Sweeping doubleheaders can do all kinds of good things for a baseball team’s record – and its psyche.

The revamped South Suburban Conference schedule has resulted in numerous doubleheaders. Last week, Rosemount played two, twice. The Irish swept Eagan and Bloomington Jefferson and moved above .500. Rosemount was 7-6 overall and 7-5 in the South Suburban Conference going into Wednesday’s game against Bloomington Kennedy.

“The schedule all of us are playing tests how much pitching you have,” Rosemount coach Chris Swansson said. “In a normal season, you’d use your top pitcher at the beginning of the week and sometimes at the end of the week. This year teams have to use a lot more pitchers.”

Last week Rosemount beat Eagan 7-6 and 2-1, then swept Bloomington Jefferson 14-11 and 9-5. Pitching helped keep the Irish in the games, and they also showed an ability to come back. In their first game at Jefferson, they trailed 11-5 before coming back to win. In the first game of the Eagan doubleheader the Irish fell behind 6-0 in the first inning before coming back to win in 11 innings.

The comebacks “come from guys taking good at bats, making plays in the field, that kind of thing,” Swansson said. “And the pitchers have to throw strikes. We played 18 innings in our doubleheader against Eagan. We had one pitcher who threw 8 1/3 innings and one who pitched nine. Both were below 100 pitches, which tells you they threw strikes.”

Jake Schulze remains the Irish’s No. 1 starting pitcher. Luke Dahl, a sophomore, also has thrown consistently well, Swansson said, and Ben Smith, Alex Hassebroek and Nick Seipel have given the Irish innings.

Dahl pitched a complete game Monday against defending state Class AAA champion Eastview even though he wound up with a 4-3 loss. Only two of Eastview’s runs were earned.

Swansson said the Irish have had hitting contributions throughout the lineup. Jordan Turner, the leadoff hitter, is batting close to .400 and senior catcher Anthony Winter was at .385. Seipel had eight RBI in the Jefferson doubleheader, while senior Danny Farris has hit about .650 in Rosemount’s last six games.

Rosemount plays a doubleheader at South Suburban Conference leader Lakeville North at 3 p.m. Friday. The Irish are home against Apple Valley in a doubleheader at 3 p.m. Monday, May 20, and close the regular season at home against Simley at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.

After the Irish limped to a 5-16 record last season, the Lakeville North doubleheader, in particular, could show them just how much progress they have made.

“That’s going to be a big test, especially against a team that could be the No. 1 seed in our section,” Swansson said.
Scoreboard dedication

Rosemount High School will have a new scoreboard at its varsity baseball field, and it will be dedicated between games of Monday’s doubleheader against Apple Valley.

It will be dedicated in honor of former Irish coach Craig Kusick, and Kusick’s number (44) will be on the new scoreboard.

Kusick, a former Minnesota Twins player, coached in Rosemount’s baseball program for 23 years, including 13 as the head varsity coach. His teams reached the state tournament seven times, including six years in a row from 1993-98. In 2004, he was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a condition that can result in leukemia. He died in September 2006 at age 57.

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Several South Suburban Conference schools will send teams to the state Class AAA True Team finals Friday at Stillwater High School. All of the SSC schools are gearing up for the conference championships Tuesday and Wednesday at Eagan High School.

Rosemount will try for a fifth consecutive top-three finish at the Class AAA True Team finals. SSC members Lakeville South, Lakeville North and Prior Lake are in the girls meet. Lakeville South is defending girls Class AAA True Team champion.

Rosemount last won the boys True Team championship in 2011. The Irish won their eighth section True Team title in nine years last week in Apple Valley.

One event to watch for the Irish boys is the 4×100-meter relay, where Preston Webb, Tray Ashby-Phan, Grant Jackson and Tegan Overbey ran a school-record 42.9 seconds in the section meet. It’s also the fastest reported time in that event in Minnesota this season.

The Class AAA True Team finals begin at 4 p.m. Friday, with the awards ceremony scheduled for 9:15.

The South Suburban meet features the state record holder in the pole vault – Lakeville South’s Lee Bares, who cleared 15-9 in the Section 1AAA True Team meet. Other top athletes include Eagan senior distance runner Danielle Anderson, Eastview jumper Ryan Lockard, Eagan sprinters Jake Gourley, Maddie Gourley and Emerald Egwim, Rosemount hurdler Rachel Schow and Lakeville South hurdler Shania Burns.

Competition at the South Suburban championships begins at 3:30 p.m. both days.

Downtown Lions awards

Students from Apple Valley, Eagan and Eastview high schools are among the finalists for the St. Paul Downtown Lions Club awards, given annually to top amateur athletes.

Apple Valley senior Jaryn Pipkins is a four-time all-conference athlete in track and field and is three-time all-conference in basketball. She will compete in track and field at Dartmouth College.

Eagan’s Danielle Anderson, a University of Minnesota recruit, has won multiple state medals in track and cross country. She led Eagan to second in the state Class AA cross country meet last fall. She also was second in the 3,200 meters in the 2012 Class AA girls track and field meet.

Eastview senior Ryan McNamara helped the Lightning win the state boys lacrosse championship last year. He also was a member of the Eastview team that qualified for the 2013 state Class AA boys hockey tourney. He will play lacrosse at Marquette University.

The St. Paul Downtown Lions Club established the award in 1943. Since 1988, it has named one male and one female winner. Previous winners include baseball hall of famer Dave Winfield, Heisman Award winner Chris Weinke, Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer and U.S. Olympic women’s hockey standout Natalie Darwitz.

This year’s awards will be presented Tuesday, May 21, at the Prom Center in Oakdale.

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Rosemount earned a fifth consecutive trip to the state True Team boys track and field finals by winning the Section 3AAA championship Tuesday at Apple Valley High School.

The Irish scored 866 points, more than 120 ahead of second-place Prior Lake, and won four individual events.

The team will go for a fifth-consecutive top-three finish at the Class AAA True Team finals May 17 at Stillwater High School. Rosemount was third at the state finals last year, took first in 2011 and placed second in 2010 and 2009.

Rosemount senior Trevor Capra finished first in the 3,200 meters in 9 minutes, 33.09 seconds, more than 40 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

Payton Otterdahl (51-8 1/2) and Danny Kleiber (146-9) were the shot put and discus winners. The Irish also won the 4×100 relay in 43.52.

Prior Lake won the girls team competition with 967 points, 48 more than second-place Eagan. Rosemount was fifth of nine teams with 658 points.

Rosemount, Apple Valley, Eagan, Eastview, Burnsville, Prior Lake, Bloomington Jefferson, Bloomington Kennedy and Shakopee took part in the Section 3AAA True Team meet.

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After coming within one victory of the state CI Division adapted softball championship three of the last four years, Dakota United is anxious to get it done this time.

Usually the Hawks’ toughest competition comes from the northern Twin Cities suburbs. This year, however, it could be just down the road. Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville, also known as the Blazing Cats, defeated Dakota United 8-5 in the Hawks’ season opener April 10. Dakota United was missing two starters in that game.

The rematch proved to be tough as well. The Hawks defeated the Blazing Cats 7-5 on Monday at Eagan High School, running their record to 8-1 and handing Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville its first loss.

High schools in Burnsville, Farmington and Lakeville used to be part of the Dakota United cooperative before they formed their own program. There’s a rivalry between the Hawks and Blazing Cats now, but it’s not acrimonious.

“They’re competitive, but once the game is over 95 percent of the players are happy and shaking hands,” said Dakota United head coach Mary Hautman. “A lot of the kids on both teams do things together outside of school.”

Dakota United, which includes all of the District 196 high schools, has outscored opponents 118-24 during its eight-game winning streak.

If the Hawks can fend off the rival in their own back yard, they will aim at the state championship again. Dakota United reached the CI Division championship game in 2009, 2011 and 2012, only to lose each time. Last year the Hawks lost 7-2 to a senior-dominated Anoka-Hennepin team.

This year Dakota United is relying on seniors such as Ricky Arends and Joe Sandey, who helped lead the Hawks’ adapted soccer team to a CI Division state title last fall.

Arends, the team’s pitcher, had four home runs and three triples going into Monday’s game against Eagan. Sandey solidifies the Hawks’ infield, as does sophomore Carl Fagre, the team leader at turning double plays.

“Joe and Carl are such natural athletes, and Ricky has worked really hard to improve,” Hautman said.

Sophomore Tyler Lupie-Voss, a first-year player, has settled in at first base. Juniors Andrew Brankley and Zach Schlosser moved up from the junior varsity to contribute to the varsity team. Emma Roiger, a seventh-grader, has played multiple positions. “She’s tiny, but she’s a scrapper,” Hautman said of Roiger.

The Hawks have a little more than 40 players in CI Division softball. That would be the envy of most other programs in the state, but at Dakota United, it means participation has dropped a bit. In years past, Hautman said, the Hawks had enough players to fill two junior varsity CI Division teams. This year, there’s one JV team.

But, in other places, a JV team is a luxury. Hautman said softball remains Dakota United’s most popular adapted sport. Not having to run the entire game – as is often required in adapted soccer and floor hockey – is attractive to some students, Hautman said.

So, too, is the Hawks’ success. Even after they lose players such as Arends and Sandey after this season, there are more in the pipeline, making it likely that more state tournament appearances are in Dakota United’s future.

This year’s state tournament is May 31-June 1 at Coon Rapids High School. Dakota United, currently second in the South Conference, hasn’t officially qualified yet but seems a lock to get in.

The Hawks will try to break a streak of domination by north suburban schools at the CI Division tournament. The last six programs to win the CI title – and 11 of the last 13 – have come from the northern suburbs.

“The north division is one tough division,” Hautman said. “But I think the south schools have come back strong. I think it’s fairly even now.”

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The emphasis in adapted sports is on participation over winning trophies. Dakota United’s PI Division softball players understand that, but still, they want it all.

The Hawks are steaming toward what looks to be an inevitable return to the state tournament. They won their first five games and didn’t allow more than one run in any of their first four.

They didn’t meet their expectations at the last two state tournaments, so this year they have their eyes on the prize.

“The last two years we lost our first game at the state tournament,” coach Brett Kosidowski said after the Hawks played Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville/New Prague on Tuesday. “Then we won the consolation trophy. The consolation trophy’s cool, but it’s not quite what we want.”

What the Hawks would like is a chance to play Robbinsdale/Hopkins/Mound Westonka, the program that has dominated PI Division adapted sports the last several years. The Robins, who have won four consecutive state softball titles, play in the North Conference and Dakota United plays in the South Conference. Typically, there are few crossover games during the regular season.

“We haven’t played (the Robins) in four or five years,” Kosidowski said. “They’re a great team. Marcus (Onsum, the Robins’ head coach) knows what he’s doing. But our goal is to take them down.”

The Hawks want a chance because they believe they have one of the most skilled teams they’ve ever had. It starts with shortstop Grayson Nicolay, a ninth-grader who might be the state’s best adapted athlete in the PI Division. Senior Lantz Estep and junior Jaayson Meyer are veteran outfielders.

In adapted softball, teams are required to use at least two wheelchair-bound players in the field. Dakota United this year has only two “chairs,” meaning it has to fill the rest of the spots with ambulatory players. “And we’re flooded with ambulatory players,” Kosidowski said.

Riley Wisnewski, a seventh-grader, is playing in “short right,” which is more like an infield position. Infield defense is critical in adapted softball, Kosidowski said.

“With Riley in short right, we really have no holes in our infield,” the coach said.

The Hawks scored at least 10 runs in each of their first four games, employing a strategy that emphasizes hitting the ball on the ground.

“If you hit too many balls in the air, you’re going to be in trouble. Good teams will catch it if you hit it in the air,” Kosidowski said.

The Hawks, who play at St. Paul Humboldt on May 14, have all but two of their players attending District 196 schools. When Burnsville, Farmington and Lakeville left the Dakota United cooperative several years ago to form their own program, it cut into the Hawks’ depth.

Kosidowski, a physical education teacher in District 196, recruited students still eligible to play for Dakota United into the adapted sports program. He also operates an adapted sports camp in the summer.

The result, at least in softball, is a team that could be good for a long time. Only three of the 16 players on the Hawks’ roster are seniors.

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By cooling off one of the hottest softball teams in the South Suburban Conference, Rosemount might have given itself a glimpse of its capabilities.

Eastview came to Monday’s game at Rosemount with a 6-0 record and had flexed some muscle at the plate by scoring at least six runs five times. Rosemount pitcher Gabby Sprang, an eighth-grader, kept the Lightning off the scoreboard until the seventh inning of the Irish’s 4-1 victory.

“Gabby did some great pitching and we got some timely hitting,” Rosemount coach Tiffany Rose said. “I think a lot of our girls were disappointed with the way we started the season. They have some big goals, and they weren’t doing some of the things they think they’re capable of. This was a very big win for us.”

The Irish were 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the South Suburban going into Tuesday’s game at Eagan. The victory over Eastview – and any others Rosemount can add this week – also could potentially be important for Section 3AAA tournament seeding.

If the section playoffs seem like they’re on the doorstep, it’s because they are. The first round of the Section 3AAA tourney is Wednesday, May 15, when the teams seeded fifth through 12th play in a single-elimination round. The winners join the top four seeds in the double-elimination part of the tournament beginning May 17 at Dred Scott Fields in Bloomington.

The pitchers – Rosemount’s Sprang and Eastview’s Kerrigan Hoshaw – kept Monday’s game scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Irish outfielder Melissa Seldon doubled to score the game’s first run. Sprang drove in a run with a single in the fifth inning, and Sarah Jacobs and Maddy Moran had RBI singles in the sixth.

Some airtight Rosemount defense kept Eastview off the scoreboard until the Lightning scored once in the top of the seventh.

Even though the season was delayed by bad weather and Rosemount struggled once it did start playing games, Rose said attitude is one thing she hasn’t had to worry about.

“One thing I know about these girls is they love to play with each other,” Rose said. “All the postponements were frustrating for everybody, but this is a tight group. When we have a chance to practice, we can spend the time actually practicing instead of sorting out other issues.”

Practice time will be limited this week. Unless there are more weather-related postponements, the Irish will play seven games in six days. That included road games against both Bloomington schools on Wednesday. Saturday, Rosemount is scheduled for a non-conference doubleheader in Cannon Falls, and the regular-season finale is 4:30 p.m. Monday at Lakeville North. Then, unless the Irish earn a top-four seed in the section, they’ll have one day to prepare for their playoff opener.

“It’s going to be a very busy week,” Rose said. “Gabby probably won’t pitch all of those games. We’ll use a (designated player) for somebody every game. We’ll have to see how it goes, but we should be able to use all our players.”

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McManus, a physical education and safety education teacher, coached four AVHS swimming teams to state championships. His girls teams won in 1990 and 1994 and the Eagle boys won state titles in 1989 and 2001.

Among the most talented swimmers he coached was Michael Zee, who set state boys meet records in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke in 2003.

McManus was a six-time section coach of the year and four-time state coach of the year. He was president of the state swimming coaches association for six years and was named to its hall of fame in 2009.

McManus retired from the girls swimming head coaching position several years. The school will accept applications for the boys head coaching job until June 1.

SSC True Team meet

Rosemount’s boys and Prior Lake’s girls were winners at the South Suburban Conference True Team meet April 30 at Prior Lake High School.

Rosemount finished 120 points ahead of Prior Lake in the boys meet, and the Lakers were more than 370 points ahead of third-place Burnsville. Apple Valley placed fifth, and Eagan and Eastview finished seventh and eighth.

Event winners from local schools included Rosemount’s Tray Ashby-Phan in the 100-meter dash (11.27 seconds), Eagan’s Jacob Gourley in the 200 (22.52), Eagan’s Shane Ringkob in the 400 (51.77), Burnsville’s Faysal Mahmoud in the 800 (2 minutes, 2.52 seconds) and 1,600 (4:31.98), Burnsville’s Andrew Herkenhoff in the 110 hurdles (14.96), Eastview’s Ryan Lockard in the high jump (6 feet, 2 inches) and Eagan’s Joseph Williams in the long jump (20-4).

Prior Lake won the girls team competition by more than 150 points over Lakeville South, the 2012 state Class AAA True Team and Minnesota State High School League Class AA champion. Eastview, Eagan, Apple Valley, Burnsville and Rosemount finished fourth through eighth.

Eagan’s Maddie Gourley won the 100 dash in 12.74. Other event winners from local schools included Eastview’s Erica Bestul in the 800 (2:21.25), Burnsville’s Vivian Hett in the 1,600 (5:06.82), Rosemount’s Rachel Schow in the 100 hurdles (15.22) and 300 hurdles (47.21), Hannah Linder of Apple Valley in the pole vault (11-0) and Melita Ware of Eastview in the triple jump (35-10.5).

The South Suburban Conference championships will be May 21-22 at Eagan High School.

DCTC softball

Dakota County Technical College advanced in the National Junior College Athletic Association softball playoffs by winning the Region 13 tournament last weekend in Williston, N.D.

The Blue Knights went 3-1 in a three-team, double-elimination tournament. On Saturday, they beat Bismarck State 11-0 in the first round and Williston State 2-1 in the second round.

Williston State stayed alive with a 4-0 victory over DCTC on Sunday, forcing a deciding game that the Blue Knights won 7-2.

Lakeville South High School graduate Kendall Palfi was the winning pitcher in the deciding game.

The Blue Knights (20-9) played in a three-team district tournament Wednesday and Thursday (after this edition went to press) in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The winner earns a spot in the NJCAA Division II National Championship starting May 15 in Clinton, Miss.

In addition to Palfi, the DCTC roster also includes Lakeville South graduate Kayla Frandrup, a sophomore utility player, and Lakeville North graduate Robyn Rohr, a freshman catcher and infielder. Freshman outfielder Brooklyn Searles is a Farmington High graduate.

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Jake Schulze’s two-hit shutout of Burnsville gave Rosemount its first baseball victory of the season. Photo by Mike Shaughnessy

If Rosemount is going to have any chance of reversing last year’s 5-16 baseball record, the Irish need Jake Schulze to pitch like an ace.

Last Friday, Schulze looked every bit the part, throwing a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over Burnsville, the fourth-ranked team in Class AAA.

“When you’ve been waiting six weeks to play a ballgame, it’s great to see something like that,” Rosemount coach Chris Swansson said. “We were going to limit him to 90 pitches, and he ended up throwing 78.”

The Irish went 1-2 in their first three games of the season. After losing 6-1 at Minnetonka on April 25, they split with Burnsville in a South Suburban Conference doubleheader April 26. Schulze’s shutout was in the first game of the doubleheader; Burnsville won the second game 5-2.

Luke Dahl, a sophomore, was the starting pitcher in the second game against Burnsville.

“I thought Jake and Luke did a good job,” Swansson said. “Both had good stuff and both threw a lot of strikes.”

Rosemount had nine losses by one or two runs in 2012, so winning a close game early this season can only help the Irish’s psyche, the coach said.

“It was big for us because Burnsville’s a great program,” Swansson said. “To win the first game and be able to compete in the second one – we still have a ways to go, but it shows our players they can play with good teams.”

The Irish had only three hits in the first game against Burnsville, but two of them came in the bottom of the sixth, when Nick Seipel’s double scored Anthony Winter, who had reached on a single.

In the second game, doubles by Jordan Turner and Winter scored Rosemount’s first run in the fifth inning. Later in the same inning, Cole Northwick’s sacrifice fly brought in another run.

In the Minnetonka game, Brian Rogers doubled in Chris Bauer in the top of the fifth inning, cutting the Skippers’ lead to 2-1. Minnetonka responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Seipel started the game on the mound and pitched the first 4 2/3 innings.

Swansson said before the season started that pitching depth could be the Irish’s strength. That figures to be tested as the late spring forces teams to cram their regular-season games – they’re allowed 20 – into about four weeks. Section 3AAA playoffs are scheduled to begin May 24.

The Irish defeated Lakeville South 4-3 on Monday, evening their record at 2-2 before bad weather forced another rash of postponements. Rosemount is scheduled to play a doubleheader at noon Saturday at Prior Lake and plays host to defending state Class AAA champion Eastview at 4:15 p.m. Monday. The Irish are scheduled for three more South Suburban doubleheaders before the end of the regular season, including one Tuesday at Eagan at 3 p.m.

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The purpose of the Hamline Elite Meet is to get all of the state’s top high school track and field athletes to compete at the same place, at the same time. Organizers certainly accomplished that in the girls 3,200-meter race, where the state’s top three runners staged a duel to the finish.

Blake School junior Clare Flanagan won the race Friday at Hamline University in a meet-record 10 minutes, 23 seconds. Shakopee senior Maria Hauger was second in 10:24.32 and Eagan senior Danielle Anderson placed third in 10:24.69.

It’s a race you can’t see at the Minnesota State High School League championships – also contested at Hamline University – because Flanagan competes in Class A, while Hauger and Anderson are with Class AA schools. At last year’s MSHSL state meet, Flanagan won the Class A 3,200-meter title, and Hauger and Anderson were first and second in Class AA.

Burnsville junior Vivian Hett also qualified for the 3,200 at the Elite Meet and finished ninth in 11:18.70.

Sprinters with Eagan ties also had a big night at the Hamline Elite meet. Eagan High athletes Emerald Egwim (25.43) and Maddie Gourley (25.61) were first and second in the 200. Eagan resident Megan Linder, who competes for Cretin-Derham Hall, won the 400 in 57.19. Linder is defending state Class AA champion in the 400.

Eastview senior Erica Bestul, a state medalist in the 800 last season, took fourth in that event at the Hamline Elite Meet in 2:18.73.

Rosemount sophomore Rachel Schow finished second in the 100 hurdles (15.26) and sixth in the 300 hurdles (47.31). She also helped Rosemount place fourth in the 4×100 relay.

Teams from Eagan and Eastview placed fourth and sixth in the 4×800 relay. Rosemount’s Katie Duff threw the discus 114 feet, 11 inches to place 10th.

On the boys side at the Hamline Elite Meet, Eagan’s Jake Gourley finished fourth in the 100 dash in 10.94, less than one-tenth of a second out of first place. He also was seventh in the 200 in 22.45.

Burnsville’s Andrew Herkenhoff ran to third place in the boys 110 hurdles, finishing in 14.99. The Blaze also placed seventh in the 4×400 relay.

Rosemount senior Trevor Capra qualified for the Elite Meet in the 3,200 and finished 12th.

Burnsville coach promoted

Larissa Parr has been named head girls basketball coach at Burnsville High School. Parr, an assistant coach with the Blaze last season, succeeds Steve Ray, who resigned because of family considerations.

Parr, a native of Eau Claire, Wis., played Division I basketball at Boston University. She helped lead the Terriers to the NCAA tournament in 2003 and was a team captain in the 2004-05 season.

She has been an assistant basketball coach at Augsburg College and Eagan High School and also worked on the Eastview volleyball staff.

Parr earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston University and a master’s in education with emphasis in kinesiology from the University of Minnesota. She teaches physical education at Hale School in Minneapolis.

Guebert honored

Eastview girls basketball coach Melissa Guebert recently was named Class 4A coach of the year by the state association.

In 2012-13, Guebert led Eastview to a 29-3 record and third place in the state tournament. In two seasons after taking over for Paul Goetz (who remains with the Eastview program as an assistant coach), Guebert’s teams are 54-10 with two state tournament appearances.

Blaze tennis hits top 10

A victory at the Elk River Invitational on Saturday propelled Burnsville into the state Class AA boys tennis rankings. The Blaze was No. 6 this week.

The team won three matches at the Elk River tourney, including a 4-3 victory over the host team. Elk River, last year’s state Class AA champion, had been No. 2 in the state rankings.

Junior Tom McCallie, Burnsville’s No. 1 singles player, is ninth in the Class AA singles rankings.

Burnsville is one of two South Suburban Conference teams in the top 10 in Class AA. The Blaze is one spot behind fifth-ranked Bloomington Jefferson, which defeated Burnsville 5-2 in an SSC match last week.

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Running fast is far from the only thing Eagan High School junior Emerald Egwim does well.

Egwim, who was All-State in the 200-meter dash at last year’s state Class AA girls track and field meet, last week won her second consecutive gold medal in the state high school speech tournament. She placed first in Serious Interpretation of Prose for Class AA. Last year she won in the Serious Interpretation of Drama category.

Numerous students from South Suburban Conference high schools did well at the state speech tournament, a Minnesota State High School League-sponsored competition held at Blaine High School. Students from Apple Valley, Eagan and Eastview have been particularly successful; going into this year’s competition, Apple Valley and Eagan ranked first and second for most individual champions all-time, while Eastview was in the top 10.

Other champions in the Class AA tournament included Ashesh Rambachan of Eastview (Extemporaneous Speaking), Stephanie Lenertz of Apple Valley (Great Speeches) and Georgia Schmitt of Apple Valley (Informative Speaking).

As for Egwim’s other spring activity – track and field – coaches are hoping the weather will allow them to get that going by next week. The South Suburban Conference relays are 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Prior Lake High School. Section True Team meets are the following week, and the South Suburban championships begin May 21.

Burnsville volleyball coach

Burnsville has named Kari Raymond head volleyball coach, replacing Kim Fritz, who resigned after last season to spend more time with her family.

Raymond was Bloomington Kennedy’s head coach in 2006-07 and has been an assistant coach at Kennedy and Bloomington Jefferson. She also was head coach at Indianola (Iowa) High School in 2001-02.

Since 2004, she has been a coach in the Burnsville-based Mizuno Northern Lights club. Last season she coached a Northern Lights 14-and-under team to 10th place in the open division at the U.S. junior national tournament.

Raymond played high school volleyball at Kennedy and in college at Drake University. She teaches eighth-grade math at Rosemount Middle School.

Fifth at nationals

Air Force Academy freshman and Rosemount High School graduate Adam Jackson finished fifth in his Greco-Roman weight class at the ASICS Junior National Wrestling Championships last week in Las Vegas.

Jackson wrestled in the 79-kilogram (approximately 174 pounds) weight class. Two other Air Force wrestlers competed in that weight class, including the champion, Willie Baker of Jackson, Minn.

Jackson was a two-time finalist in the state high school tournament and a three-time Rosemount team MVP.

Minneapolis Athenas

Burnsville High School senior Anna Elling will be among those honored at the Minneapolis Area Athena Awards luncheon May 3 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Elling, a standout swimmer for the Blaze, medaled in two individual events at the 2012 state Class AA meet, finishing fourth in the 200-yard freestyle and fifth in the 500 freestyle. She also helped Burnsville place sixth in the 200 medley relay and ninth in the 400 freestyle relay. Elling had a hand in 73 of the 105 team points Burnsville scored to take eighth place in the state meet.

She will attend Cornell University in the fall.

The Athena Award is given to a school’s top senior female athlete. South Suburban Conference schools Burnsville, Prior Lake, Bloomington Kennedy and Bloomington Jefferson are part of the Minneapolis area awards. The remaining SSC schools are part of the St. Paul Athena Awards chapter. The St. Paul area Athena Awards luncheon was April 17.

Eagan coaching changes

Eagan High School has named Andrew Michelson coach of its girls swimming team, replacing longtime coach Steve Van Dyne, who stepped down after the 2012 season.

Michelson, a School District 196 teacher, also coaches the Burnsville High School boys swimming team.

Tom Younghans apparently will not be back as Eagan’s girls hockey coach. The school lists the girls hockey coaching position as “TBD” on its page on the Minnesota State High School League website. The Wildcats won the consolation championship in the state Class AA tournament in Younghans’ only season as head coach.

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