Boys’ Swimming

The swim team finished the season with its section meet Feb. 21-23. Senior captain Branch Johnson qualified for State in the 100-yard backstroke, and will compete March 1-2 at the University of Minnesota.
The team ended the season with a record of 4-2-1. Freshman Mark Truskinovsky said swimmers improved their finishes from the beginning of the season.
“Our coach always told us to finish stronger,” Truskinovsky said. “We really worked to push ourselves just a bit harder.”
Head coach Joe Yaeger said he was happy with the team’s performance this season.
“I’m very happy. We did excellent,” Yaeger said. “We overcame the obstacle that our team did not have a diving team (an automatic loss of 10 points), and we swam hard all season long.”

Boys’ Hockey

With a playoff loss to Waconia Heights Feb. 20, the boys’ hockey season came to an end. The team finished the regular season with a record of 5-20-1.
Junior Noah Fortmeyer said the team has the potential to improve next season.
“We’re not losing a lot of guys, so the return of almost the entire team will let us build off the progress we made this season,” he said.
Head coach Shjon Podein said the team has made progress in improving mental toughness over the course of the season.
“We’ve made some great strides to find our identity as a team,” Podein said.

“We had some setbacks, but the team showed resilience and made positive developments. I think that will pay off in the playoffs and in upcoming seasons.”

Nordic Skiing

The Nordic Ski team wrapped up its season after its State competition Feb. 13 and 14.
Sophomore Sean Cork finished seventh in the skate race and 13th overall after the classic race.
Cork said he is proud of his individual accomplishments as well as the team as a whole.
“This season was a building season for our team, because we had so many young people,” Cork said. “We did well with the amount of talent we had this year.”
Though the whole team did not advance to the State competition, a team made up of Cork, senior captain Carter Robinson, junior Nick Sokolowski and sophomores Liam Schmelzle and Sam Olson won the State relay.

Girls’ Hockey

The girls’ team improved on last year’s record by one win, finishing the season with a record of 4-19-2.
Head coach Donnie Williams said he thinks players on the team improved their ability to use skills from practice.
“When skill levels improve and you start implementing what you are being taught then improvement is obvious,” Williams said. “We feel like we were in a situation where we could have won quite a few more games than we did.”
Sophomore Natalie Vig said she believes the team needs to work hard during the off-season to build on its progress this year.
“We need to do more weight training and get onto the ice over the summer,” Vig said. “Also, we need to increase our team’s consistency.”

Girls’ Basketball

With a starting lineup consisting entirely of underclassmen, the girls’ team finished the regular season with a record of 4-21. They will play their first section game today at Minnetonka High School.
Sophomore Autumn Ballesteros said she believes that despite its record, the team has improved as the season progressed.
“We’ve gotten better. We’ve been able to stick with a lot of the teams that have beaten us,” Ballesteros said.
Head coach Tim Sension said the team needs to improve its composure during close games.
“The team has had little success in the past, so it’s hard to learn how to win,” Sension said. “We’ve lost about five games by only a few points, so we just need to focus on finishing strong.”

Gymnastics

Gymnastics finished sixth at its sections meet Feb. 16 at Hopkins High School. The team finished the regular season with a record of 1-5.
Junior Ali Howard said she thinks the team improved even though its record may not reflect it.
“Everyone put in a lot of work and that showed up in new skills on all events,” Howard said. “As a team, everyone connected very well and cheered for each other.”
Head coach Gretchen Vandeputte said she was satisfied with the team’s performance despite its results.
“We showed an excellent attitude, and worked really hard,” she said. “Now we just need to work on building confidence, so they can use all the skills they build at practice during meets.”