

The 400 relay team finished in 44.02 for third place. Juniors Steele, Karl Klug, Marnach, and Clint Grabhorn run on that team.

Senior Chris Jandt medaled in two events. He was fourth in the triple jump with 43'06" and ninth in the long jump with a distance of 20'00.75".

Kyle Hunzeker jumped 6'02" in the high jump and was in tenth place.

Amelia Schaller competed in two events at the state meet, and was a medal winner in one. She threw a distance of 122'10" in the discus for fourth place, and was tenth in the shot put with 36'05".

The 400 girlsí relay team of freshman Molly Furlong, Sarah Colleran, and Alecia Fruechte and senior Brianna Polus took sixth.

Coach Stevens said the recent success of the track program is just the ìtip of the iceberg.î In the past, taking one or two athletes to the state meet has been the norm, but the number is growing. A total of 11 athletes went this year, and 10 were medalists.

Stevens credits the new track facility with helping the program grow. He predicts that it will continue to grow as students see the successes of track participants.

ìThere is a lot of talent in the district,î said Stevens. ìAnd they donít even know they have talent.î Participants going out for the first time did extremely well, and those students will set examples for others and being more good quality athletes to the program, he believes.

Coach Carl Fruechte said Monday that he was ìpretty excitedî about the results of the state track meet.

ìAll the kids did a tremendous job,î said Fruechte. ìWeíve got some good kids who can compete with anyone in the state.î

The boysí state championship came down to the 4x400. C/SG/M was ahead in team points until that event, but when Hermantown came in second, it added 10 team points to that score, enough for the title. C/SG/M did not field a team in that event.

ìWeíre very proud of all of them,î said Fruechte of the state participants. ìWe hope it encourages others to go out for track.î Fruechte, who is also the football coach, said he encourages students who are not already in a spring sport to go out for track. Having new facilities has given the program a boost.

ìThe new track has opened up opportunities,î he added.

GIRLS GOLF:

C/SG girls win 7th Minnesota golf title

By David Heiller

Argus News Editor

ìIncredible.î

That was he first word that Ken Van Den Boom used in describing his teamís state golf title last week.í

The Caledonia/Spring Grove girls totally dominated the 2005 Class A Minnesota state championship on June 8 and 9 at Izatyís Golf and Yacht Club in Onamia.

The Warriors had a total team score of 686, 31 strokes better than second place Albany.

Albany won the tournament last year with 717, which was their second place score this year.

ìIncredible.î

It was a team effort too. The best four scores for each day were counted to come up with the total. C/SG had every player count at least once.

The Warriors led after the first day, 348 to second place Albanyís 357. J. Hauser had 77, followed by Kruse 86, Burg 89, Lilliquist 96, K. Hauser 97, and Welscher 100.

They did even better the next day with a 338. J. Hauser and Burg had 80s, followed by Kruse 82, K. Hauser and Welscher 96, and Lilliquist 97.

Jacquelyn Hauser finished fourth in the individual competition with 157, 14 behind defending champion Katie Detlefsen of Minnehaha Academy.

ìThe key is to not back up again,î Van Den Boom said, referring to his teamís lead after day one. Quite the contrary, he said, the team charged forward.

ìThey took it to a whole new level with a 338.î

So why did things go so well? ìDetermination,î Boomer an-swered. ìAbsolute determination to do well. It was a true team effort because all six girls counted one day or the other.î

No other team was close to doing that, Van Den Boom said. He figured C/SG would have won by 100 strokes if all six girlsí scores from each team had been added up. ìJust because they are truly a team,î he added.

ìThey knew that beating Lake City [in the sectional tournament] was going to be a huge challenge,î Van Den Boom said. ìOnce they accomplished that, they knew they belonged, so to speak.î

The course was very wet, thanks to heavy rain earlier in the week, so the tournament officials let the players do ìpick, clean and place.î That means that after every shot, a player could pick up the ball, clean it, and place it back down. It especially helped the players in the rough, because they could get a better lie. Van Den Boom said.

Fan support was outstanding too, he added. ìI think Caledonia probably had the furthest to go and had the biggest turnout of fans as far as numbers. And the girls appreciated it so much. And we appreciated the welcome home response by the school when we got back home.î The team had a rally at the high school at about 11 p.m. that Thursday night, with cake and refreshments.

Van Den Boom also praised the three seniors on the state tournament team, Welscher, Burg, and Jacquelyn Hauser. ìTheyíre very quality leaders,î he said. ìThey know how to have fun with it.î

ìPlay the courseî

Heidi Welscher said the players did so well because they worked hard and put extra time into it. They stayed focused too, she said. ìWe played the course and we didnít worry about the other team,î she said, echoing statements that her teammates made.

The victory and the huge 31-stroke margin of victory didnít surprise the confident senior. ìI knew we could do that,î she said. ìI knew we were good enough.î

She gave a lot of credit to her two coaches too. ìMr Van Den Boom is the best coach in the state, I think.î she said. Assistant Jennifer Snook knows the game well and is always there to help, Welscher added.

Janelle Lilliquist said doing so well the first day was a great way to start the tournament. ìThe next day we went out and did the same thing and it worked,î she said.

It was stressful to watch for the parents, especially when someone make a bad shot and struggled, said Sandy Welscher, one of those fine supporters that Van Den Boom praised. ìYou canít do anything about it. But then to see them bounce back the next hole is great,î she said.

It was also exciting so see the six girls all do well and help each other, Sandy added. ìEvery score counted. It took all six scores to win this.î

ìAnd the coaches are just great,î she said. ìBoth Boomer and Jennifer Snook.î

Jacquelyn Hauser said that the cold, wet spring may have helped the teamís performance. ìThe course was extremely wet,î she said. ìThat played a huge part in it.î She felt that playing pick-clean-and-place helped a lot.

ìI think we were pretty prepared for it,î she said of the course. ìWeíve played in pretty much everything.î

Their first day margin of nine strokes was by no means a safe one, but Hauser said the players didnít focus on that. ìWe didnít worry so much about what the other teams were shooting. We just played our own game.î

Hauser was pleased with her fourth place individual finish. ìMy goal was to get top five,î she said. She took seventh last year. She plans to play golf at Concordia College in St. Paul as she works toward an elementary education degree.

Seventh title

It was Van Den Boomís seventh state golf title and the second in three years. ìThatís almost getting to be silly,î he said. He was reluctant to say how this team ranked with some of his other winners. Their play was phenomenal, he said.

Boomerís latest success came at an appropriate time: he was inducted into the Minnesota Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame at the State Golf Tournament Class A banquet at Grand Casino Mille Lacs on June 7.

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