We start our list by honoring Northland prep athletes who claimed individual state titles in their respective sports.
Esko senior Raleigh Goessling got the year started by winning the Minnesota high school boys Nordic ski title on Feb. 11 at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. Goessling capped his fifth state meet by taking the 10-kilometer, two-race pursuit in 28 minutes, 41.4 seconds, while Ely, the smallest school in the field, stunned the competition by taking the boys team title.
Nikola Bogojevic used a bear hug to claim Superior's first state wrestling individual title in 44 years, pinning South Milwaukee's Bill Mitchell in 4:37 on Feb. 27 at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Bogojevic -- known to Spartan wrestling fans as "Niko" -- dominated the Division 1 285-pound weight class last season, finishing 48-0. He finished his prep career with 135 wins -- the most in school history.
Eveleth-Gilbert senior thrower Shawn Johnson capped his stellar career by pulling off a rare double by winning both the Class A shot put and discus titles at the Minnesota high school track and field championships in June. Johnson captured his second straight state discus title with a toss of 178 feet, four inches, more than 21 feet farther than the nearest competitor.
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On the same day, Esko sophomore Kate Shelerud surged to victory in the Class A 800-meter final, winning in a school-record 2:15.59.
On Nov. 6 in Northfield, Minn., another Esko athlete, sophomore Marisa Shady, became the school's first girls state cross country champion, winning the 4,000-meter Class A title in 14:45.4, helping the Eskomos place fifth as a team.
