Duluth Denfeld senior Billy Phousongphouang booked a ticket to the Minnesota Class AA state track and field meet by winning the triple jump at the Section 7AA meet Wednesday at Chisago Lakes High School.
Phousongphouang leaped
42 feet, 9 inches to win by more than a foot over North Branch's Joe Klun.
Junior C.J. Ham of Denfeld placed second in the shot put with a throw of 51-3½, finishing behind winner Thomas Anderson of Andover (55-8¼).
Hibbing junior Hailey Smith won first in the high jump at 5-2, edging Andover Jenna McNallan on a tiebreaker.
ADVERTISEMENT
Finals continue Saturday at Chisago Lakes.
GOLF
Virginia, Hermantown win 7AA
Virginia senior Dan Bidle shot a 1-over-par 73 to finish with a 2-under 140 total and tie Hermantown's Andrew Oakes for the boys medalist crown at the Section 7AA meet at the Quarry at Giants Ridge. Virginia edged Hermantown by 10 strokes to claim the team title.
Hermantown's Callie Wilson edged Virginia's Melissa Hill by one stroke to win the girls individual title and help the Hawks to the team championship.
The winning teams and the top five individuals qualify for the state meet.
TENNIS
Northland blanked in 7AA
ADVERTISEMENT
Northeastern Minnesota was shut out of the Minnesota high school boys large school tennis tournament for the first time in history as Forest Lake and Chisago Lakes claimed singles and doubles qualifying spots at the Section 7AA tournament in St. Francis, Minn.
Defending Class AA singles champion Dusty Boyer of Forest Lake, a home-schooled sophomore, defeated Princeton freshman Isaiah Mayerchak in the singles final 6-0, 6-0. Seventh-grader Toby Boyer of Forest Lake then beat Mayerchak in a true-second final, putting the Boyers in the Class AA tournament June 10-11 at Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
Dusty Boyer, 6-feet and
176 pounds, is 27-0 this season, without losing a set, and is 50-0 the last two years.
"Dusty is immeasurably better than last year. He's five inches taller and 35 pounds heavier, and is hitting the ball better," said Forest Lake coach Greg Patchin.
David Rau and Brett Lizotte of Chisago Lakes won the Section 7AA doubles title by defeating Nick Reiners and Marshall White of Cambridge-Isanti. In a true-second match, Dylan Sperry and Zack Decker of Forest Lake advanced to the state tournament by beating Reiners and White.
SOFTBALL
Barnum 6, Osakis 0
ADVERTISEMENT
Katrina Newman tossed a no-hitter and struck out 20 of a possible 21 batters as the Bombers advanced to the Section 5A title game with a shutout at Whitney Field in St. Cloud.
Newman also hit a two-run homer in the second inning for the Bombers (22-2), who will play Osakis (20-2) again at
5 p.m. today with a berth in the Class A state tournament on the line.
BASEBALL
Hermantown 14, Duluth Central 6
Adam Krause and Brian LeBlanc each drove in three runs to lead a 16-hit attack as the Hawks broke a 6-6 tie and went on to win the 7AA first-round game at home, putting the finishing touches on the Trojans' program.
Duluth Denfeld 10,
Eveleth-Gilbert 7
ADVERTISEMENT
The Hunters scored seven runs in the fourth inning to rally from a 5-1 deficit and win the Section 7AA first-round game at Eveleth.
Moose Lake-Willow River 17,
Esko 1
Michael Unzen hit a home run and drove in three runs and Spencer Clough had three RBIs to lead the Rebels to the five-inning 7AA first-round win at Moose Lake.
Virginia 8, Greenway 7
Jeremy Paschke's bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh lifted the host Blue Devils to the 7AA first-round win.
AlBrook 5, Barnum 4
Falcons reliever Cody Anderson induced a two-out, bases-loaded groundout to end the Bombers' seventh-inning rally and end the 7A first-round game at Saginaw.
ADVERTISEMENT
Deer River 14, Chisholm 1
The Warriors ensured a new Section 7A champion with the first-round win at Cohasset.
Skrbec, Mullen among finalists
for Mr. Baseball, Ms. softball
John Skrbec of Grand Rapids and Megan Mullen of Hermantown are among seven finalists for the first Mr. Baseball and Ms. Softball awards, respectively.
The seniors were nominated by college baseball and softball coaches statewide. Winners will be announced June 20 at Target Field.
