Direct Hitts by Shari Hittesdorf

Hard to believe the winter season is heading into playoff time already.

The New Ulm Girls Hockey team (co-op with St. Mary’s and Sleepy Eye) earned a trip to  their second consecutive state tournament. Sleepy Eye athletes include Erika Ries, Alexa Fischer, Lexi Weiss and Miranda McMullen. The Eagles will open the tournament with a game against Breck Wednesday (2/23) morning.

The boy’s hockey squad had their best season since their inaugural year (1999-2000) when they went 17-8. The Indians have an 11-14 mark this year. It has been fun to see a competitive team take the ice. The local skaters are averaging 3.8 goals a contest. Tyler Braulick leads the team with 41 points, Jordan Hillesheim has 27. SE hosts a playoff game (Tuesday night) for the first time, maybe ever.

The Sleepy Eye boy’s basketball team also has one of the better Indian teams to take the court in a very long time. They are 15-4 on the season with five contests left on the schedule before playoffs.

The St. Mary’s boys have got to be on pace to set a new record for most points in a season.  Five times they have scored more than 90 points. Everyone in their line up has the ability to sink one from long range. The Knights definitely live and die by the three-pointer. They are 9-11 on the year.

Bruce Woitas’ teams tend to play their best ball come playoff time. The St. Mary’s girls are doing just that. They played several close games early in the season but seemed to always fall a few points short. The Knights finally started putting the ball in the hoop and Anna Surprenant and her long arms are a force to be reckoned with on defense too. The Lady Knights are 5-1 in their last six games.

The Sleepy Eye girl’s hoops team is 7-16 on the year. There are few squads that will out-hustle this Indian team. They lost several close games to top teams so definitely have the ability to compete with most.

The River Valley wrestling squad won their first section match, 48-22 over MCW before falling to LeSueur/Henderson, 55-18. The team season is over but the Individual Section Tournament gets underway this weekend. Jacob Anderson will look to earn a trip to state for the third consecutive season.

Definitely a fun season for covering sports in Sleepy Eye. GOOD LUCK TEAMS. KEEP ME BUSY FOR ANOTHER MONTH!

Doreen (Tyler) and I have spent the past couple of days snapping pictures at a variety of activities involving Sleepy Eye people. All had one thing in common. Those featured in the wide variety of photos have a passion for what they are doing. Whether it be the science fair participants, those in the St. Mary’s talent show, the figure skaters, the basketball or hockey players, those in knowledge bowl, the two young men raising bird (SEE PEEPS & PLACES) or the ice fishing people, all have a love for what they are doing.
I kind of feel like I’m stealing from this world because I’ve been blessed with so many passions throughout my lifetime.
In my younger days it was the joy of playing sports, baseball cards, shot puts and discus, fishing, camping, picking on my uncles, mopeds and motorcycles. As I’ve matured (or at least have gotten older) the passions have only become bigger and better.
Emergency Medical Services, the summer park and rec. program, teaching, the color green, sports, photography, writing, building a web site, scooters, cabin life, kayaking, jet skiing, working out, M&Ms, Peanut M&Ms, Almond M&Ms, Peanut Butter M&Ms, pink Starburst, hats, jerseys, Billy Joel, and the list goes on and on.
Life is worth living, if you have something you truly enjoy doing.
What is your passion?