Volleyball: Saving the best for last

Setter Ruthie Schmitt All-Missota Conference (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The 2013 Tigers started fast, struggled a little in the middle and then peaked at tournament time, advancing to the semifinals of the Section 1AA tournament for just the fourth time in school history.

Translated into numbers, Mike Woody's team, featuring a mix of younger and older players, put together an overall record of 19-12; 2-5 in a very competitive Missota Conference schedule.

"Nineteen wins and getting to the section semifinals puts this year's team right up there with our 2009 state tournament team," Woody said. "This group worked very hard at continuing to improve with the goal to being their best at the section tournament.

"A couple of bounces go our way against Mayo in the semifinals and who knows? It was a great season."

Woody and staff awarded varsity letters to a dozen players for their work during the 2013 campaign: captains Ruthie Schmitt and Morgan Cecchittini and libero defensive specialist Diana Comes.

Underclassmen receiving monograms included junior Alica Hett, Summer Skokan, Allie Welter, Alexis Bradley, Vanessa Garske and Hanna Baer and freshmen Kenzie Hesse, Emma Fahning and Amber Ripley.

Setter Schmitt, who piled up 896 assists during the season was named to the elite all-Missota Conference team while Cecchittini, the team leader in blocks with 112, received all-league honorable mention.

Morgan Cecchittini (left) All-Missota honorable mention (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Other statistical leaders included Fahning, digs (351) and service aces (69); Hesse, kills (380) and Comes, serve receptions (455).

Although the strong post-season finish ranked as Woody's top highlight from the season just completed, he was quick to point out a couple of other big ones, namely an early season win over Apple Valley and a runner-up finish at the 16-team Cannon Falls Invitational tournament.

Woody said that the loss of three senior starters will impact next year's squad be he expressed confidence that his 2014 team will be able to hold its own.

"We have a solid core coming back," he said. "I look for next season to look a lot like this with the girls making another October run."

Like all of the other Tiger sports, the schedule will look a lot different fall with the impending move from the Missota to the South Suburban Conference.

"There will be tougher competition night in and night out," Woody said. "We lose a couple of 'easy' matches we had at the bottom but the top of the new conference will look a lot like the top of the Missota. We have been used to playing state championship-type teams like Shakopee, Chaska and Chanhassen."

Four Tiger swimmers = seven state qualifiers

 

Kaitlyn O'Reilly (top) and Kirsten Kracke to state in four events (photos by J. Lindquist)

If the Tigers girls were a baseball hitter, Saturday's performance at the Section 1AA Championships in Rochester would have put them on the Hall of Fame ballot.

Farmington batted a robust .583 in the section finals, qualifying in seven of 12 events for next weekend's state meet while finishing third in the final section standings.

Rochester Mayo dominated the team competition with 443 points. Hastings took second with 356.5, followed by Farmington 334, Winona 270, Rochester John Marshall 265, Rochester Century 216.5 and Owatonna 151.

"We had an amazing prelims and held on to finish strong in the finals," coach Jen Marshall said. "Five individual entries in the state meet is the most we've ever had and we're confident our relays will get faster. It should make for an exciting state meet,"

Four Tigers--Kaitlyn O'Reilly, Kirsten Kracke, Chelsea Gehrke and Cora Ruzicka--accounted for all seven state meet berths with O'Reilly and Kracke each making the cut in four.

O'Reilly, an all-state performer last fall, also made the state field in two individual events. The speedy senior set a meet record of 2:05.03 in winning the 200 individual medley and also took third in the 200 backstroke.

Chelsea Gehrke qualified in three events (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Kracke also will swim four events at state, adding a runner-up finish in the 50 freestyle and a fourth place effort in the 100 freestyle to her list of accomplishments at the section finals.

Gehrke made state in an individual event with a third place showing in the 100 butterfly.

Two of the state qualifications came from the formidable foursome of O'Reilly, Kracke, Gehrke and Cora Ruzicka who joined forces to finish second in both the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays. The 200 freestyle quartet set a new school mark with a 1:38.48 clocking.

 O'Reilly (200 individual medley), Gehrke (100 butterfly), Kracke (100 freestyle) and Ruzicka (500 freestyle) all set new school standards in individual events at the meet.

In addition to the in-pool success at the section championships the Tigers also learned they had achieved the Academic Gold Standard set by the State Coaches Association by compiling a team grade point average of at least 3.75 (on a 4.0 scale).

The Class AA state meet will take place Nov 18-20 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Cora Ruzicka swam on two state-qualifying relays (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Other Farmington point-scorers at the section meet:
200 freestyle: 4. Ruzicka; 1. Ellie Sundet; 13. Catherine Gehrke
200 medley: 14. Chloe Holton; 15. Paige LeTourneau
50 freestyle: 16. Grace Roach
One-meter diving: 5. Kendall Novak; 6. Tori Sontag; 10. Nikki Cayard
100 butterfly: 13. Holton; 14. Roach
100 freestyle: 11. Sundet
500 freestyle: 5. Ruzicka; 6. Sara Kintner; 12. Ca. Gehrke
100 backstroke: 9. Lexie Bray; 13. Emily Ley; 15. Sydney Geiger
100 breaststroke: 6. Kintner; 14. Katie Anderson

Tiger Scoreboard: November 10, 2013

Girls Swimming and Diving
Section 1AA Championships at Rochester
Rochester Mayo 443, Hastings 356.5, Farmington 334*, Winona 270, Rochester John Marshall 265, Rochester Century 216.5, Owatonna 151
*Farmington qualified for the Class AA state meet in seven of the 12 events

Boys X-Country: A nice run

Justin Hyytinen Missota Conference champion, Academic All-State

Like the courses they ran the the Tigers experienced their ups and downs this season but according to coach Lisa Lippold the bottom line showed another successful season.

"Overall, it was a good year," she said. "In the three years I have been coaching the runners have continued to get stronger and faster which is  what you want to see. We are still going to set our goals high and we'll get there soon."

Eleven runners earned varsity letter this season, including a trio of seniors: Sean Dougherty, Trent Kortenbusch and Hunter Sevenich.

Dougherty, who lopped more than a minute off his previous best time was named the team's most improved runner at Thursday night's post-season banquet. Kortenbusch received the Coaches' Award for attitude and work ethic.

"Trent made it to every Saturday practice and helped out with the younger runners," Lippold said. "His goal was to get under 19:00 and he did it in his last meet."

Junior Justin Hyytinen led the list of other letterwinners that also included junior Matt Anderson; sophomores Alex Hart, Derek Cole, Josh Grimm, Ryan Newton, Devon Webb and Jackson Schneider.

Hyytinen, the team's Most Valuable Runner, had another big year, highlighted by his becoming just the third Tiger ever to reign as Missota Conference individual champion. He made the all-Missota team for the second straight season, finished runner-up at the Section 1AA Championships and ran in the state meet for the second year in a row.

Alex Hart All-Missota Conference

Hart also had a stellar year, finishing 12th at the conference meet to earn a spot on the elite all-Missota team. Cole, in his first year out for the sport, was named Rookie of the Year.

The Tigers also excelled in the classroom. Their varsity lineup compiled a 3.9 (on a 4.0 scale) grade point average and earned the Gold Academic Award form the State Coaches Association. Hyytinen won Academic All-State individual honors.

"We had almost everyone run a personal record time this year," Lippold said. "They saw how their summer training paid off...We also had a lot more team bonding this year."

Lippold said the only regrets from the 2013 season came in the form of a disappointing sixth place finish at the Missota Conference Championships and seeing a few of her runners report to pre-season drills with fewer off-season training miles under their belts than expected.

"Both Heidi (girls coach Revels) are looking at how to strengthen our summer training even more," she said.

Lippold said she doesn't see next year's move to the South Suburban Conference as a major obstacle for her team.

"We run against almost all of those teams anyway," she said. "We are aware of what the other teams are capable of and that is going to drive us to work even harder....I'm already excited about getting back at it next year."

Girls X-Country: The few, the proud...

Lauren Peterson Most Valuable Runner, state meet qualifier

Quality trumped quantity for the Tiger girls this fall.

The entire varsity roster consisted of just 13 runners but that proved to be a lucky number for coach Heidi Revels who saw her team improve its finish in five of eight meets this season. Farmington ranked fifth in both the Missota Conference and Section 1AA meets in 2013.

"We had a good balance of returning talent and newcomers," Revels said. "We are fortunate to have a team of hard workers who want to do well both as individuals and as a team.

"Four of our the varsity runners set personal records at the section meet which showed they were peaking at the right time. Training outside the season is definitely showing results."

The seven runners who routinely made up the varsity lineup earned letters for their efforts: senior Maricia Pacheco, junior Sofia Chadwick, sophomore Maricella Pacheco, ninth-grader Sami Hyytinen and seventh-graders Lauren Peterson, Anna Palodichuk and Emily Schaffer.

Peterson had a breakout first season, earning team Most Valuable Runner honors while garnering all-Missota Conference honorable mention recognition and qualifying for the Class AA state meet.
The speedy seventh-grader broke a school course record at the section championship race in Owatonna.

Maricia Pacheco All-Missota Conference

Maricia Pacheco (pictured above) landed a spot on the prestigious all-Missota Conference squad while junior varsity runner Hannah Morgan was tabbed as the team's most improved runner. Palodichuk took home the Rookie of the Year Award and Chadwick won the Coaches Award for attitude and work ethic.

Other team members who comprised a quality junior varsity team included sophomore Morgan; juniors Alexis Smith and Sarah Cummings; sophomore Mariana Montbriand; freshman Kara Revis and seventh-grader Abby Bollig.

Revels said the only disappointment from the season just completed was the small turnout.

"We are always looking for more depth," she said. "There were a few meets this year where we couldn't field a complete junior varsity team."

Next year should bring continued success with only Maricia Pacheco lost to graduation but it will also bring some new challenges.

"I believe that these girls will continue to improve individually and their hard work will mean more success for the team as well," Revels said. "We'll be moving to the South Suburban Conference next year where the competition level is definitely a bit higher but I think we're up for the challenge."

Sofia Chadwick Coaches Award winner