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Diving for gold

Austin juniors Alayna Kennedy and Reese Norton spent the entire season motivating each other in practice and in meets and they both finished amongst the best in state.

Kennedy took home a state championship at the Class A meet with a score of 432.45 and Norton finished sixth in state with a score of 350.00.

Both divers also went to state as sophomores and they will both be favorites to get back to state as seniors next season.

Running with purpose

Hayfield senior Jaxon Harberts may have looked like  just another runner in the crowd at cross country meets this past fall, but he was showing more strength than most athletes just by running with courage.

Harberts was in a car wreck that took the life of his mother and sister in 2018, but after a long stint of rehabilitation he was eventually able to get back to running, playing basketball and playing golf.

Harberts said that competing in sports again not only helped his recovery, it gave him a recipe for excelling in life.

“In the hospital, my mind helped my body to keep pushing and improve each day through physical therapy and voice therapy. Each day I improved and then I just kept setting little goals. It’s important to set little goals, because eventually they add up to something and that leads to bigger goals,” Harberts said in September. “It’s crazy how much better you can feel when you set a goal, you’re down there at the starting point and then you finally reach that goal.”

Athletics make history on the diamond

The Athletics put together their best season in co-op history as they qualified for the Class A State Baseball Tournament and finished second after falling to Fosston 3-2 in the title game.

L-P won 14 games in a row before the title game loss and they finished with a record of 24-2 overall.

The Athletics were led by the pitching duo of Hunter VaDeer, who has verbally committed to play Division I Creighton University, and Isaac Nelsen. Both be back for L-P this spring.

Leaping to new heights

Blooming Prairie senior Annaka Forsberg signed with Division I Coastal Carolina University this year after dominating the Class A field over the past years.

Forsberg secured each of the last two Class A state long jump titles as she cleared a height of 5-feet, 4-inches in 2023 and finished with a height of 5-6 in 2022. She also took fourth in high jump at state as a freshman in 2021 and she took sixth in state in the triple jump last year.

Forsberg will be a major contender to win her third straight high jump title for the Awesome Blossoms this spring.

Fantastic finish

The Lyle-Pacelli boys basketball team didn’t make it to state in 2023, but the Athletics did put together their best season in co-op history.

L-P finished with a record of 23-6 overall, but its run came to an end when it lost to Goodhue 54-51 in the Section 1A semifinals.

L-P was led by senior Buay Koak, who is now at Division II Southwest State University in Marshall. Koak finished with 2,300 career points, which is the most by any player from Pacelli or Lyle.

Rebel resurgence

The Southland softball team may have had a middle schooler in the circle, but Laney Weis proved she belongs with the area’s best pitchers as she led the Rebels to their best season in 15 years.

Weis, who recently attended a Team USA tryout camp in Florida, had a banner season last year as she paced Southland to an 18-3 season after striking out 235 hitters with an ERA of 1.500.

Southland’s run came to an end when they lost to Hayfield 5-3 in the Section 1A Tournament, but the Rebels are expected to be solid again this spring as they bring back a bulk of their roster.

Reunited by hoops

Austin grads Olivia Walsh, Hope Dudycha and Emma Dudycha helped build the Packer girls basketball program into one of the best in the state and now they’re joining forces at the college level as the three are teammates at Division II University of Minnesota Crookston.

Walsh, a freshman with the Eagles, is the team’s third leading scorer as she averages 9.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while Hope, a sophomore, is averaging 6.8 points per game just one year after missing the season with a knee injury.

Emma, who is Hope’s twin sister, has played in four games for Crookston this season.

Hope finished as AHS’s all-time leading scorer and Walsh won a Class AA state title in the triple jump this past spring, while finishing with two state appearances in track and field, basketball and swimming.

The Eagles are off to a 7-5 start to the season.

Continued Excellence

The Austin Packer dance team competed in its 21st straight state meet when it finished in sixth place in the high kick finals at the Class AA meet.

APDT also featured its first ever boy dancer in the lineup as Salman Masood was a member of the squad.

Blue Devils break through

The Riverland Community College women’s basketball team made program history when it finished in third place in its first ever appearance in the NJCAA Division III National Tournament.

RCC beat Owens 69-65 in the third place game and the Blue Devils also pulled off a giant upset over Rochester Community and Technical College in the Region XII Tournament.

RCC received a boost from a local product as Austin grad Reanna Schmitt played an integral role for the Blue Devils.

One game short

The Austin Bruins came up two goals short of their first ever Robertson Cup title when they lost to the Oklahoma Warriors 4-3 in the NAHL championship game.

It was the third time the Bruins have played in the Robertson Cup since the team was established in Austin in 2010.