When senior Aidan Jones of Minneapolis Washburn and junior Sam Scott of Minneapolis Southwest crossed the finish line in first and second place in the Class 3A boys cross-country state championship race, it made history.
Holy Angels won the 2A girls soccer championship in a “Stranger Things” type of game. Among those things were: 1) The Stars goalkeeper scored on a 55-yard shot in the first half, and 2) They celebrated twice, once before they actually won and once after it was official.
Xander Anderson and his Woodbury soccer teammates will play for the Class 3A state championship Friday morning, and later in the day Anderson will kick for the Royals against Eden Prairie in the football playoffs.
Six autumns ago, a youngster became the starting goalkeeper for the Alexandria High School girls soccer team. For every game in every season since – 102 consecutive games in all -- Sophia Vinje has been there for the Cardinals.
The beginning of Leah Berard’s career as a football official could never have been predicted. If things go the way she wants, that career will take her to the National Football League, which would be sort of a full-circle route from how she started.
Stephanie Dagg and Ingrid Anderson, senior tennis players from Thief River Falls, know how fortunate they are to be part of the team. Both have endured serious physical issues, and both have had surgical screws inserted into their skeletal structures. Wheelchairs and crutches are also part of their stories.
Glass carried a stapled document. It was an eight-page game plan on how to beat Zumbrota-Mazeppa. And there it was, the secret to all that success. "Myron prepares for every game like it's a state championship game."
The head coach’s baby was coming, the plan was in place and everything looked to be good for the girls soccer team from St. Charles/Lewiston-Altura. And then, of course, everything went sideways. That’s how the story began. How it’s ending is a perfect capper to a strange, challenging, unforgettable season as the Saints will play in the state tournament for the first time in history this week.
High school officials, the men and women who wear the stripes, blow the whistles and keep fair, safe play foremost in their minds and actions, come from all sorts of backgrounds. Some become officials at a young age, some a little later. They are committed to the sports and activities they love and they want to ensure that current student-athletes have the best possible experience.
Despite cancer treatments, Mountain Lake's Luke Klassen has never stopped running. He has competed in every cross-country meet on the schedule this season. He hasn’t always competed with his varsity teammates, sometimes running junior varsity or junior high races. But he never stopped running.
The Simley Invitational is a long-standing cross-country event, having been held for many years at Simley High School in Inver Grove Heights. The 2022 event, however, could have carried a different name: The Gerber Family Invitational.
For about as long as anyone can remember, the Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels have been playing football on a spectacular throwback field tucked into a neighborhood on the edge of Willow River, surrounded by pine trees and bathed in tradition and success.
These were pioneers, the first female athletes to represent their schools when Title IX opened the door to athletic equality for females in 1972. Back then, these athletes competed for McIntosh-Winger and Erskine schools. Now, as the 50th anniversary of Title IX is marked, they were stars once more at their modern, merged school.
In the midst of their wild stompin’ hootin’ and hollerin’ and grabbin’ at the Paddle, the Detroit Lakes Lakers broke the thing into two pieces. No problem, because now they had TWO trophies to raise into the night sky.
Saturday morning will be special when the girls and boys soccer teams from St. Peter and Jordan meet for a doubleheader in Jordan. The focus is on raising funds and awareness in the fight against cystic fibrosis.
During this 50th anniversary of Title IX leveling the playing field for female athletes, the halftime ceremony was a splendid celebration as four females were inducted into the Bloomington Kennedy Athletic Hall of Fame.
“When you play in the South Suburban every night's a battle, it doesn't matter who's on the other side of the net. We all know the high level of competition and this is a great atmosphere.”
“He’s normally very stoic, very subdued, but this time he was very upbeat, very positive about my situation. He said, ‘You can’t just sit around and wait for bad things to happen. If you’re a coach, go coach. If you’re a teacher, go teach.’ ”
"Everybody keeps saying we'll never get back to normal, just like our nation will never get back to normal. But hopefully we're going to get as close to normal as we can."
