Girls Cross Country: Young and Improving

Maricia Pacheco
MVP, All-Missota Conference honorable mention

It doesn't take a person with 20-20 vision to tell the Tiger future looks bright. One need only look at the varsity lineup coach Heidi Revels fielded for most meets this fall.
After a season-ending injury to senior Nicole Clifton in the early going, Farmington went with a lineup entirely made up of underclassmen. Its top runners were a junior and a freshman and two eighth-graders were lineup regulars.
Yet even with a young and mostly inexperienced lineup the Tigers were able to put together a respectable season, finishing sixth among eight teams in the Missota Conference and tenth at the 14-team Section 1AA Championships.
"I am proud of all of the dedication and hard work of our runners," Revels said. "I think it is just as important to have a team that gels as a team that wins and this team had a strong bond.
"They went above and beyond in practice and they supported each other in competition. All of our runners showed improvement in personal times and I am happy with what they accomplished."
Ten girls earned varsity letters for their efforts: seniors Kayla Long and Nadia Perdormo; juniors Bailey Opsal, Marissa Stewart and Natalia Sitzman; sophomore Maria Kiminski; freshman Maricia Pacheco and eighth-graders Sofia Chadwick, Victoria Jacoby and Morgan Medved.
Pacheco finished 20th at the Missota Conference Championships to earn all-conference honorable mention and also garnered team Most Valuable Player honors. Veteran Opsal served as team captain.
Kiminksi earned the title "Most Dedicated Runner" while Long won the "Most Improved" award. Medved took home Rookie of the Year honors.
Revels cited several strong team performances during the 2010 season, including runner-up performances at both the New Prague and Rogers Invitationals and a fourth-place effort at the Shakopee Invitational.
The second year Tiger coach said she felt badly about losing two seniors, one to transfer and one to injury, and was disappointed that her team didn't have more depth.
"We are always looking for more runners," she said, "and that continues to be one of our biggest struggles."
Until the numbers improve, however, Revels seems content with the girls she has on her current roster.
"We had no seniors this year, so I am hopeful everyone will be back next fall," she said. "I believe we have the talent to move up if we keep working hard."

24 Tigers receive All-Missota honors

Thirteen Farmington High School athletes earned berths on all-Missota Conference teams this fall; 11 more received all-conference honorable mention.
In some sports, the all-league teams were chosen by conference coaches and in others determined by performance in conference meets or tournaments.

Farmington High School all-Missota Conference selections for fall 2010:
Girls Soccer: Devyn Alberts, Laine Trowbridge, Shelby Calhoun and Taylor Meyer
Girls Swimming and Diving: Caitlin Kracke, Kirsten Kracke and Kaitlyn O'Reilly
Boys Soccer: Justen Thelen and Sam Leske
Football: CJ Record and Cory Johnson
Volleyball: Katie Habeck
Boys Cross Country: Elliot Fenske

All-Missota Conference Honorable Mention
Girls Soccer: Kelli Harstad and Elena Koch
Girls Swimming and Diving: Elizabeth Wolfe and Sarah O'Reilly
Boys Soccer: Chad Stivers and Christian Thao
Football: Eric McWright and Tommy Korbein
Volleyball: Jordan Bridges
Girls Cross Country: Maria Pacheco
Girls Tennis: Maggie Rudorfer

Boys Cross Country: Experience and youth land Tigers in the middle

Carl Elmer
Senior Co-Captain, Most Dedicated Runner

Tiger boys cross country coach Keith Revels fielded a varsity lineup of extremes for most of the 2010 season.
At the front of the pack were a pair of seniors, two-time state meet qualifier Elliot Fenske and dependable Carl Elmer. The other spots were usually occupied by a group of underclassmen long on effort but short on experience.
The result was a middle-of-the pack finish at both the Missota Conference (5th of 8) and Section 1AA (8th of 14) Championships.
"There are always things you'd like to improve upon," Revels said, "but as a group I think we competed close to our potential. The boys trained hard and improved every week. You can't ask for much more than that."
All in all, Revels awarded 15 runners varsity letters for their work during the 2010 season: seniors Fenske, Elmer, Austin Bell, Drew Cayard, Chris Gorder, Brian Huls, Justin Rees, Josh Ruthenbeck and Brandon Strofhus; juniors Lincoln Kirchoff and Chad Retterath; sophomores Ben Olson, Adam Wallenta and Alec Wilson and freshman Dan Block.
"Having Elliot(Fenske) and Carl (Elmer) the only healthy runners with experience, the younger guys had to step into scoring roles," Revels said. "Olson, Block, Wallenta Kirchoff and Wilson improved as the season progressed. No pun intended, but they made great strides."
Revels said disappointments were few and far between but noted that losing Retterath to injury early in the season took its toll.
Co-captain Fenske won team MVP honors for his stellar senior season's work that included an individual title at New Prague, a fourth place finish in the conference, a seventh place effort at the section meet and a 40th place finish at the state finals.
"Elliot is a great, mentally tough talent who trained hard," Revels said. "He is the complete package who will do well at the next level regardless of where he goes."
Elmer served as co-captain and according to his coach earned his "Most Dedicated" award.
"Carl was a workhorse," he said. "Perhaps not a natural, but his efforts were second to none. There was never any doubt about him giving his best. A great quality possessed by a great kid."
The steadily-improving Olson was named the most improved runner while Block who moved up from the middle school this fall earned Rookie of the Year honors.
Revels said that he should start the 2011 campaign with six runners with varsity experience but cautioned that alone won't mean a move up the conference and section ladders.
"It's going to take five guys getting under 18:00 (for 5000 meters) and one or two under 17:30," he said. "Red Wing, Chaska and Chanhassen will all be pretty good and we can't overlook any of the teams that finished behind us this year, either."

Tigers find positives in losing season

For the first time in 28 years the Tiger football team won just one game (1-8) but veteran coach Mark Froehling said there were more than a few positives to take away from the 2010 season.
"As a team we showed great improvement throughout the season," he said. "The players never quit and continued to learn through the final game.
"We got behind early in a lot of games but we were able to come back and play competitively. Our running game produced two 200-yard games by CJ Record and in the passing game our sophomore quarterback completed 50 percent."
Froehling pointed to a come-from-behind win over Red Wing, a fourth quarter rally in a one-point loss to Holy Angels and a near upset of Northfield as major highlights of the season just completed.
On the other side of the ledger Froehling said his team's two shutout losses, spotty special teams play early in the season and habit of giving up big plays were the biggest disappointments.
Froehling and his staff awarded varsity letters to 38 players, including 18 members of the senior class: Dayne Eich, Record, Sebren Baer, Tyler Grubb, Tyler Beckett,, Evan Workman, Eric McWright, Peter Folz, Ricardo Ziegler, Jake Schaeppi, Josh Zarras, Cory Johnson, John Schimmel, Dillon Pariseau, Derek Sather, Jacob Lee, Tommy Korbein and Tyler Bagley.
"The coaches really enjoyed working with the seniors," Froheling said. "They are good people who woked well together and gave us good effort."
Underclassmen monogram winners included juniors Austin Bassett, Brady Lindrud, Drew Hegseth, Nathan Graham, Blake Weinand, Ryan Schoening, Charlie Weierke, Mitchell Prout, Joey Ouyang, Andy VanBlarcom, Jake Novak, Nick Newman, Bret Hoffman, Josh Cordes, Tyler Engel and Jordan Vandivier and sophomores Darren Beenken, Kevin Olund, Alex Chadwick and Athen Ashton.
Record, the team's leading rusher with 1,013 yards and six touchdowns and Johnson, the anchor of the offensive line, made the all-Missota Conference team.
McWright, the team leader in tackles (58) and quarterback sacks (7) and Korbein, third on the team in tackles with 55, received all-league honorable mention.
Record was voted the team's most valuable offensive player while the defensive MVP award was shared by Zarras, Ziegler and Sather.
Johnson won the most valuable offensive lineman award while Pariseau's hard work earned him a special coaches award. Baer took home the Earl Wetzel award named for the Tiger coach of the 1980's and 1990's.
The losing season was the second in a row for the Tigers and Froehling was realistic in noting that a reversal in fortune will be neither easy nor guaranteed.
"It will take some time to have the number of athletes 'varsity ready' that we need to be dominant again," he said. "We don't have the size and athleticism along the line or the depth at the skill positions that we've had in some seasons.
"What we do have are underclassmen willing to commit to the work necessary to fulfill their potential. As more athletes reach their potential, the team will reach its potential."
The Tiger coach said he plans to stick with the new spread offense he and his staff introduced this season.
"We used several sophomores at both the varsity and junior varsity levels this year, so they will be familiar with it," he said. "The ninth graders had a successful season and some of them could help us right away if they work hard in the weight room in the off-season."

More volleyball honors for Habeck

When Tiger senior Katie Habeck landed a spot on the Minneapolis StarTribune's all-Metro volleyball team a couple of weeks ago, it was just the start of a long string of post-season honors.
Since then the talented outside hitter has made all-state teams chosen by the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. In addition, Habeck was a repeat selection for the all-Missota Conference squad.
Habeck, who helped lead Farmington to its one and only state tournament appearance last year, led the Tigers with 404 kills, 349 digs and 28 service aces. Her 434 receptions and 52 blocks ranked second on the team charts.
"This year Katie played every position except setter and libero," coach Mike Woody said. "Her ability to transition from a middle hitter to our number one outside hitter, passer and defender was seamless. Leading the team in both kills and digs says a lot about what she does on the floor."
Habeck plans to continue her volleyball career at the collegiate level with NCAA Division II powerhouse Concordia University-St. Paul.