A new era in Cloquet girls basketball began on Monday afternoon as Jeff Ojanen took the reigns as head coach of the Lumberjacks. Ojanen, a graduate of Cloquet, has spent the past five seasons with the Cloquet boys program.
"In addition to [my work] in the boys program, I spent the last three years as ninth-grade coach and I also spent the last six seasons as a football coach in Cloquet," said Ojanen.
He is the current defensive coordinator for the Cloquet varsity football team which recently had a strong run to the Section 7AAAA title game before losing to Duluth East.
"After hearing that Brad Vieths was choosing not to come back as head coach I thought about applying, but I was not sure if I was ready to take on being a head coach," commented Ojanen. "I wanted to apply, but I wanted to talk to a few people I knew would give me an honest answer. They all told me to go for it and if I did get it that I would do a good job."
The program will see an influx of new coaches in the high school and middle school ranks as Ojanen looks to put his fingerprint on the program.
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"Before applying I spent a good deal of time thinking about who would be my assistants," explained Ojanen. "I think we have a great group of coaches at all levels of the program. I [sought] people who would stress the fundamentals and every single one of my coaches this season knows what it takes to have a successful program."
Taking over the assistant coach and head junior varsity position is Heidi Anderson.
"Heidi is someone who works very hard, she is a great teacher and I am glad that she joined my staff," remarked Ojanen. "My ninth-grade coach is Randy Chalberg. He knows his stuff and is a great addition. At the middle school level we have Mike McMillen and Katie Rodd. My goal coming in was to have good teachers of the game at the middle school level and I think that we found two great ones who will develop the skills for the future."
One key factor for Ojanen's team will be defense.
"I will really push the defensive side of the game," stated Ojanen. "We will be a team that will put a lot of pressure on opponents defensively. We will play a lot of man-to-man defense and try to use our speed to our advantage."
The Jacks will return four seniors this year including Hannah Roy, Jes Vork, Julia Nell and Taylor Sautbine. Roy, Vork and Sautbine give the team an abundance of speed and Nell is a force in the middle.
"We will rely a lot on the seniors for leadership on and off the floor," suggested Ojanen. "We have a great core of players and it should be an exciting year."
Ojanen and his staff expect the Jacks to compete at a high level and they will work hard to build consistency.
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"We will need to play well and at a high level on a consistent basis," mentioned Ojanen. "[Being] tough on the defensive end of the floor will help get some easy buckets to get our offense started. I think we have a great chance at competing for the conference title and that will be one of our goals."
