SPORTS WRAP
Ten schools, hundreds of athletes and spectators, and countless workers made the Section 1AAA True Team track meet a big success at Owatonna High School on Tuesday, May 5.
The weather was cool and windy but meet director Dave Chatelaine was looking at the bright side when he told me at least it wasn’t raining.
He says early feedback is positive. “The meet seemed to be well organized, ran pretty smoothly. We were fortunate. I had a connection with Greg Utecht, who managed the True Team section meet for several years up at Lakeville South,” he said.
Owatonna coaches pushed to host a year ago. “Since we have this nice facility here, our track coaches wanted to have the meet here,” said Chatelaine. As it turned out the Lakeville schools shifted to a different section this spring.
Girls coach Robb Winterfeld told Owatonna Live before the meet, “We started the planning phase of this last June. Lots of moving parts. But I think it’s going to be a great event. Great opportunity to showcase our facility, which I think is exceptional. It’ll be a great day. I think the stress lifts when the meet actually starts.”
Chatelaine said Federated Field generated great reviews with its nine-lane track and the field event area, “I heard a few comments about just how great our scoreboard is. That’s pretty neat to have all the results flash up there right away.”
OHS Activities Director Marc Achterkirch stated, “A lot of credit goes to Dave Chatelaine and Sandy Boss for all their work organizing the event. Nancy Benson was incredible with her work keeping everything organized and detailed. Shannon Vick and his grounds crew were again up to the challenge.
“Our coaches helped coordinate workers, site set-up, etc. It was definitely a major undertaking, but we have incredible folks that help to make these events go smoothly,” said Achterkirch.
Chatelaine continues to run all the home cross-country meets after coaching the program for 35 years and works at many track meets. “It was fun, but it was a lot of work, just trying to make sure everything was going to run smoothly. There was a lot to do with the planning.”
The True Team program started in 1987 in Minnesota. Chatelaine says Owatonna last hosted the section in one of the first few years.
Girls throwing program
Owatonna girls throw coach Amy Lageson adds, “It was really cool. A little stressful to think about the stuff that needed to be planned… Everybody was in awe of our facility. Especially, the throwing area, looking at all the stuff we have.”
Mark Kubat – her father and fellow throws coach – says three OHS athletes tied or set personal records during True Team.
With 28 throwers on the OHS girls’ roster, one of the largest in the state, they are used to helping run the throwing events at away meets to get everyone through in a timely fashion.
For Lageson, an OHS Athletic Hall of Famer who won state in shot put and threw for the Gophers, this is her sixth-year coaching. The program saw a spike in participation a few years ago. “I think there was a core group of girls that told everyone else, it’s fun. Come join.”
That momentum continues. Kubat says the athletes are dedicated. “We are both so tickled that they come and they work so hard. They’re animals in the weightroom. They compete. They cheer for each other. They know when somebody hits a PR… It’s just to fun to come to practice every day,” said Kubat.
A coach for nearly 50 years, about 35 of them at Owatonna, he’s also coached with his daughter Nicole Matejcek in basketball. “I really appreciate both of them. This is a dream come true for a dad to work with his daughter. (Amy) sees a bigger picture than I do. We work together very well. I look at the smaller things.”
Lageson says, “In throwing it’s so technical. So, the way I say something and the way he says something might be different. We’re saying the same thing but just in a different way. Something clicks.”
It was natural for her to want to coach, “I’ve been around [my dad] coaching for as long as I can remember. It’s cool to see how he has impacted people’s lives. That’s how I got into school counseling. Being able to interact with students. I get to see different sides in my day job and then my coaching job,” said Lageson.
New coach
James Wagoner says it’s “pure excitement” to be named the new boys’ hockey coach at Owatonna. “I’m ready to get going. Honored,” he said.
Playing youth and high school hockey in town, he said coaches influenced his game and growth, inspiring a coaching path for himself. He’s spent the last four seasons as a varsity assistant, the last three as junior varsity head coach for the Huskies.
“Honest hockey. That’s the style that we’re going to go by. Sticking to the details. Nothing too flashy. When you stick to an honest game, success typically comes about itself. And then you can be a little flashier at the end,” said Wagoner.
Next winter will feature a veteran team. “[This past] year we had a little bit of a younger squad. Now we have that sophomore class that got a lot of ice time that’s going to be juniors. They got a year underneath their belt. They’re experienced. They know my style already. They know the expectations and the standard that’s going to be set,” said Wagoner.
Wagoner played for OHS his freshman and sophomore seasons before going to junior hockey. He is owner and coach for Futures Hockey Training and coaches with the Kodiaks AAA club and the Minnesota High Performance program.
Dennis Will retired after three seasons in his second stint with the program. He stepped back into the role following the death of Dave Fromm shortly before the 2023-24 campaign.
The Huskies were 15-10-1 this past season. Six of their top eight scorers were juniors and sophomores, as were several top defensemen and their goalie. “I’m pretty excited for this group of kids that’s going to be coming through in the next year or two,” Wagoner says.
Speak up
Three OHS speech students participated in the national competition (NIETOC) this past weekend, held conveniently enough in Shakopee. They qualified based on scores during the regular season.
Senior Noelle Kubicek competed in Informative with the topic of dead languages. “In my human biology class, the teacher always talked about Latin and Latin roots. And Latin is a dead language. So, I figured this would be a fun topic,” she said. Her topic last year was sign language.
Senior Vitaly Bauer was at nationals for the second straight year. He appreciates the help he got from his coach to create his Humorous presentation. “I’ve been working especially alongside [Betsy] Cole to be able to develop this into my own piece.”
Sophomore Delaney Gomez was excited and nervous about her Dramatic Interpretation entry. She told Owatonna Live, “I love the speech team so much. It’s probably one of my favorite sports that I’ve joined since being at the high school. I love meeting a bunch of new people from in our high school and other districts around.”
While none advanced to finals, it was a great way to wrap up their season.
OwatonnaLive.com play-by-play
Thursday, May 14:
OHS softball vs. Red Wing, 7 p.m.
OHS boys lacrosse vs. Northfield, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 16:
OHS baseball vs. Park, 1 p.m.
OHS boys lacrosse vs. Moorhead, 1 p.m.