ML-WR Boys – Esko Girls Win Section Track Titles

Wes Vork-NSO

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June 2, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The Moose Lake-Willow River boys and the Esko Eskomo girls track teams captured their respective class championships at the 2012 section meet on Friday at UMD. The Rebels, who finished sixth a year ago in the section meet found themselves knocking off the defending section champion Esko Eskomos while the Lady Eskomos repeated as section champions again this year.

The Rebels placed first with a team total of 87.5 points, as the Eskomos would finish second with a team total of 81. Hinckley-Finlayson was third with 78, Proctor took third with 71, and it was Virginia coming in fifth with 51. Other local schools included Cromwell with 11, Carlton had 5 points and Barnum had 2 points Friday.

The Lady Eskomos easily captured the girls section title as they finished with 127.5 points, International Falls was second with 73, Greenway Nashwauk-Keewatin was third with 72.5, Mesabi east was fourth and Proctor and South Ridge tied for fifth with 59. Cromwell finished with 20 points while Carlton had 13, ML-WR 9, Barnum 3 and Wrenshall had 1 point.

Winners on the boy’s side included Jake Disterhaupt in the 200 meter dash, Josh Cisar in the 400 meter dash, and Ben Moonen in the 800 all of ML-WR. In a tight race the Rebels also won the 4×400 meter relay in a tight contest with Proctor. Where the top two finishers in each event automatically qualify for the state meet; five athletes from the ultra competitive 200 meter dash field punched their ticket for a trip down south.

Disterhaupt finished first with a time of 22.43 seconds with David Paynotta of Hinckley-Finlayson right behind at 22.60. Beating the qualifying mark of 22.93 and headed to state were Ben Schriener of Chisholm, Mitchell Sella of Virginia, and nipping in just under the wire with a 22.92 was Frank DeLuca of Proctor.

The 4×400 meter finish was made very interesting by an earlier botched handoff between Disterhaupt and Cisar that cost the Rebels precious time. Cisar actually did a 360 degree turn to get the baton. Typical of both athletes winning attitudes, they both took the blame for the incident. “It was my fault,” stated Cisar, “I miss-timed my takeoff. Disterhaupt said the very unique handoff was of his making. “That’s not how we practice it; I stabbed him really hard with the baton.” Either way the Rebels team was able to finish a full second ahead of the Rails in 3:30.96 to 3:31.93 for the win.

Matt Welch of Proctor continued his area dominance in the distance events and won both the 1600 and 3200 meter races. Michael Pender of ML-WR won the 110 meter hurdles, and the Rebels also won the 4×200 and 4×400 meter relays. Max Reinertsen captured the long jump for the Eskomos, and Austin Johnson of Cromwell won the shot put.

Winners on the girl’s side included Grace Otis of South Ridge who won both the 1600 meter run, and the 3200 meter run. The event appeared to be a two person race between Lindsey Dahl-Holm of Carlton and Kallyn Knutson of Esko until Otis appeared in down the final stretch with a terrific kick to pass both and win the event with Dahl-Holm finishing second and also headed down south.

Micayla Westendorf of Proctor won the 100 meter hurdles and Caitlin Lilly of Esko took home first in the 300 meter hurdles. Breanna Alfredson of South Ridge captured the High Jump, and Erika Shady of Esko won the pole vault.

The Lady Eskomos also won three of the four relays including the 4×100, 4×200, and the 4×400 races. They lost the 4×800 relay to Mesabi East. After running a total of 3200 meters, the Eskomos lost by 1/100th of a second with a 9:44.33 compared to a 9:44.32 seconds.

“We’ve won all of the relays for some time, so it is kind of different to not sweep.” Stated Esko junior Marissa Shady, who had to dig deep to barely hold off the Giants while anchoring the 4×400 relay. “But give Mesabi East credit, they have put together some really good relay teams. “I have noticed the entire section is getting stronger and more competitive every year; which is good because it better prepares us and makes everyone more competitive at the state level.”

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com