Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Ten Memorable Moments From the 2016-17 High School Sports Season

When the Eden Prairie Eagles won the Class AAAA baseball title on June 19, it marked the end of the 2016-17 high school sports season.  Here are 10 memorable moments (in any order) from this season.

1.  For the first time in school history, the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights won a state championship in football as they captured the Class AAAA title against the Winona Winhawks.

2.  The St. Louis Park girls soccer team finally recorded a win against one of the powerhouse programs in Class A, the Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights.

3.  It was run run run for the Elk River Elks as they beat the Spring Lake Park Panthers in the Class AAAAA football championship 42-14 without throwing a single pass.  It also marked the 125th anniversary of football for the Sherburne County school.

4. December 1 was the St. Louis Park Orioles boys hockey team's home opener against the Rochester Mayo Spartans and Bauer Neudecker, who would become a Mr. Hockey finalist scored six goals to lead the Orioles.

5.  The good news was that the Blake Bears won their seventh Class A girls hockey championship.  The bad news is they won't be able to defend their title because the Bears will be moving up to Section 6AA next season where they will have to battle the Class AA champion Edina Hornets for a trip to St. Paul.

6.  The "Halloween Machine", better known as the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks, won their first state title in boys hockey since 1980 with a victory over the Moorhead Spuds.  It was also the first all northern Class AA final since 1997 when the Roseau Rams beat Grand Rapids.

7.  And speaking of Roseau, the Rams girls basketball team, led by Kacie, Kiley and Kelsey Borowicz, went unbeaten to win their first state Class AA championship.

8.  The Minneapolis North Polars, with several players from the state Class A football championship team, won their second consecutive Class A boys basketball title.  Next season the Polars will move up to Class AA.

9.  History was made in the state Class AAA championship when the DeLaSalle Islanders became the first school to win six straight championships.  It also marked the end of an era for head coach Dave Thorson who resigned to become an assistant coach at Drake University.  Can his replacement Travis Bledsoe lead the Islanders to seven in a row in 2018?

10.  What a spring sports season for the Eden Prairie Eagles.  On June 17, the girls lacrosse team won their third straight state championship and two days later, the baseball team won the Class AAAA title that included a quarterfinal win over the defending state champion Wayzata Trojans.

Those are some moments to remember from the 2016-17 season.  The season also brought to a close the career of Kevin Merkle, who served as tournament director for football, boys basketball, dance team and baseball for 17 years.  He will be replaced by former Mounds View activities director Bob Madison.

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