Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s/Sleepy Eye/New Ulm Cathedral sophomore Noah Christensen will be making his first trip to the state meet for the first time in his three years of running cross-country.
SM/SE/NUC head coach Lisa Hagen said she knew Christensen had talent even during his first year of running with the team and saw Christensen reaching this state milestone down the line.
“He is quite talented and his first year as an eighth-grader, I told him that he will be going to state in a few years,” Hagen said. “He came in with so much potential and his hard work, determination, along with God’s grace has gotten him very far.”
Christensen’s average time this season has been 17:30, while his PR is 17:02. On Oct. 18 in Springfield, Christensen won the boys race and became the conference champion as a result. He was also named the Tomahawk Conference Boys Runner of the Year following that race.
After qualifying for state with a fifth-place finish (17:02.77) at the Section 2A Cross-Country Championships in Norwood Young America last week, Christensen and coach Hagen have high hopes for the state meet at a challenging course.
“It’s Noah’s first year at state, I want him to establish a good position going out at the beginning of the race and push himself to work his way further up,” Hagen said. “It’s a difficult course to hit a new personal record on, but I’d like to see him do it and hit a sub-17 5K.”
Hagen added that she’s been blessed to coach the athletes she has this season and she’s expecting a great race from Christensen on Saturday.
“Its a blessing to coach these enthusiastic, hardworking athletes on the SM/SE/NUC team,” Hagen said. “I’m proud of each one of them and their accomplishments. Noah isn’t just a good athlete, but also a team leader and he is very encouraging to other team members. It should be a great race for him on Saturday.”
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The St. Mary’s volleyball team earned the co-Tomahawk Conference Championship along with New Ulm Cathedral. The Lady Knights have won the conference for third consecutive season. Team members include (front row from left) Natalie Fischer, Bella Hoffmann, Allie Labat, Sam Ibberson, Abby Schwartz, Josie Helget. Back row: Addy Hoffmann, Lacey Mathiwetz, Jenica Schroepfer, Jaci Domeier, Amelia Schwartz, Maria Schwartz, Emily Helget, Reese Hoffmann.
River Valley vs. Blue Earth @ Blue Earth (10/3) (Round 1 of Section 2A tournament)
Blue Earth wins 7-0
1st Singles: River Valley’s Taylor Berkner loses to Addison Armstrong (0-6, 4-6)
2nd Singles: River Valley’s Brissa Hernandez loses to Olivia Dutton (2-6, 4-6)
3rd Singles: River Valley’s Courtlyn Runck loses to Grace Hanson (6-2, 4-6, 3-6)
4th Singles: River Valley’s Jillian Mays loses to Lauren Survis (2-6, 2-6)
1st Doubles: River Valley’s Kiera Lafferty and Gabby Anderson lose to Ashlyn Klinker and Carol Schrader (6-4, 1-6, 0-6)
2nd Doubles: River Valley’s Emma Contreras-Ramirez and Chloe Okerman lose to Erika Gaydon and McKinley Hanson (0-6, 2-6)
3rd Doubles: River Valley’s Dani Junker and Bronwyn Sorenson lose to Erin Prescher and Addison Prescher (0-6, 0-6)
Coach Brandon Andrew’s Comment: The scorecard doesn’t reflect how close this match was! We came into the match with two injured players in our varsity lineup which really shook things up and had people playing out of position. Jillian Mays is our typical 2 Doubles player, she was moved into 4 singles. Her partner, Gabby Anderson, was moved up to fill in for an injured player in 1st Doubles. Our 3rd Doubles team had to move up to play our 2nd Doubles spot. Finally, Dani Junker and Bronwyn Sorenson, who have been playing the exhibition spots for most of the year, had to step in and take over that 3rd Doubles position. Going into the match, with all the shifting of spots and injuries, it would have been easy for our girls to give up and go in with a negative attitude but that was the opposite of what happened! I am so proud of the way all of our girls competed yesterday after being put into a tough spot. Although the scorecard shows 7-0, we had the opportunity to win 4 spots but it just wasn’t our day. 3rd singles and 1st doubles went into a tiebreaking 3rd set. 1st and 2nd singles had close battles and both almost forced a 3rd set. This loss will conclude our team season. The River Valley Wildcats finish at 6-14 but competed well all season. There were a lot of matches that were close battles. With more experience, we will pull out those wins in the future. It has really been a fun and positive season. The future is bright for the Wildcats! We will have 6 girls competing in the individual tournament this Friday. Taylor Berkner, Brissa Hernandez, Kiera Lafferty, Courtyln Runck, Gabby Anderson, and Jillian Mays
Former Springfield standout athlete Tyler Marz made an appearance at the Sleepy Eye United Elementary Football practice Thursday (8/25). Marz helped the Tigers to a state basketball championship but it was football where he excelled as an offensive tackle at the University of Wisconsin. He also played for four NFL teams between 2016-2021 including the Titans, Chargers, Panthers and Dolphins.
Tyler impressed upon the youth team the importance of hard work.
The Sleepy Eye Jr. Legion Baseball squad went 2-1 at the state tournament held in Ely Aug 4-6 to earn the consolation championship.
Consolation Championship Game
- Madelia forfeited the Sub-State Championship Game to Sleepy Eye due to lack of available pitchers.
- Sleepy Eye advances to State Tournament.
- First time a Legion affiliated Sleepy Eye team has made State since 2004.
- This is the first year Sleepy Eye has hosted a Jr. Legion Team
- The team celebrated with a Fire Truck ride on 7/20
- Division II Jr. Legion State Tournament August 4-6 in Ely