Sneak Peak to what will be in the paper on Saturday :)

                                         

Posted: Tuesday, August 9, 2016 7:30 am

By Tom Schardin, tschardin@swpub.com

The Class 3A preseason volleyball poll has been released and Prior Lake opened in the state spot it finished last season — No. 2.

The Lakers are one of four South Suburban Conference teams ranked in the top 10, along with three from Section 2AAA. Preseason polls don't mean much come November, but they are something to talk about right now.

Volleyball practices open up throughout the state Aug. 15 and the Lakers' top goal this fall will be to get back to the Class 3A state tournament and go one step further. Eagan beat Prior Lake in five sets in last year's title match (29-17, 25-23, 15-25, 16-25, 15-13). The Wildcats are ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll.

Third-ranked Lakeville South and seventh-ranked Shakopee are also ranked from the SSC, while the Sabers and No. 8 Eden Prairie are also part of Section 2AAA. The Lakers beat Shakopee in last year's section final in three sets.

The rest of the preseason poll includes: Champlin Park and Wayzata tied at No. 4, Roseville at No. 6, Hopkins at No. 9 and North St. Paul at No. 10. Earning votes in the poll were Chaska (from Section 2AAA), East Ridge, Blaine, Cretin-Derham Hall and Osseo.

Prior Lake lost five seniors from last year's team that had a program-best 29 wins (29-5). The Lakers made their first-ever state appearance.

Meanwhile, Eagan returns its entire core from last year. The Wildcats won the SSC last year (9-0), finishing a game ahead of the Lakers (8-1). Eagan has played in 12 state tournaments since 1996, also winning state titles in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2013.

Prior Lake will have to replace Ella Francis from last year. She was a Ms. Volleyball finalist and also one of 14 players on the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association all-state team and is playing Division I at Illinois State University.

CC McGraw was also all-state last fall as she had a huge sophomore season for the Lakers.

McGraw led Prior Lake last year in ace serves with 46. And, in her first season as libero, she set the single-season school mark for digs with 584. The old mark was set in 2014 by Brittany Luethmers (511), who is the all-time digs leader in Minnesota State High School history with 2,106.

Senior Ellie Veldman will be back at setter. Last year, she set a new Lakers' single-season assists mark with 997. The old mark was 791 set by Kathryn Gaydos in 2009.

Others back who are expected to make a big impact for Prior Lake include: Junior Kayla Bair (215 kills, 70 blocks last year), junior Maddy Bremer (105 kills, 57 blocks), senior Anna Martin (165 kills), senior Lauren Kiewiet (89 kills), junior Hannah Reis (154 digs, 19 ace serves), senior Cassie Herubin and junior Haley Stolt.

Prior Lake will open the season Aug. 25 on the road at Owatonna. The Lakers will get their first ranked opponent Aug. 30 taking on Champlin Park at home.

Prior Lake will face its first section foe Sept. 1 playing at Chaska. The Lakers open the conference season Sept. 13 at home versus Farmington.

Preseason Class 3A Poll

1. Eagan, 2. Prior Lake, 3. Lakeville South, 

4. Champlin Park and Wayzata, 6. Roseville,

 7. Shakopee, 8. Eden Prairie, 9. Hopkins, 

10. North St. Paul

Newspaper article about Maddy

Class AA State Girls Track

Experienced gained on big stage

Bremer finishes fourth in high jump for the Lakers

3 images

Photo by Tom Schardin

finished fourth in the high jump for Prior Lake in her first-career appearance at the Class AA state meet June 10 at Hamline University in St. Paul.

By Tom Schardin, tschardin@swpub.com | Posted 29 minutes ago

The Prior Lake girls track team had 10 athletes representing it at the Class AA state meet June 10-11 at Hamline University.

Seven of them were underclassmen and four were first-timers, so the Lakers got some experience on the biggest stage to end the season. Sophomore Maddy Bremer had the Lakers best finish, taking fourth in the high jump in her first-career appearance.

She was one of six Lakers to earn medals, including junior Madi Scholl in the high jump, eighth-grader Mallory Stach in the 3,200 and the 4x800 team of Stach, sophomores Kristyn Arends and Serena Pfeiffer and senior Olivia Thielen.

The Lakers ended up 26th in the team standings with 13.25 points. Alexandria won the title with 44.5 points, edging Chanhassen by a half point for the crown.

Robbinsdale Armstrong was third (42), followed by St. Michael-Albertville (40) and Mounds View (35).

Meanwhile, Bremer tied the school in the high jump, clearing a height of 5-6. The winning mark was 5-7. Scholl also holds the school record with Bremer. She was making her fourth-career appearance at state, but couldn't duplicate her runner-up finish from a year ago. She ended up tying for ninth with a height of 5-2.

In her first state appearance, Stach had a strong showing in the 3,200, finishing sixth with a time of 10:55.43. That was just off her own school record of 10:54.68 that she set early in the spring.

The old mark was 11:00.60 set by Megan Brandeland in 2005, so Stach is the only Laker to ever break 11 minutes in the 3,200 and she has done it twice with still four more seasons left for her to compete.

Stach also anchored the 4x800 relay. Arends ran the first leg, followed by Pfieffer and Thielen. The foursome finished in 9:21.28 to finish seventh. The time was close to the school record of 9:20.18 set in 2010.

Prior Lake's 4x200 relay team of Arends, Caldwell, Hoepner and Altendorf just missed making the finals (top nine), finishing 10th in the prelims with a time of 1:44.86.

Junior Sophie Zak competed in the triple jump for the Lakers, but she couldn't match her winning leap of 36-0 in the Section 3AA competition. She went 32-5 1/4 to finish 19th.

Like Stach and Bremer, Pfeiffer and Caldwell were also underclassmen competing at state for the Lakers for the first time. Zak competed in the high jump last year with Scholl, while Arends was on state relay as an eighth-grader.

Lakeville North was the highest-finishing South Suburban Conference team in 22nd place (15), followed by Farmington tying for 23rd (14), Eagan in 27th (13), Lakeville South in 31st (11.25), Eastview in 32nd (11), Rosemount tying for 34th (10), Burnsville in 40th (9) and Shakopee tying for 50th (4).

Track and Field season went out like a bang!

I would say.....Maddy had a pretty excellent season for her first year in Track!   Yesterday was the State Meet.  Maddy qualified at the sections meet with a 5 foot 5 high jump.  Yeterday.....Maddy ended her season at track yesterday jumping 5 foot 6 inches, which was Maddy's personal record (and only 1 inch from the school record).  

Maddy was awarded All State honors at the state meet, All Conference Team, Rookie of the year, and was also part of the True Team State Team.  Can't wait to see what the next 2 years have in store for her.

June 20-26...Maddy will be in Orlando for the AAU Girls Volleyball Nationals.  June 29 - July 3....she will be in Indianapolis for the USA Girls Volleyball Nationals, And then us Bremer's are going to Colorado for a little relaxation, Mountain time, and a  college visit and camp for Maddy at her soon to be college (University of Northern Colorado).  Alot ahead for us.  I thought summer was for relaxation???

What an awesome season with track and field!! Maddy had her banquet tonight!  Besides getting her letter in track.... Maddy was awarded All Conference and Rockie of the year (since this was her first year in Track).  Maddy has track on Friday!  Maddy will do the High Jump.

True Team Track State Championships

The Prior Lake girls track team had to rely on its depth a little more than it usually does.

Minus two of their top performers, the Lakers finished fifth out of nine squads at the Class AAA State True Team May 20 in Stillwater. Prior Lake was making its seventh appearance at the competition in the last eight years.

The Lakers scored 654 points. Lakeville South won the title with 794.5 points, followed by Mounds View (788), Edina (769.5) and Minnetonka (745). St. Michael-Albertville was sixth (605), followed by White Bear Lake (604), Anoka (531.5) and Eagan (522.5).

Prior Lake was missing senior Ella Francis, a three-time state qualifier, who is out for the season with a knee injury. Eighth-grader Taynain Walgrave, a top hurdler and relay member, was also out with a knee injury. Sophomore hurdlers Claire Houle and Doris Mor were also unavailable.

"We were at No. 5 and 6 on the depth chart in hurdles and in the 4x100," said Lakers coach Scot Jaenicke. "Considering that, I was real happy with our leaders and the kids who stepped up in their place. The kids had a great attitude and we had a lot of personal bests.

"Hopefully, we can get healthy here in the next couple of weeks," added Jaenicke.

Prior Lake is back on the track May 24-25 in the South Suburban Conference Championships at Lakeville North.

Junior Madi Scholl had the Lakers' lone win at the state true team. She tied her own school record in the high jump, winning with a height of 5-6.

Eighth-grader Mallory Stach finished second in the 1,600 for the Lakers with a time of 5:07.86 and was sixth in the 3,200 (11:22.28). Sophomore Kristyn Arends was runner-up in the 400 (58.58) and sixth in the 800 (2:19.99).

Prior Lake's 4x200 relay team of seniors Olivia Schroeder, Nicole Hoepner and Alyssa Altendorf and sophomore Hannah Caldwell finished second (1:46.33). The 4x400 team of Scholl, Schroender, Arends and sophomore Serena Pfeiffer was fifth (4:07.05), while the 4x800 team of Pfeiffer, senior Olivia Thielen, junior Grace Jondal and sophomore Jadin Heilman was sixth (9:55.97).

The 4x100 team of Altendorf, ninth-grader Lexi Wiskow, junior Meghan Keating and sophomore Cassandra Flaata ended up seventh (52.61).

Caldwell finished fifth in the 100 (13.03), while Hoepner was eighth in the 200 (26.82) and ninth in the 100 (13.18). Junior Gabi Brinkley took seventh in the 3,200 (11:29.50).

Sophomore Madison Bremer was eighth in the high jump (5-2), while Jondal finished seventh in the pole vault (9-6). Senior Hannah Duckson ended up eighth in the shot put (36-9).

Other finishes: Scholl in the 100 hurdles (11th, 16.53) and the 300 hurdles (14th, 48.82), junior Christina Hanson in the 100 hurdles (15th, 17.33), Brinkey in the 1,600 (14th, 5:27.87), sophomore Gwen Anderson in the 1,600 (16th, 5:33.88), Thielen in the 400 (11th, 61.32), Pfeiffer in the 800 (2:25.22), Caldwell in the 200 (10th, 26.98), Altendorf in the 200 (16th, 27.20), junior Sophie Zak in the long jump (16th, 15-8) and triple jump (16th, 33-0 1/2), Bremer in the triple jump (15th, 31-1 1/2), senior Sarah Ring in the high jump (14th, 5-0), junior Lauren Benedict in the pole vault (16th, 8-0), Duckson in the discus (14th, 106-10) and senior Jazmen Henderson in the shot put (11th, 35-0) and discus (11th, 110-05).

First long course meet for Mike!!

Day 1 swim meet at the University of MN in the books!  50 meters is a lot farther than a 25 yard pool.  Mike got up there, and swam like a champ.  Got 10 th place out of 24 swimmers in the 50m backstroke, and got a GREAT time too!  For never even practicing in a Olympic sized pool.   Tomorrow he swims the 50 m freestyle and the 50 m breaststroke.  GO MIKE!!

Girls Track is going to State!!!!

The Prior Lake girls track outlasted the competition at the Section 3AAA True Team May 10 in Apple Valley.

The Lakers earned their seventh trip to the Class 3A state meet in the last eight years, winning the section with 976.5 points. Rosemount was Prior Lake's biggest challenger, finishing second (916.5).

Eastview was third (772), followed by Bloomington Jefferson (752.5), Shakopee (730), Apple Valley (578.50), Burnsville (598), Chaska (449) and Bloomington Kennedy (278).

The state meet is set for May 20 in Stillwater at 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Lakers won five individual events and the section true team and was runner-up in nine, including three relays.

Sophomore Hannah Caldwell was a double winner for Prior Lake, taking the 100 meters with a time of 13.31 and the 200 (26.37). Sophomore Kristyn Arends was in the top spot in the 400 (58.83), while eighth-grader Mallory Stach claimed the 1,600 (5:06.55) and was runner-up in the 800 (2:20.73).

Senior Ella Francis won the long jump (16-3 1/4) and was second in the 100 hurdles (16.60) and the pole vault (10-6).

The Lakers' 4x200 relay team of Arends, seniors Alyssa Altendorf and Nicole Hoepner and sophomore Claire Houle was second (1:48.41), as was the 4x400 team of Stach, junior Madi Scholl, senior Olivia Thielen and sophomore Serena Pfeiffer (4:10.36) and the 4x800 team of Thielen, Pfeiffer, junior Grace Jondal and sophomore Jadin Heilman (9:58.72).

The 4x100 team of senior Olivia Schroeder, ninth-grader Lexi Wiskow, Altendorf and Hoepner was fifth (52.31).

In the high jump, the Lakers went two-three-four. Scholl was runner-up (5-2), followed by Maddy Bremer (5-0) and senior Sarah Ring (5-0).

Junior Gabi Brinkley was second in the 3,200 (11:37.07) and sixth in the 1,600 (5:21.84). Houle was second in the 300 hurdles (49.69), while Scholl was third (50.0). Junior Christina Hanson was fourth in the 100 hurdles (17.28), while Scholl was sixth (17:41).

Arends was fifth in the 800 (2:23.43), while Jondal tied for fifth in the pole vault (8-6).

Senior Jazmen Henderson was third in the discus (112-6) for Prior Lake and sixth in the shot put (34- 2 3/4). Senior Hannah Duckson was fourth in the shot put (35-10 1/2) and sixth in the discus (105-0).

Other finishes: Hoepner in the 200 (7th, 27.54), Thielen in the 400 (9th, 1:02.56), Hanson in the long jump (8th, 15-2 3/4), junior Sophie Zak in the long jump (15-0 1/4), Bremer in the triple jump (8th, 32-10) and junior Ashlynn Pepper in the shot put (33-11 1/2).

Following the state true team, the Lakers will compete in the South Suburban Conference Championships May 24-25 at Lakeville North.

Yesterday's Track meet....

YEAH LAKERS!!!

Strong depth continues to be the best friend of the Prior Lake girls track team.

But the Lakers are not void of top-end talent either. Both were on display at the South Suburban Conference Relays May 3 with Prior Lake winning handily with 212 points.

Rosemount was a distant second (177), followed by Lakeville South (134), Shakopee (133), Eastview (130), Lakeville North (109), Burnsville (89), Apple Valley (75) and Farmington (59).

The Lakers will compete in the Wayzata Relays May 6, before setting their sights on the Section 3AAA True Team May 10 in Apple Valley, which starts at 4 p.m. Last year, Prior Lake had its strong of six straight berths into the state true team meet snapped.

Meanwhile, at the SSC Relays, Prior Lake claimed the top spot in two relays. The 4x800 team of sophomore Serena Pfeiffer, junior Grace Jondal, senior Olivia Thielen and eighth-grader Mallory Stach was first (9:44.25), as was the 1,600 sprint medley team of seniors Aylssa Altendorf and Olivia Schroeder, ninth-grader Lexi Wiskow and sophomore Kristyn Arends (4:21.79).

The 800 sprint medley team of Wiskow, Altendorf, junior Lauren Benedict and sophomore Hannah Caldwell was second (1:54.74), as was the distance medley team of Stach, Pfeiffer, Thielen and junior Gabi Brinkley (13:06.83).

The 4x200 team of Arends, Schroeder, sophomore Claire Houle and senior Nicole Hoeper was third (1:49.98), as was the 4x400 team of Caldwell, Hoepner, Arends and junior Madi Scholl (4:09.79). The 4x100 team of Caldwell, Hoepner, Schroeder and eighth-grader Taynian Walgrave ended up fourth (51.84).

Senior Ella Francis was second in triple jump (34-6) for the Lakers and tied for second in the pole vault (9-6). Scholl and sophomore Maddy Bremmer both tied for second in the high jump (5-2). Scholl was also fourth in the 300 hurdles (49.24), while Bremer was seventh in the triple jump (33-10 1/4).

Walgrave was fourth in the 100 hurdles (16.05) and fifth in the 300 hurdles (49.33).

Other Laker finishes: Brinkley in the 1,600 (5th, 5:23.34), junior Christina Hanson in the 100 hurdles (10th, 17.14) and the long jump (6th, 15-7 3/4), junior Lauren Stach in the 3,200 (6th, 12:28.75), sophomore Gwen Anderson in the 3,200 (7th, 12:30.74), senior Sarah Ring in the high jump (7th, 5-0), Jondal in the pole vault (9th, 8-6), junior Sophie Zak in the long jump (9th, 15-4 3/4) and junior Ashlyn Pepper in the shot put (10th, 35-2 1/2).

Laker Track and field

The Prior Lake girls track team's depth continues to be its strength. 

The Lakers had a strong runner-up finish out of 16 teams at the Lakeville North Mega Meet April 23, finishing with 89 points, which was well back of champion Minnetonka (118).

Prior Lake was also runner-up the Skippers at the Joe Lane Invitational in Minnetonka April 26, tying for second with Mounds View with 84.5 points, while the Skippers scored 143.

"We had a good day [at the mega meet]," said Lakers coach Scot Jaenicke. 

Prior Lake is back on the track May 3 in the South Suburban Conference Relays on the Lakers' track at 3 p.m. The team will compete in the Wayzata Relays May 6 at 4 p.m., before preparing for the Section 3AAA True Team in Apple Valley May 10.

At the mega meet, the Lakers' 4x200 relay team of sophomores Hannah Caldwell and Kristyn Arends, senior Nicole Hoepner and eighth-grader Taynain Walgrave was victorious with a time of 1:46.13. The 4x400 team of Caldwell, Hoepner, junior Madi Scholl and senior Olivia Schroeder was third (4:12.83).

Scholl had the Lakers' lone individual win, taking the high jump with a height of 5-4. She was also third in the 300 hurdles (49.08). Eighth-grader Mallory Stach had a pair of runner-up finishes in the 800 (2:20.98) and the 1,600 (5:12.35).

Arends was third in the 400 (59.97) and fifth in the 200 (27.64). Senior Sarah Ring and junior Sophie Zak tied for sixth in the high jump (4-10). Senior Jazmen Henderson was sixth in both of the discus (107-05) and the shot put (35-4), while senior Hannah Duckson was fourth in the shot put (35-11 1/2).

Walgrave was fourth in the 300 hurdles (49.40) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (16.81), while junior Christina Hanson was seventh in the 100 hurdles (17.70).

Other Laker finishes: junior Gabi Brinkley in the 1,600 (8th, 5:37.03), Schroeder in the 400 (10th, 1:02.60), Caldwell in the 200 (8th, 27.81) and junior Ashlyn Pepper in the shot put (8th, 34-6).

At the Joe Lane invite, the Lakers won two relays. The 4x100 team of Caldwell, Walgrave, Hoepner and Arends was a winner (50.50), as was the 4x400 team of Hoepner, Scholl, Stach and Arends (4:06.45).

The 4x800 team of Stach, Brinkley and juniors Grance Jondal and Lauren Stach was second (10:01.86).

Hoepner was second in the 200 (27.56), as was Caldwell in the 400 (1:02.07), sophomore Serena Pfeiffer in the 800 (2:28.17), Brinkley in the 3,200 (11:35.36) and Ring in the high jump (5-0).

Other finishes: Walgrave in the 100 hurdles (5th, 16.88), Schroeder in the 100 (5th, 13.60), Pfeiffer in the 400 (4th, 1:03.49), senior Olivia Theilen in the 200 (5th, 28.31), sophomore Maddy Bremmer in the high jump (4th, 4-8) and triple jump (4th, 33-7), senior Ella Francis in the pole vault (4th, 9-6) and triple jump (3rd, 34-9 1/4), Duckson in the shot put (5th, 34-11), Henderson in the discus (5th, 102-11) and senior Alyssa Alytendorf in the long jump (5th, 15-5 1/4). 

The Lakers were also in the Shakopee Relays April 22, but competed without most of their top performers. The Lakers were eighth with 118 points. The host Sabers won (393).

Bremer was third in the high jump (5-0), while sophomore Claire Houle was fourth in the 300 hurdles (51.16) for the Lakers. 

Northern Lights 16-1's Go to KC!!!

We leave this Thursday to Sunday to Kansas City, MO for the Show me qualifier.  This tournament is to qualify for the USAJO Nationals in Indianapolis at the end of June.  We are praying that our team can stay healthy and injury free this weekend!!  If you would like to watch our progress....go to the link below.  After clicking the link....click on Northern Lights 16-1.

16 Open Show me Qualifier

Go Lights!