Chisholm girls track building up young athletes

CHISHOLM—As the Chisholm High School girls track team gets set to start the 2024 tournament, Bluestreak coach Greg Stish has reason for optimism.

That’s because Stish has some valued athletes, who could make an impact once the sub-section and section meets begin at the end of May.

Although, Stish might not have one athlete available, Tresa Baumgard, who will be having a surgery on her ankle to get her ready for college basketball at Moorhead State University.

Stish believes he can work around that, so the Bluestreaks can make some noise in the throwing, running and jumping events.

“Tresa is trying to get her body ready for college,” Stish said. “That’s the priority. She has to heal up, taking the time it might take so she can recover. She has to get that leg in shape.

Other than Baumgard, Stish doesn’t have a senior on the team, but the junior class is led by Hailey Johnson, Magie Nelson, Sophia Pfannenstein and Wren McLaughlin.

Johnson will make some noise in the 100 and 200.

“Hopefully, she can get through the section in those two events,” Stish said. “We have a lot of younger kids, 41 of them, so we’re still building some of them in the sprints and middle distances.

“We should be versatile. It’ll be nice to switch them around from the short distances to the middle distances.”

There’s only one sophomore, Cienna Parr, and the freshmen class consists of Sloen Worlie, Annika Gams, Mya Stainiger, Destiny Schmitz, Emma Szwebuik, Jezirae Flack and Zoe Plombon.

Eighth-grader Olivia Pascuzzi will leave her mark on the team.

“Olivia has been to state in the cross country twice, so we’re looking for her to make it in the 400 and 800,” Stish said. “She’s improved her speed, and she’s getting stronger. She runs and she’s not even winded.

“She’s determined to make it to state. We told her we’re going to make it nicer by seeing her go in both events.”

As for Chisholm’s relays, Stish can see Johnson, Plombon, Flack and Stainiger manning the 4x100 and 4x200 teams.

Schmitz will run the 1600 and 300 hurdles, and Grace Brohman-Ashby will run the 300 hurdles, but Stish does need more runners in the longer distances.

“We don’t have a lot of girls that can run the two-mile,” Stish said. “We have one one-miler. A lot of the younger kids are afraid of it. We’re trying to work them in and find events they will be more successful in.”

In the field events, the Bluestreaks should be adequate enough to score some points.

Josie Baumgard, Pfannestein and Gams will do most of the throwing.

“We have a lot of kids that can throw,” Stish said. “They are improving. We have a new coach, Mike Lastovich, who was a thrower in Hibbing a few years ago.

“He’s been helping Shawn Lewis with our throwing.”

Flack, assuming Tresa Baumgar can’t jump, will be Stish’s main high jumper. She had a jump of 4-10 in Chisholm’s last meet.

“It’s hard to say what she could do in the high jump,” Stish said. “With Tresa, Frank (Cerar) and I working with her, you never know what she could do.”