Cloquet qualifies two for state track meet

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Cloquet seniors Jes Vork and Taylor Sautbine have qualified for this week’s Minnesota State Track and Field meet, to be held June 5-6 at Hamline University in St. Paul.

Vork will compete in the high jump and Sautbine in the 100 hurdles.

“We had several other kids make the finals at the section meet,” coach Tim Prosen said. “Of course, we’re very proud of [Vork] and [Sautbine] for making it to state.”

Amy Campbell and Caitlin Lilly qualified for the regional finals in the 400 meters and Lilly also took part in the 100 hurdles with Sautbine. However, neither was able to advance to state.

The Cloquet girls did win the LSC championship just prior to regions, reaching a long-standing goal for Prosen.

“We have that goal every year, of putting a team out there that can win the conference,” he said. “In addition to the girls who reached the finals, our relay teams were strong throughout as well.”

On the boys side, seniors Nolan Dokken and Simon Thill reached the finals in the 300 hurdles and 400 meters, respectively, with Thill claiming a fourth-place finish in the region.

“Our throwers also did pretty well,” Prosen added.

However, Vork, Sautbine, Dokken and Thill are all seniors, and Prosen said they will be hard to replace.

“[Vork] and [Sautbine] will be huge losses,” he said. “They are great athletic examples and great personal examples too. They work incredibly hard, they’re great athletes, great students and great role models. They worked at meets with the young kids, they helped clean up, anything you asked them to do, they’d do.”

Prosen’s praise even extended to the athletes’ families.

“They’re the full package,” he said. “Everyone was wonderful and we’ll miss them a lot.”

Vork plans to play soccer at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, while Sautbine plans to run track at Bemidji State University.

The coach’s words were similar for Dokken and Thill.

“They were just like [Vork] and [Sautbine] in their dedication to the program,” Prosen said. “They did the same things, they helped with the young kids and they were great to have on my team. They both have plans to compete in college as well and it’s sad to see them go. They will all definitely be missed.”

Dokken will attend Bemidji State where he plans to play football and run track. Thill will attend St. John’s University, where he will play football and possibly wrestle.

Tags: track and field, sports, cloquet