Boys Tennis: Tigers out in Section 1AA

Jeff Folz (left) and Topher Kirchmann lost 4-6, 0-6

Farmington lost all four of its matches at the Section 1AAA individual sub-section tournament played Thursday, May 26, in Rochester.
Both of the Tiger singles entrants, Jeff Zakoski and Tyler Olsen, lost by 0-6, 0-6 scores to players from Rochester Mayo and Rochester John Marshall.
The No. 1 doubles tandem of Topher Kirchmann and Peter Folz played the most competitive match of other day for the Tigers, losing 4-6, 0-6 to the No.1 duo from Hastings.
The Farmington No. 2 team of Ben Cline and Blake Olmscheid, both singles players during the regular season, went down by a 1-6, 0-6 count.
"The players advancing to the section finals from our sub-section were either ranked in the state or played in the state tournament last year," Tiger coach Jack Olwell said. "I am not sure how far we would have gotten even if we had played out of our minds."

Tiger Scoreboard: May 29, 2011

Baseball
Section 1AAA Tournament
Rochester John Marshall 12 Farmington 2 (6 innings)

Baseball: JM takes Tigers out of section

Jake Baskerville
2-2, BB. RBI
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

Second-seeded Rochester John Marshall made Farmington's stay in the Section 1AAA tournament a short one, handing the 11th seeded Tigers a 12-2 opening round defeat Saturday, May 28, in Rochester.
"The kids appeared to be ready before we left for Rochester," coach Mike Winters said, "but I could tell they were a little nervous because our pre-game was a little shaky...We didn't pitch well. Nine walks to three strikeouts isn't going to get it done this late in the year."
John Marshall (16-5) put the contest away early, roughing up Tiger starter Jonathan Ellis (one-third of an inning) and reliever Zach Wallace for six runs in the home half of the first inning.
The visitors got on the board with a run in the third on Quinn Eden's double and a single by Jake Baskerville. Zak Payne accounted for the other run with a solo homer in the top of the fourth.
The Rockets outhit their guests 12-6 in the game shortened to six innings by the 10-run rule with Baskerville leading the Tiger attack with a pair of hits, a walk and a run batted in.
The loss dropped the Tigers' final record to 4-17 but Winters said the season was better than the final numbers showed.
"Statistically, it was a rough year," he said, "but the kids did a good job of showing up every day with a positive attitude."

Track: First Missota meet at FHS a success

In its two stints in the Missota Conference (1960-1983 and 1998-present) Farmington High School had never hosted the league track and field championships. After Thursday's 2011 conference competition at Tiger Stadium, that task can be crossed off the school's to-do list.
Farmington athletic director Jon Summer noted that when Prior Lake dropped out of the conference last spring, a new host school for the meet was needed. With Farmington's state-of-the-art facility at his disposal and his coaching staff supporting the idea, Summer stepped up to take on the challenge.
"This year was the first time the meet was run as one-day event," Summer explained. "Preparing for a conference championship meet requires much planning and most importantly, an excellent event-day staff.
"I was very fortunate to have this type of staff who helped make the day an excellent one for athletes and coaches."
As for results from the first-ever undertaking, Summer said the early returns are positive.
"I am very happy how the day went," he said. "We had excellent weather and saw some great competition, both on the track and in the field events."

Boys Track: Tigers take 5th in Missota

Sam Hanson
Missota Conference high jump champion
(photos by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers edged by New Prague by one-half point on the final event of the day to finish fifth in the 2011 Missota Conference Track and Field Championships held Thursday, May 26, at Tiger Stadium.
Shakopee won the team title with 182.5 points. League newcomer Chanhassen finished a distant second at 150, followed by Red Wing 147, Northfield 104, Farmington 96.5, New Prague 96, Holy Angels 76 and Chaska 44.
"The meet went about as expected for us with some personal records and great performances," coach Brian Helmstetter said. "We had set our goal as fourth place and as you can see it was within our range.
"We had some nice performances from our seniors and our underclassmen competed well for their first championship style meet."
Sam Hanson scored the lone Tiger first place finish. Hanson, who earlier this spring set a new school high jump record at 6-7, was coming off an injury but still managed to lead the pack with a 6-1 effort.

Tyler Grubb
2nd 200-meter dash; 4th 100-meter dash and 7th 400-meter dash


Another senior, sprinter Tyler Grubb, had a good all-around day after missing several recent meets with a leg injury. Grubb placed second in the 200-meter dash, fourth on the 100-meter dash and seventh in the 400-meter run.
Senior thrower John Schimmel had a personal best 51-7 toss in the shot put to finish second and also ranked sixth in the discus.
Yet another senior, Zach Wyatt, put together a solid performance, taking third in triple jump, ninth in the long jump and running a leg on the third place 4x400 relay team.
The 4x400 quartet of Wyatt, Charlie Wicks, Tyler Lerbakken and Tanner Grubb supplied the points that vaulted the Tigers into fifth place, defeating New Prague by a fraction of a second.
McKinley Bassett eclipsed his personal best by almost a foot and placed fourth in the long jump and Reid Taubenheim ranked fifth in the pole vault. Carl Elmer cut 20 seconds off his career-best time to take fifth in the 3200-meter run and Tyler Beckett had a personal best in the 300-meter hurdles to take sixth. Jake Rudeen placed seventh in the 3200-meter run and Lerbakken finished eighth in the 800-meter run.
In the relays the 4x800 meter team of Eric Stoeckman, Jared Wolt, Hunter Meyers and Lerbakken took fifth. The 4x100 foursome of Jake Erickson, Wicks, Alex Chadwick and Mason Auge finished sixth and the 4x200 quartet of Tommy Weigel, Blake Ross, Erickson and Auge came in seventh.
The Tigers next hit the track this Saturday at the Section 1AA Championships at Lakeville South.

Girls Track: Lorencz powers Tigers to 3rd in Missota

Nadia Lorencz
Missota Conference champion in 100-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump
(photos by Jim Lindquist)

Nadia Lorencz did everything but sell programs and work in the concession stand in pacing the Tigers to a third place finish at the 2011 Missota Conference Track and Field Championships held Thursday, May 26, at Tiger Stadium.
The talented sophomore won the 100-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump and added a fifth place effort in the pole vault to personally account for almost a third of her team's point total.
Northfield won the meet with 161 points. Runner-up New Prague tallied 149.5, followed by Farmington 136.33, Chanhassen 130.33, Shakopee 111, Red Wing 101.83, Chaska 63 and Holy Angels 41.
"The meet went pretty well," coach Tom Hart said. "We had hoped for a little higher finish but are satisfied with our times and performances. We had some opportunities to move up but they just didn't fall into place.
"We had six champions which is an awesome accomplishment for these ladies. I was very happy with the attitude and energy they brought to this meet. We were just a little bit short with some of the injuries we had and the piecing together of our line up."
Lorencz not only won three events, she also set new school records in each. She covered the hurdles in 15.28 in the preliminaries and reached distances of 18-7 in the long jump and 36-10 in the triple jump. Her pole vault height of 9-3 was a personal best.

Alyssa Parco
1st in 300 hurdles, 4x200 and 4x400 relay

Junior Alyssa Parco, sophomore Maria Kiminski, freshman Izzie Ferm and senior Erin Hickey also had big days for the Tigers.
Parco won the 300-meter hurdles and joined with Ferm, Hickey, and Kiminski to win the 4x400 meter relay, setting a new school record of 4:00.13 in the process. She also teamed with Ferm, Hickey and Kelli Elmer in claiming top honors in the 4x200 relay.
In addition to running a leg on both of the winning relays, including a 57.7 split in the 4x400 that vaulted her team into the lead, Ferm took second in the 400-meter dash and sixth in the long jump.
Hickey added to her relay successes by placing third in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump. Kiminski ran a leg of the 4x400 rleay, ranked fifth in the 300-meter hurdles and combined with Hannah Seitzinger, Meghan Graham and Maddie Strid to place fifth in the 4x800 meter relay.

Other Farmington point scorers:
4x100 meter relay 4. Mary Cline, Jessica Arey, Elmer and Kelly Kornmann
100-meter dash: 5. Cline
300-meter hurdles: 6. Arey
High jump: 7. Jordan Bridges
Pole vault: 9. Shelby Schillerstrom
Shot put: 9. Alysha Grebner
Discus: 7. Grebner

Next up for the Tigers are the Section 1AA Championships slated for Saturday, June 4, at Lakeville South.

Softball: The one bad inning blues

Ashley Betzold (left) 3-4 (3B, 2 1B) vs. Mayo
Alyssa Hagen 2-3 vs. Mayo
(photos by Jim Lindquist)


















One rough inning proved the difference in both games as the Tigers were eliminated from the Section 1AAA Final Four tournament after back-to-back losses to top-seeded Hastings and third-seeded Rochester Mayo Friday night, May 27, in Austin.
Hastings scored all of its runs in the second inning in a 5-0 shutout victory in the opener and Mayo rallied from a 3-2 deficit with a three-run sixth to pull out a 5-4 win in the consolation semifinals.
The losses closed the books on the 2011 season for the Tigers who finished with a 10-11 record and a fourth-place finish in the section tourney.
Hastings 5 Farmington 0
The Raiders, ranked third in the most recent Class 3A state poll, led off the second inning with a solo home run and then rapped four more hits off Tiger starter Ashley Betzold to score four more runs.
Hastings pitcher Treya Connell was dominant, piling up 16 strikeouts and surrendering just three singles, one each by Toni Hunsinger, Aleah Williamson and Taylor Haakana.
Betzold worked the first four innings in the circle, allowing five runs on six hits. Hunsinger came on in the fifth and threw two innings of shutout relief.
Farmington's only threat came in the sixth when Haakana and Williamson singled before Connell put out the fire with a timely strikeout.
"Hastings is one of the best teams in the state," Tiger coach Rob Laden said. "They play in a tough conference. We had the one bad inning but they don't give up many runs."
Rochester Mayo 5 Farmington 4
The Tigers started quickly, using a lead-off single by Betzold, a sacrifice by Alyssa Hagen and a run-scoring hit by Williamson to take a 1-0 lead in the first.
The Spartans answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the first and another score in the third to take a 2-1 lead after three innings.
The Tigers immediately responded with a two-run fourth that featured a single by Hunsinger, a walk to Alyssa Kalmes and a two-run double by Taylor Yousse.
The one-run Tiger lead lasted until the bottom of the sixth when Mayo used four hits and an infield error to plate three runs and re-take the lead at 5-3.
But the game was far from over. In the Farmington seventh, singles by Betzold and Hagen and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with two out. Dani Muelken reached on an infield error to score one run before Hunsinger's foul fly ended the game and the Tiger season.
The Tigers didn't want for chances. They finished with eight hits, including three by Betzold, two singles and triple, and two by Hagen but also had three runners erased on the base paths, one at third and two at the plate.
Betzold went the distance for Farmington and absorbed the pitching loss, giving up 10 hits and four earned runs.
"Our mistakes gave Mayo the win," Laden said. "In essence, it has been the story most of the year. A lot of potential but too many mistakes."

Boys Lacrosse: Eagan ousts Tigers in section

Quinn Malcolm
2 goals in season finale
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

Eagan jumped to a 14-2 halftime lead on the way to an 18-5 win over Farmington in the opening round of the Section 3 tournament at Burnsville.
Tiger coach Paul Sorenson said the the positive he will take away from the final game of the 2011 season is his team's second half play.
"I am extremely proud of how we fought back after being so far down at half," he said. "We were only outscored 4-3 in the second half.
"Half of our 21-man roster were either freshmen or sophomores and we held the eighth-ranked team in the state to four second half goals. I'm very proud of the resiliency of our team and our program."
Although the roster was dominated by underclassmen, all five Farmington scores came from juniors and seniors. Senior Quinn Malcolm and junior Trevor Howard each notched a pair of goals in the season finale and senior Ian Eich had one.
The Tigers finished their second season with a final record of 1-12.

Softball: Tigers reach Final Four

Ashley Betzold (bottom) posted 11th pitching win
Taylor Yousse scored winning run in 6th inning
(photos by Jim Lindquist)


Call it May Madness. Farmington has reached the Final Four.
The fourth-seeded Tigers won the rubber game with fifth-ranked Northfield 3-2 Wednesday, May 25, to advance to the Section 1AAA four-team, double elimination tournament starting Friday, May 27, in Austin.
The teams split two regular season contests with the Raiders prevailing at Farmington 5-3 and the Tigers dominating at Northfield 11-3.
In game three of the series played at Tiger Field, Northfield got on the board first with a run in the top of the third, but the Tigers countered in the bottom of the inning with two scores of their own.
Ashley Betzold singled to start the rally and gave way to courtesy runner Rachel Brietch. Alyssa Hagen singled and Dani Muelken followed with a rbi single to knot the score. Tony Hunsinger's sacrifice fly to center chased home Hagen with the second run.
The Raiders came back to tie the game in the sixth with the run scoring on a passed ball.
The game-winner scored in the sixth when singles by Taylor Yousse, Allie Rice and Betzold loaded the bases and Yousse raced home on a passed ball.
"You don't see a high school game where two of the five runs come on passed balls very often," Farmington coach Rob Laden said.
Betzold went the distance in the circle for the Tigers and picked up her 11th pitching victory of the season.
Laden said he was pleased with the performance of his young squad and excited to be moving on to the Section 1 Final Four.
"We played a good, hard-fought, intense game," he said. "It's nice to see the team playing a lot better now than we were at the start of the season."
The Tigers (11-10) will take on top-seeded and state-ranked Hastings in Friday's opening round at Todd Park in Austin. Game time is 5:00.

Tiger Scoreboard: May 27, 2011

Girls Track and Field
Missota Conference Championships at Farmington
Northfield 161, New Prague 149.5, Farmington 136.33, Chanhassen 130.33, Shakopee 111, Red Wing 101.83, Chaska 63, Holy Angels 41

Boys Track and Field
Missota Conference Championships at Farmington
Shakopee 182.5, Chanhassen 150, Red Wing 147, Chaska 104, Farmington 96.5, New Prague 96, Holy Angels 76, Chaska 44

Boys Golf: Scoring a mental victory

Cooper Loew
Tied with teammate Tommy May for low round with 77

On paper, Farmington's 12-3 dual meet loss to Lakeville North at Bellwood Oaks Golf Club in Hastings on Wednesday was a one-sided defeat. Tiger coach Jon Holmes didn't see the two-man, best-ball event that way.
"We will definitely use this as a mental win going into the section tournament," Holmes said. "Getting the boys to realize they could go over to Bellwood and play well and stay relatively close to the defending section champions was huge for our psyche."
Tommy May and Cooper Loew shot identical rounds of 77 and swept the number one position to score all three of the Farmington points.
Erik Holmstrom fired 81 and Matt Provost 82 to give the Tigers a team score of 317, well below their average for the regular season.
Other Farmington scores included Trevor Hockert, Tony Lalani and Mitch Reed 87, Ryan Kelly 90, Kevin Olund 92 and Jacob Hanson 95.
The Section 1AAA Championships begin Thursday, June 2, at Bellwood Oaks.

Tiger Scoreboard: May 26, 2011

Softball
Section 1AAA quarterfinals
Farmington 3 Northfield 2
Farmington advances to double elimination final four tournament vs. Hastings at Austin Friday, May 27 at 5:00 p.m.

Boys Lacrosse
Section 3 tournament
Eagan 18 Farmington 4

Boys Golf
Lakeville North 12 Farmington 3

Wrestling: Elmer named second team Academic All-State

(photo by Jim Lindquist)

Tiger senior Carl Elmer has been named to the Guillotine's 2011 Academic All-Academic second team. The Guillotine is a Minnesota-based publication dedicated to coverage and promotion of high school wrestling in the state.
Thirty-two Minnesota juniors and seniors earned fist-team honors and 30 more made the second team. In addition, 23 grapplers received honorable mention.
Wrestlers were nominated for the honor signed by a coach and school administrator verifying their current grade-point average (minimum of 3.0), number of current season varsity matches wrestled (minimum of fifteen), current season win percentage (minimum of 60%) and grade (junior or senior).
Points were tallied according to current varsity wins, current state tournament placement and cumulative high school grade-point average.
Elmer finished his Tiger career with more than 100 wins, went 36-9 his senior season and placed fifth in the Class 3A state tournament in the 140-pound weight division.
The multiple-time all-Missota Conference performer, who plans to continue his career at St. Olaf College next year, was just as proficient in the classroom, compiling a 3.78 grade point average.

Baseball: Back-to-back one-run losses end regular season

Ty Vincent
4 RBI in back-to-back 5-4 losses

Farmington closed the books on its 2011 regular season with back-to-back, 5-4 road losses to Lakeville South and Hastings Monday and Tuesday.
The tough-luck Tigers finished the season with a 4-16 record, including a 3-11 mark in the Missota Conference, good enough for a seventh place finish in the eight-team league.
Monday in Lakeville, first inning rbi singles by Ty Vincent and Zak Payne staked Tiger starter Zach Wallace to a 2-0 lead but the Cougars countered with a run in the second and three in the fourth to to take the lead for good.
Payne smacked a solo homer in the sixth for the third Tiger score and Vincent singled in a run in the seventh for the final Farmington run.
Wallace took the pitching loss, working the first four innings and allowing all five Cougar runs, including pair of home runs. Dayne Eich came on in the fifth and worked two innings of scoreless relief.
"We played a clean game defensively (no errors) and pretty clean on the hill," Winters said. "We left a couple of pitches up and they took advantage of it with the homers...They did a better job of getting the big hit. They gave us chances but we didn't capitalize."
If Monday's loss was hard to swallow, Tuesday's must have been like ingesting a 16-ounce T-bone in one bite.
The Tigers led the Raiders 4-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth when Nathan Graham apparently made a clean catch of a fly ball in deep centerfield. But Graham dropped the ball in exchanging it from his glove to his throwing hand and the umpire ruled it a no-catch.
A hit-batsman and two errors later, Hastings had a 5-4 lead that would hold up the rest of the way.
"We deserved to win and Jonathan Ellis (starting pitcher) deserved to win," Winters said. "We should have been out of the inning with no runs...But that's baseball. Stuff like that happens that we can't control."
The Tigers roared to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a single by Jake Baskerville, a double by Sebren Baer, a sacrifice fly by Vincent and run-scoring hits by John Stibal and Nick Newman.
A walk to Baskerville, a single by Baer and Vincent's sacrifice fly produced the final Tiger run in the second.
Ellis again pitched well for the Tigers, surrendering just three hits and two earned runs over six innings.
Farmington now awaits the Section 1AAA seeding process to see where it will open first round play on Saturday, May 28.

Girls Lacrosse: Jags race by Tigers in section opener

Haley Bradshaw
3 goals, assist in season finale
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

For the second time in as many seasons Bloomington Jefferson eliminated the Tigers from the Section 3 playoffs.
Last year Jefferson rolled to a lopsided 19-2 win. Monday in Bloomington the 14th seeded Tigers stayed with the No.3 Jags early in a 20-8 loss.
"Jefferson is a very good team and we gave them a little scare for awhile," Tiger coach Dan Pickens said. "I think they (Jefferson) came out looking for the same game as last year but we stayed with them goal-for-goal for the first 10 to 12 minutes."
Farmington scored the first goal of the game and was still locked in a 3-3 tie midway through the first half before Jefferson began to pull away. the Jaguars led 12-5 at intermission.
Haley Bradsahw had a big day for the Tigers, finishing with three goals and an assist. Jess Erchul, Shelby Klotz, Brooke Genzler, Rachael Welzin and Kaeli Halverson also found the back of the net for Farmington. Ally Midboe chipped in with an assist.
Pickens also lauded the play of Haley Doll and goalkeeper Kaitlyn Lacroix.
"Haley won over 50 percent of the draws and Kaitlyn was peppered all night," he said.
"The girls improved so much this year. It was a fun season and it's nice to know we return all of our varsity and junior varsity roster next year except for one senior."

Boys Golf: Final push moves Tigers up in Missota

Tommy May
All-Missota Conference honorable mention

After finishing dead last in the fourth (of five) Missota Conference meets last week, the Tigers rallied for a fifth place finish at the league finale played Monday, May 23, at the New Prague Golf Club.
That rebound helped coach Jon Holmes' team secure the sixth spot in the final eight-team league standings.
Host New Prague won the meet with 305 team strokes, followed by, Chanhassen 306, Chaska 308, Shakopee 326, Farmington 332, Holy Angels 337, Red Wing 340 and Northfield 345.
Tommy May finished as the low Tiger scorer with a 43-39 (82) performance. Tony Lalani and Cooper Loew were a stroke back at 83, followed by Erik Holmstrom 84, Matt Provost 87 and Jacob Hanson 89.
"We were pretty consistent from top to bottom to move up one place," Holmes said. "Our junior varsity won the meet and took fourth for the season."
It was a bittersweet day for May who led the Tiger pack but slipped from seventh to 12th in the individual conference rankings, a slide that cost him a spot on the prestigious all-conference team. The Tiger junior received all-league honorable mention.
Farmington junior varsity scores included Kevin Olund and Ryan Kelly 81, Mike Dalhed and Mitch Reed 83, Josh Cordes 89 and Trevor Hockert 95.
Wednesday the Tigers travel to Bellwood Oaks Golf Club in Hastings, the site of next week's Section 1AAA Championships, for a dual meet with Lakeville North. The first round of section play begins on Thursday, June 2.

Girls Golf: Tigers hold on to seventh spot in Missota

Mia Johnston
Low Farmington scorer at conference finale

The Tigers didn't produce the big day that coach Rob Carpentier was looking for but they still managed to hold on to hold on to the seventh spot in the final Missota Conference standings.
Farmington trailed the field in the final conference meet played Monday, May 23, at the Ridges at Sand Creek Golf Club in Jordan.
New Prague wrapped up the league title by beating runner-up Red Wing 335-340. Northfield finished third at 355, followed by Chaska 366, Chanhassen 373, Shakopee 382, Holy Angels 440 and Farmington 441.
"The girls gutted things out on a very difficult course," Carpentier said. "They did a fine job in finishing seventh this year which is one place better than last year.
"I am very proud of Mia Johnston, our low scorer today, and I know she can be a very successful golfer after she plays a lot of golf this summer. The same goes for our other young girls."
Johnston posted the low Farmington round at the conference finale with 106. Terra Klima shot 109, Brianna Swenson 112, Alexis House 114 and Alexis Preese 114. Megan Elliot started the round but withdrew after nine holes because of illness.
The Tigers have one more meet on their schedule, the Section 1AAA Championships slated for June 2 and June 6 at Cannon Falls Golf Club.

Tiger Scoreboard: May 25, 2011

Baseball
Hastings 5 Farmington 4

Tiger Scoreboard: May 24, 2011

Baseball
Lakeville South 5 Farmington 4

Girls Lacrosse
Section 3 Playoffs
Bloomington Jefferson 20 Farmington 8

Girls Golf
Missota Conference at Ridges at Sand Creek
New Prague 335, Red Wing 340, Northfield 355, Chaska 366, Chanhassen 373, Shakopee 382, Holy Angels 440, Farmington 441

Boys Golf
Missota Conference at New Prague Golf Course
New Prague 305, Chanhassen 306, Chaska 308, Shakopee 326,Farmington 332, Holy Angels 337, Red Wing 340, Northfield 345

Baseball: Tigers drop two to Wingers

Ty Vincent (bottom)
3H, Hr, 2R, 3RBI in doubleheader
John Stibal
2H, 3RBI in game two


Red Wing rapped 31 hits in a 9-2, 12-9 sweep of the Tigers Friday, May 20, at City Field in Red Wing. The second game went nine innings.
"Our pitchers did a good job of throwing strikes all day," Tiger coach Mike Winters. "That's all you can ask. Red Wing really hit the ball well.
"Errors in the late innings killed us in the second game. They (Red Wing) are too good of a team to give extra outs."
The Tigers led 2-1 after three-and-a-half innings in the opener before the Wingers took the lead for good with a three-run fourth inning off Tiger starter Zach Wallace.
Ty Vincent accounted for the first Tiger run with a solo home run in the second and chased home the second on a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Nathan Graham had two of the six Farmington hits and scored the second run for the Tigers.
Red Wing led 8-3 after four innings of game two but the visitors scored six times over the final five frames to make things interesting.
John Stibal and Jake Baskerville each rapped two-run doubles and Vincent smacked a run-scoring triple to spark the comeback.
Spencer Merle took the pitching loss for the Tigers, pitching two innings of scoreless relief before giving up three unearned runs in the top of the ninth.
Merle, Vincent and Stibal each had a pair of hits in the losing effort with Stibal knocking in three runs and Vincent and Baskerville each scoring twice.
The losses dropped the Tigers to 4-14 for the season and left them with a final 3-11 record in the Missota Conference.
The locals entertain Lakeville South Monday and then travel to Hastings Tuesday to close out their regular season. Section 1AAA post-season play begins Saturday at a site to be determined by seeding.

Missota Conference Track & Field Championships at FHS Thursday, May 26

For the first time in its long membership, Farmington is playing host to the Missota Conference Track and Field Championships.
The 2011 league meet for both boys and girls teams will take place this Thursday, May 26, at Tiger Stadium, featuring teams from Farmington, Chaska, Chanhassen, Holy Angels, New Prague, Northfield, Red Wing and Shakopee.
Running event preliminaries start at 1:30 p.m. with the finals set to begin at 4:00 p.m. The final event (4x400 relay) is slated for 8:45 p.m.
Admission for the day-long event is $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for students.

Running Preliminaries
1:30 Girls 3200m Run Final Field Session 1 (1:30– 4:30)
1:50 Boys 3200m Run Final
2:05 Girls 100 Hurdles Prelims (3 heats) Boys Triple Jump Girls Discus
2:20 Boys 110 Hurdles Prelims (3 heats) Boys Shot Put Girls Long Jump
2:40 Girls 100m Dash Prelims (3 heats) Boys Pole Vault Girls High Jump
3:00 Boys 100m Dash Prelims (3 heats)

Running Prelims: Advance heat winners and next (6) fastest times to finals.

Running Finals Field Session 2 (4:30 – 7:30)

4:00 Girls 4 x 800m Relay Final Boys Long Jump Girls Shot Put
4:15 Boys 4 x 800m Relay Final Boys High Jump Girls Triple Jump
4:30 Girls 100 Hurdles Final Boys Discus Girls Pole Vault
4:40 Boys 110 Hurdles Final
4:50 Girls 100m Dash Final
4:55 Boys 100m Dash Final
5:05 Girls 4 x 200m Relay Final
5:15 Boys 4 x 200m Relay Final
5:25 Girls 1600m Run Final (2 sections)
5:45 Boys 1600m Run Final (2 sections)
6:05 Girls 4 x 100m Relay Final
6:10 Boys 4 x 100m Relay Final
6:15 Girls 400m Dash Final (3 sections)
6:30 Boys 400m Dash Final (3 sections)
6:50 Girls 300m Hurdles Final (3 sections)
7:05 Boys 300m Hurdles Final (3 sections)
7:25 Girls 800m Run Final (2 sections)
7:35 Boys 800m Run Final (2 sections)
7:45 Girls 200m Dash Final (3 sections)
8:00 Boys 200m Dash Final (3 sections)
8:35 Girls 4 x 400m Relay Final
8:45 Boys 4 x 400m Relay Final

Girls Golf: Tigers seventh at Dakota County meet

Farmington placed seventh in an eight-team field at the annual Dakota County Championships played Friday, May 20, at Emerald Greens Golf Club in Rosemount.
Eastview won the tournament with 334 strokes, followed by, Rosemount 340, Lakeville North 362, Burnsville 364, South St. Paul 426, Simley 427, Farmington 449 and Henry Sibley, incomplete.
The good news for the Tigers was that the bottom end of lineup improved its scores. The bad news was that no individuals stood out from the pack.
"Pretty consistent stuff," coach Rob Carpentier said. "It was a good day for the girls who have been at the back of the lineup but our top three scorers need to be in the 90's or at least the low 100's."
The six Farmington players finished within a tight five-stroke band with Megan Elliott leading the way at 111. Bri Swenson shot 112, Kayla Collins, Mia Johnston and Alexis House 113 and Annie Grengs 116.
Terra Klima, one of the top two Tiger scorers all season, missed the meet with a sore back.
Carpentier hopes to have her back in the starting lineup for Monday's Missota Conference finale at Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan where he feels his team can put together a strong finish to the regular season.
"I think we may have a big day," he said.

Boys Lacrosse: Tigers limp toward section

Mitch Collier 1 goal in each game
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

The injury-plagued Tigers closed the books on their 2011 season with a pair of losses this week, 14-1 at Rochester Mayo and 10-2 to Holy Angels.
In both contests, big periods by the opposition spelled the difference. Wednesday at Mayo, the Spartans broke up a close game with an eight-goal second period outburst and the following day against Holy Angels the visiting Stars scored six goals in the second period to take a commanding 6-1 halftime lead.
"Too many man-down penalties put us in a defensive position too often," Tiger coach Paul Sorenson said. "The guys played with conviction, however, and played all 48 minutes. That's something we've been pushing for all season."
Mitch Collier scored the lone Farmington goal in the loss to Mayo and also tallied a score in the loss to Holy Angels. Brendon Berg added his first career goal against the Stars.
Tiger goalie Charlie Weierke piled up 33 saves in the two contests, 13 against Mayo and 20 versus Holy Angels.
Farmington (1-12) will learn its playoff fate Sunday. Opening round games are scheduled for Wednesday at the higher seed.

Track: Tigers prep for Missota Championships at Pat Foley Classic

Izzie Ferm (top) 400-meter run, long jump and 4x200 champion
John Schimmel 1st in shot put, discus


The Tigers got exactly what they wanted from Thursday's three-team Pat Foley Classic in Northfield, a quality warm-up for this Thursday's (May 26) Missota Conference Championships scheduled for Tiger Stadium.
No points were tallied at Thursday's three-team meet featuring Farmington, Northfield and Rochester John Marshall but both Tiger boys coach Brian Helmstetter and girls coach Tom Hart liked what they saw at the conference tune-up.
"We had some surprises and some very hard fought races," Hart said. "It was just nice to be in a meet with good weather conditions. Overall, I'd say we had a pretty good day."
"It's a unique meet that's a reminder of the team champion approach," Helmstetter said. "They draw an event out of a hat and the winner of that event gets to keep the traveling trophy for a year. Today it was the boys 300 hurdles so Northfield gets to keep the trophy.
"As for us, we had some personal bests and we got a couple of our injured athletes back. Some of our upperclassmen are reaching last year's form and overall, the meet went well for us."
Boys
Senior thrower John Schimmel led the Tigers to seven first-place finishes, capturing the shot put and discus titles. He threw the shot 49-9 and set a personal-best in the discus with a throw of 144-5.
Senior sprinter Tyler Grubb also had a hand in two first place efforts, winning the 100-meter dash and joining Mason Auge, Jake Erickson and Charlie Wicks to claim top honors in the 4x100 relay.
Other first place winners included Tyler Lerbakken in the 400-meter run; Eric Stoeckman in the 800-meter run and Sam Hanson in the high jump.
Farmington also managed a trio of runner-up finishes in individual events: Grubb in the 400-meter dash; Carl Elmer in the 3200-meter run and Connor Phu and Reid Taubenheim (tie) in the pole vault.
The 4x100 relay foursome of Tommy Wiegel, Auge, Wicks and CJ Record and the 4x400 quartet of Grubb, Record, Wicks and Tyler Beckett each earned second place points.
Elmer took third in the 1600-meter run as did Bradley Dow in the 3200-meter run, Beckett in the 300-meter hurdles and Mason Gaylord in the triple jump.
Girls
Freshman Izzie Ferm won two individual events and combined with Meghan Graham, Erin Hickey and Alyssa Parco in winning the 4x200 meter relay to pace the Tiger girls. Ferm captured the 400-meter run (59.66) and the long jump (16-2.5).
In addition, Farmington scored four other firsts in individual events: Nadia Lorencz, 100-meter hurdles; Mary Cline, 100-meter dash; Hannah Seitzinger, 800-meter run and Maria Kiminski, 300-meter hurdles.
Four Tiger individuals tallied second place points, including Lorencz in triple jump and pole vault; Jordan Bridges in the high jump and Jessica Arey in the 300-meter hurdles.
Finishing third for Farmington were Hickey in the 400-meter run and Kesley Lindell in the high jump.
Both Tiger coaches are excited about hosting the conference meet for the first time in school history. The meet begins at 1:30 and will close under the bright lights of Tiger Stadium sometime in the early evening.

Softball: Tigers finish even-steven

Aleah Williamson
First-ever over-the-fence home run at Tiger Field

The Tigers went 1-2 over the final week of the regular season to finish right at the .500 mark (10-10) for the 2011 campaign. They also split their 14 Missota Conference games to earn a fourth-place tie in the league standings.
Farmington started the week slowly, dropping a 9-0 decision at Chanhassen. They bounced back on Thursday to blank Red Wing 3-0 at Tiger Field before losing their regular season finale 8-5 at Lakeville South the following day.
Nothing much went right at Chanhassen with the visitors making five errors and managing just three hits against the Storm.
"Chanhassen played a great game and we had five errors," coach Rob Laden said. "Not a good combination."
Alyssa Kalmes, Ashley Betzold and Taylor Haakana accounted for the Farmington hits, all singles.
Betzold bounced back from a sub-par pitching performance on Tuesday, firing a six-hitter and striking out eight on the way to her fifth shutout of the season.
The contest was tied heading into the home half of the fifth when Kalmes and Allie Rice rapped doubles to get the home team on the board.
The winners added two more scores in the sixth, the first on Aleah Williamson's second home run of the season and the second on Kalmes' rbi double. Williamson's blast marked the first time a ball had cleared the fence at the new Tiger Field.
Off-and-on rain plagued Friday's first annual battle for the Cat Fight Trophy, a gold cup adorned with Tiger and Cougar bobbleheads.
South led all the way after jumping to a 3-0 lead after two innings, but the Tigers made it interesting.
They pulled to within 3-1 in the fourth on Ton Hunsinger's run-scoring double and 3-2 in the fifth on Alyssa Hagen's rbi single.
After South went up 5-2, Haakana's single cut the deficit to two runs before the Cougars took advantage of three Farmington errors to score three runs in the sixth.
Farmington loaded the bases in the seventh on singles by Hagen, Betzold and Hunsinger but with two out, Paige Lindrud's long fly ball was caught just in front of the fence in left field.
"Our downfall this year has been an inning or two of errors and we did that again against South," Laden said.
Seeding for the Section 1AAA tournament will take place on Monday with the first games played Wednesday at the higher seed. The four winners from Wednesday's games advance to a double-elimination tournament at Austin beginning, Friday, May 27.

Girls Lacrosse: Tigers end regular season with 10-7 loss to Holy Angels

Ally Midboe 2 goals for No. 2 in season finale
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

In a curious way, Tiger coach Dan Pickens almost felt relieved after his team's 10-7 regular-season ending loss at Holy Angels on Tuesday.
"At least it wasn't another one-goal loss, I guess," he said. "I think we are all a little emotionally drained from this season. There were so many games that we couldn't button up."
The loss in the season finale left the girls with a 1-10 record with four of the losses coming by a one-goal margin and another ending in an overtime.
The Tigers had their chances at Holy Angels, too. They lead 5-4 at the halftime break only to be outscored 6-2 after intermission.
Ally Midboe and Rachael Welzin each scored twice for the Tigers and Jess Erchul, Haley Bradshaw and Shelby Klotz added a goal apiece. Adrienne Jolicoeur recorded an assist.
Tiger goalie Kaitlyn Lacroix finished with eight saves.
"Holy Angels played a good game and their goalie stood on her head and made a lot of big saves," Pickens said. "Our girls should celebrate their progress. We have the whole squad coming back next year and I can't wait to get going."
The Tigers drew the No. 13 seed for the section tournament and will play fourth-seeded Bloomington Jefferson in the opening round Monday in Bloomington.

Boys Golf: Tigers looking for consistency as section approaches

Tommy May among Missota Conference leaders

If the Tigers were playing Missota Conference poker they would be four-fifths of their way to a straight.
Their eighth place finish in Tuesday's league tournament played at Mississippi National in Red Wing gives them a fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth place finish in four conference meets this spring.
Tommy May was the lone bright spot in the last place effort with a round of 76 that helped maintain his ranking among the league leaders.
"With the last conference meet and the section coming up, we need a few more golfers to jump on board," coach Jon Holmes said. "We definitely have the talent but we are lacking in the consistency department."
Tony Lalani finished nine shots back of May at 85 to place second on the Farmington scorecard. Jacob Hanson shot 86, Trevor Hockert 88, Cooper Loew 89 and Matt Provost 92.
Four junior varsity players finished at or below 85, including Mike Dalhed and Kevin Olund 81, Ryan Kelly 83 and Mitch Reed 85.
"Our junior varsity actually beat the varsity by five strokes," Holmes said. "It proves our depth of talent but it also shows how much we need consistency from our top four scorers."
May shot a one-over 73 to again lead Farmington scorers in Thursday's 314-319 dual meet loss to Faribault. Loew checked in at 81, followed by Lalani 82, Hanson 83, Provost 84 and Hockert 88.
The final Missota Conference meet takes place Monday at New Prague with the Section 1AA Championships to follow June 2-3 at Bellwood Oaks Golf Club in Hastings.

Tiger Scoreboard: May 21, 2011

Softball
Lakeville South 8 Farmington 5

Girls Golf
Dakota County Championships at Emerald Greens Golf Club
Eastview 334, Rosemount 340, Lakeville North 362, Burnsville 364, South St. Paul 426, Simley 427, Farmington 449, Henry Sibley, inc.

Tiger Scoreboard: May 20, 2011

Softball
Farmington 3 Red Wing 0

Baseball
Red Wing 9 Farmington 2
Red Wing 12 Farmington 9 (8 innings)

Boys Lacrosse
Holy Angels 10 Farmington 2

Girls Lacrosse
Holy Angels 10 Farmington 7

Boys and Girls Track
Pat Foley Classic in Northfield
No team points kept

Baseball: Ellis pitches Tigers by Chanhassen

Dayne Eich
Drove in go-ahead run in 6th inning

Jonathan Ellis hurled a complete game to pace the Tigers to a 4-2 Missota Conference win over Chanhassen Tuesday, May 17, at Tiger Field. Ellis scattered eight hits, struck out three and didn't walk a batter.
"He pitched a great game," coach Mike Winters said of Ellis' second win in his last three starts. "He did a good job of keeping the ball around the plate."
John Stibal's rbi single in the first gave the home team a quick 1-0 lead before the Storm scored its two runs in the top of the third.
Farmington won the game in the bottom of the sixth when Sebren Baer led off with a triple and Zak Payne stroked a single to tie the count. Dayne Eich singled in the go-ahead run and Spencer Merle knocked in an insurance score for the final margin of victory.
Eich, Payne and Merle accounted for six of Farmington's 10 hits with a pair of safeties apiece. Each also drove in a run.
The Tigers (4-12) close out their Missota Conference season Thursday with a doubleheader at Red Wing.
"Hopefully we can keep this momentum going against a very good Red Wing team," Winters said.

Girls Golf: Tigers get preview of Missota finale

Terra Klima
Low Tiger scorer at Chanhassen Invite
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers got a sneak preview of the venue for next Monday's Missota Conference finale with an appearance at Chanhassen Invitational played Tuesday, May 17, at the Ridges at Sand Creek Golf Club.
Coach Rob Carpentier's young squad beat only one team in the 12-team field but according to the coach the outing was rewarding nonetheless.
"It was all about getting used to the course," Carpentier said, "and the girls knew that. We only beat one team, but we lost by only one to Shakopee of our conference...Next Monday's conference meet is big."
Terra Klima shot 102 and Brianna Swenson finished at 104 to lead the Tigers in their tune-up for the conference championships. Mia Johnston carded 107 and Alexis Preese 112.
The Tigers have one more competition between now and Monday, Friday's annual Dakota County Championships scheduled for Emerald Greens Golf Club in Rosemount.

Boys Tennis: Tigers one and done in section

Farmington's post-season didn't last long, ending in a 7-0 loss to Owatonna in the opening round of the Section 1AA team playoffs Tuesday, May 17, in Faribault.
The Huskies scored straight-set wins in all seven matches to advance to the quarterfinals against Hastings.
"It looks like a bit of a shellacking, but we were not overwhelmed," Tiger coach Jack Olwell said. "They were just a shade or two better in each flight."
Blake Olmscheid played the most competitive match for the Tigers. After dropping the opening set at second singles 1-6, he led 3-1 in the second before losing it 3-6.
The section individual tournament (two singles players and two doubles teams) begins next week.

Owatonna 7 Farmington 0
No. 1 singles Ben Cline lost 0-6, 0-6
No. 2 singles Blake Olmscheid lost 1-6, 3-6
No. 3 singles Tyler Olsen lost 1-6, 1-6
No. 4 singles Ivan Rodriguez lost 0-6, 0-6
No. 1 doubles Peter Folz/Topher Kirchmann lost 1-6, 0-6
No. 2 doubles Jeff Zakoski/Brian Waldbillig lost 1-6, 1-6
No. 3 doubles Austin Tremmel/Colton Sanders lost 0-6, 0-6

Tiger Scoreboard: May 18, 2011

Girls Lacrosse
Park of Cottage Grove 7 Farmington 6

Boys Tennis Section 1AA
Owatonna 7 Farmington 0

Boys Golf
Missota Conference at Mississippi National
Chanhassen 300, Chaska 304, New Prague 309, Red Wing 312, Shakopee 319, Holy Angels 325, Northfield 334, Farmington 335

Girls Golf
Chanhassen Invitational at Ridges at Sand Creek
Chaska 346, New Prague 351, Easview 357, Chanhassen 374, Waconia 393, Orono 405, Holy Family 418, Holy Angels 420, Visitation 421, Shakopee 434, Farmington 435, Mound 537

Girls Lacrosse: Close again, but...

Ally Midboe 2 goals, 2 assists

If the Tigers didn't have bad luck they wouldn't have any luck at all...or so it seems after Tuesday night's 7-6 loss to Park of Cottage Grove at Tiger Stadium.
The loss was the fifth straight for Farmington and in three of them the margin has been a single goal. A fourth was decided in overtime.
"I don't have much to say," coach Dan Pickens said. "I've said it all before. A team that crushed us 17-3 last year and we were able to give them a run for their money.
"I just wish we could close one out. I'm not at a loss for words often, but this is one of those times."
The Tigers held a 5-4 halftime lead but once again went offensively stagnant in the second half, scoring just two goals.
Ally Midboe and Jessica Erchul scored twice for the Tigers and Adrienne Jolicoeur and Shelby Klotz each added a goal. Midboe also had a pair of assists and Rachael Welzin, Tia Jacoby and Kaeli Halverson recorded one apiece.
Goalie Kaitlyn Lacroix finished with nine saves and played what Pickens termed " a great game."
The Tigers close out their regular season Thursday with a game against Missota Conference rival Holy Angels in Richfield.
"We need to get that one," Pickens said.

Boys Lacrosse: Five frosh in mix vs. East Ridge

Matt Ackerman
8 goals in the last 4 games
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

Injuries necessitated a few lineup changes for Monday night's game at East Ridge, including the insertion of five ninth-graders into the regular rotation,
The new lineup didn't change the final outcome, a 12-3 loss, but it did prompt some encouraging words from coach Paul Sorenson.
"Freshmen Dan Block and Kevin Clifton were bright spots for us," he said. "They provided a spark whenever called upon."
Another ninth-grader Corey Rudrud, notched his second goal of the season for the Tigers.
Mitch Collier and Matt Ackerman provided the other scores in the loss that dropped Farmington's season record to 1-9.
"It wasn't so much the injuries that hurt us," Soresnon said, "but the energy level of the team. We never got into the flow of the game from the start to the finish."

Girls Golf: Tigers hold firm in Missota race

Brianna Swenson
Career-low round of 98

Farmington held onto seventh place after the fourth of five Missota Conference meets played this spring. The Tigers have finished seventh in three of the four league meets to date.
New Prague topped the leader board for the third time this spring at the meet held at Northfield Golf Club, outshooting archrival Red Wing 333-337. Host Northfield finished third at 351, followed by Chaska 360, Chanhassen 363, Shakopee 397, Farmington 420 and Holy Angels 434.
"We solidified things," Tiger coach Rob Carpentier said. "It's nice to see we are getting better instead of the other way around."
Brianna Swenson shot a career-low 98 to lead the Farmington effort. Terra Klima carded 102, Mia Johnston 104 and Megan Elliott 116 to round out the Tiger scorecard.
The final conference meet will be held Monday, May 23, at Ridges at Sand Creek.

Boys Tennis: Tigers fall in season finale

Ivan Rodriguez
6-3, 7-5 winner at No. 3 singles

Tiger coach Jack Owlell said that on paper he felt his team had the edge at four of the seven positions in Monday's regular season finale at New Prague. On the court, however, the Trojans were the dominant team, scoring a 6-1 decision.
"Maybe it was a result of a long season of frustrating losses," Olwell said. "That often creates momentum in the wrong direction. In any case, just when it looked like we were in control we crashed and burned."
The lone Farmington point came at No. 3 singles where Ivan Rodriguez rung up a 6-3, 7-5 win.
"That was a fun match to watch," Olwell said.
Ben Cline played well at first singles in suffering a 6-3, 1-6, 5-7 loss and Blake Olmscheid put together a quality first set in a 6-7(2), 1-6 defeat at second singles.
The second doubles team of Jeff Zakoski and Brian Waldbillig also stuck in its match early, losing 5-7 in the opening set before being shutout 0-6 in the second.
New Prague 6 Farmington 1
No. 1 singles Ben Cline lost 6-3, 1-6, 5-7
No. 2 singles Blake Olmscheid lost 6-7 (2), 1-6
No. 3 singles Ivan Rodriguez won 6-3, 7-5
No. 4 singles Austin Tremmel lost 1-6, 1-6
No. 1 doubles Topher Kirchmann/Peter Folz lost 0-6, 0-6
No. 2 doubles Jeff Zakoski/Brian Waldbillig lost 5-7, 0-6
No. 3 doubles Jon Zakoski/Colton Sanders lost 0-6, 1-6

Tiger Scoreboard: May 17, 2011

Girls Golf
Missota Conference meet at Northfield Golf Club
New Prague 333, Red Wing 337, Northfield 351, Chaska 360, Chanhassen 363, Shakopee 397, Farmington 420, Holy Angels 434

Boys Lacrosse
East Ridge 12 Farmington 3

Boys Tennis
New Prague 6 Farmington 1

Boys Track: Tigers sixth in True Team section

Tyler Lerbakken
Ran 2 800-meter races below 2:08
and a sub-52 second split in 4x400 relay

Farmington scored 538.5 points and placed sixth in a nine-team field at the Section 1AAA True Team meet held Tuesday, May 10, at Rochester Mayo.
The unique meet sponsored by the state track coaches association allows each team to enter two individuals and one relay team in each event with every competitor scoring points for his team.
Owatonna won the team title and a berth in next week's True Team state meet with 899.5 points. Lakeville South took the runner-up spot with 888.5, followed by Lakeville North 849, Rochester Century 725, Rochester Mayo 655, Farmington 538.5, Rochester John Marshall 520.5, Northfield 450.5 and Winona 441.50.
"It was a great meet," Tiger coach Brian Helmstetter said. "Our young guys did well again and some seniors had their best performances."
The top Farmington finishes came in the 100-meter dash, 4x400 relay and the shot put.
The relay foursome of Jeff Hanson, Tyler Lerbakken, Tanner Grubb and Tyler Grubb lowered its season-best time to 3:32.7 with a fourth place finish. Thrower John Schimmel threw the shot 47-8 and sprinter Tyler Grubb covered the 400 meters in 51.64 to also earn fourth place points.
The 4x800 relay quartet of Eric Stoeckman, Jared Wolt, Hunter Meyer and Tyler Lerbakken ranked fifth in its race and Zach Wyatt took fifth in the high jump.
Wyatt ranked sixth in the long jump and Schimmel made it two top 10 finishes by taking eighth in the discus.
Wyatt placed ninth in the triple jump and three Tigers finished 10th: Tanner Grubb in the 400-meter dash; Carl Elmer in the 3200-meter run and Dan Berg in the high jump.
In addition to the point-getters Helmstetter noted that several other Tiger athletes recorded personal-best times and distances.
Most notable were Jack Erickson, Mason Auge and Blake Ross in the 200-meter dash; Justin Hett and Mac Bassett in the long jump; Joe Ouyang in the discus and Connor Phu and Reid Taubenheim in the pole vault.
"The pole vault was the most exciting event of the night," Helmstetter said. "Connor and Reid both had 11-foot jumps. They are going up a foot per week."

Girls Lacrosse: Tough luck continues in 9-8 loss to Prior Lake

Haley Bradshaw
12 goals in her last three games

With a bounce here or there Farmington could be riding a three-game winning streak and sporting a 4-5 season record.
But after last Friday's frustrating 9-8 loss at Prior Lake the Tigers are instead stuck in a four-game losing skid and sitting at 1-8.
In the last three contests coach Dan Pickens' team has lost one-goal decisions to Chaska/Chanhassen and Prior Lake and dropped an overtime verdict to Minneapolis.
"Another heart breaker," Pickens said. "It was frustrating. We just have to find a way to do the things we want to do. We had this game under control and just couldn't put it away."
The visitors played a quality first half and hit the break with a comfortable 6-3 lead but could manage just two scores after intermission.
"We aren't scoring enough in the second half to get it done," Pickens said.
Haley Bradshaw continued to shine offensively with four goals, giving her 12 in the past three games. Rachael Welzin netted a pair of scores and Jessica Erchul and Kylee Glenn each chipped in with a goal. Glen's score was the first of her varsity career.
Pickens said he was encouraged with the play of Haley Doll who won 14 of 17 draws and Glen and Delaney Johnson who filled in for starting defenders Kelli Harstad and Ashley Ganrud.
The Tigers outshot the Lakers 28-18 with goalie Kaitlyn Lacroix picking up nine saves.
Farmington brings down the curtain on its regular season with a pair of games this week, Monday at home versus Park of Cottage Grove and Thursday at Holy Angels.
"Hopefully we can put it all together and finish strong," Pickens said.

Boys Tennis: Unbeaten Red Wing blanks Tigers

"Ben Cline played his best match of the season"...
Coach Jack Olwell

Coach Jack Olwell summed up the competition succinctly, saying that Red Wing was "the best team we have seen this season" after Friday's 7-0 loss to the Wingers at the Boeckman Middle School courts.
Olwell went on to note that even though Red Wing is a quality team, it had been beaten soundly by Rochester Century who hasn't yet found a way to get by crosstown rival Mayo.
"What a section we have," Olwell said.
Ben Cline put up the best fight for the Tigers, losing 5-7, 0-6 at the No. 1 singles position.
"Ben was two points from winning the first set after having been up a break for most of the set against an opponent who hasn't lost a set in conference play over the past two seasons," Olwell said. "It was certainly Ben's strongest match of the season against his toughest opponent."
Austin Tremmel also played well for the Tigers at fourth singles, losing the first set 0-6 before coming back to drop a narrow 5-7 decision in the second.

Red Wing 7 Farmington 0
No. 1 singles Ben Cine lost 5-7, 0-6
No. 2 singles Blake Olmscheid lost 0-6, 1-6
No. 3 singles Ivan Rodriguez lost 1-6, 2-6
No. 4 singles Austin Tremmel lost 0-6, 5-7
No. 1 doubles Peter Folz/Topher Kirchmann lost 0-6, 0-6
No. 2 doubles Jeff Zakoski/Brian Waldbillig lost 1-6, 1-6
No. 3 doubles Colton Sanders/Jon Zakoski lost 1-6, 1-6

Softball: Tigers make it 4 in a row with wins over Owatonna and Century

Aleah Williamson 3-run HR, 5 RBI vs. Owatonna
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington won its third and fourth games in row Friday at Northfield and made a statement about the Section 1 seeding in the process.
The Tigers hammered section rivals Owatonna 15-6 and Rochester Century 8-1 in the Missota/Big Nine Conference Challenge to move above the .500 mark (9-8) and make a case for a higher seed in the post-season tournament.
"This should help our seeding," Tiger coach Rob Laden said. "None of the Big Nine teams have had to play Prior Lake and Lakeville North and Shakopee and Chaska twice...It's always better to be playing your best ball going into the end of the season."
In the opener against Owatonna, the Tigers struck for two first inning runs on doubles by Alyssa Hagen and Ashley Betzold and a run-scoring single by Dani Muelken and then extended the lead in the second on a towering three-run homer by Aleah Williamson.
Doubles would be hit of the day for the winners with Williamson and Alyssa Kalmes each driving in a pair of additional runs with two-baggers. Ally Rice doubled in a run and Betzold smacked a bases loaded double in the third inning, scoring three runs.
Betzold also pitched six innings to earn the victory, allowing one earned run while striking out five batters and walking one. Toni Hunsinger pitched an inning for the Tigers and gave up the other four runs.
Hunsinger's first-inning double scored two runs in the win over Century with the big inning coming in the fourth when hits by Betzold, Muelken, Hunsinger, Taylor Yousse and Paige Lindrun produced four runs.
Betzold went the distance in the circle to regsister her ninth win of the season. She gave up eight hits, struck out four and issued one walk.
The Tigers close out their regular season next week with a pair of Missota Conference tilts, Tuesday at Chanahssen and Thursday at home versus Red Wing and then await the seeding for the section tournament that kicks off the following week.

Alumni Tracker: Ex-Tigers leaders in Minnesota High School Clay Target League

Doug Dingman
Prior Lake clay target shooting coach

Boys and girls lacrosse have been the most recent additions to the Farmington High School sports menu but there is another high-school age activity growing at even a faster rate.
It's clay target shooting and it has its own league (Minnesota High School Clay Target League) consisting of 29 schools from around the state. The league had just 13 members in 2010, its first year of existence.
Four former FHS athletes are coaching in the shooting league, headed by 1977 Tiger grad Doug Dingman, an avid hunter and state champion clay shooter, who is the coach and founder of the Prior Lake shooting program.
Dingman coached the Lakers to a top-five finish at last year's state meet and has seen his co-ed team's numbers swell to 47 (43 boys and 4 girls) participants this season.
Mark Henry, who ran on a couple of Tiger state meet cross country teams coached by Stan Otness in the 1970's, is the head coach of the Burnsville team and former Tiger Dan Nicolai heads up the program at St. Paul Academy. Dave Warweg, a classmate of Dingman's at FHS, is an assistant shooting coach at New Prague.
FHS grad Paul Harrington's Totino Grace girls softball team has wrapped up the North Suburban Conference title and owns a perfect 18-0 record. Grace, the seventh-ranked Class 3A team in the state, has outscored the opposition 184-17...1994 FHS female Athlete of the Year Amber Hegland is the softball coach at Wayzata (9-5) who won the Lakeville North Invitational tournament two weeks ago.

Mallory Betzold

Former Tiger softball player Mallory Betzold finished her college career at St. Mary's University in style, finishing with a .368 batting average with three home runs and 23 runs batted in. She was also the leading pitcher for the Cardinals with a 14-8 record and 3.01 earned run average. Betzold hit .455 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs and landed a spot on the all-tournament team.
2007 male Tiger Athlete of the Year Trey Davis, now a University of Minnesota junior, finished third in the shot put at the 102nd running of the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa a couple of weeks ago...On the same day, 2010 male Athlete of the Year and Davis' teammate at the Minnesota, Logan Hussung placed third in the discus at the Drake Alternative meet held at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.
Former FHS and St. Olaf College football and baseball players Carson Jones and Tyler Jones are playing amateur baseball for the Dundas Dukes of the Cannon Valley League this summer...No less than seven players with Farmington connections are on the roster of the Randolph RailCats of the Cannon Valley Classic League. Bryan Hegseth, Danny Tutewohl, Shane Hawkins, Andy Pierskalla and Matt O'Leary all performed for the Tigers and David Ripley and PJ McIntee both played on the Tiger hockey team.
Pierskalla should get more than his fill of baseball this summer as he and Jared Rowan, another former Tiger, coach the Farmington American Legion team.

Tiger Scoreboard: May 14, 2011

Softball
Missota/Big Nine Conference Challenge
Farmington 8 Rochester Century 1
Farmington 15 Owatonna 6

Girls Lacrosse
Prior Lake 9 Farmington 8

Boys Tennis
Red Wing 7 Farmington 0

Softball: Tigers make it 3 of 4

Taylor Yousse
2-3, 2B, 2RBI, R vs. New Prague
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

The week began with an 8-2 loss to Chaska on Tuesday but things picked up from there with a convincing 11-3 payback romp over Northfield on Wednesday and a 6-0 shutout of New Prague on Thursday.
The 2-1 stretch raised the Tigers season record to 7-8 overall and 6-6 in the Missota Conference.
In the loss to Chaska the Tigers helped the Hawks' cause by committing six errors leading to six unearned runs.
A single by Alyssa Kalmes, a double by Dani Muelken and sacrifice fly by Allie Rice produced the Farmington runs.
At Northfield the following day, the Tigers avenged an earlier 5-3 loss to the Raiders by scoring six runs in the top of the second inning.
Muelken walked to start the inning and then Kalmes and Toni Hunsisnger followed with bunt hits to load the bases. Rice unloaded them in a hurry with a grand slam homer over the left-centerfield fence.
Later in the inning a single by Paige Lindrud, a double by Aleah Williamson and a two-run single by Ashley Betzold made it 6-0.
Rice knocked in another run in a two-run third inning and then singled and scored on an error in the sixth as the Tigers tacked on two more scores. Lindrud's sacrifice fly scored the second run of the inning.
Williamson's second double of the day followed by another two-bagger by Alyssa Hagen closed the scoring in the seventh.
Betzold scattered nine hits to post her sixth pitching victory, striking out three and allowing two earned runs.
Betzold twirled her third shutout of the season against New Prague, allowing seven hits while striking out five and walking two.
Taylor Yousse's bases-loaded walk and a two-run single by Lindrud staked Betzold to a three-run lead in the second inning.
Yousse singled and scored on a hit by Williamson in the third inning and also drove in a run with a double in the fifth. Muelken knocked in the final Tiger run in the sixth.
"It's always nice to win," coach Rob Laden said. "We've won three of four so that feels good and it's good to be building some momentum going into the playoffs.
"With our two games tomorrow we will have played 12 games in 12 days with four outdoor practices all season...All games and no practices make it hard to work on things."

Baseball: 15 runs still not enough

Zach Wallace
No bunting at New Prague
4-5, 2B, 3R, 2RBI
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

Early in the week in back-to-back losses to Chaska and Northfield, the Tiger offense was nowhere to be found. Thursday night at New Prague it scored runs in bunches but it still wasn't enough in a 20-15 shootout loss to the Trojans.
The trio of losses dropped Farmington's season record to 3-12; 2-9 n Missota Conference play.
"We need to do the little things to win ball games and we're not," coach Mike Winters said. "We also need to be less selfish and focus on the team and the plays at hand."
The locals started the week with a 7-0 shutout road loss Tuesday at Chaska in which they managed just four hits.
Tiger starter Jonathan Ellis took the pitching loss, giving up five earned runs in four innings. Andy Morris allowed an unearned run in two innings of relief.
The next afternoon at Tiger Field the pitching duo of Nathan Graham and Zach Wallace surrendered just five hits (3 of them bunts)but the Raiders made the most of them building a 5-0 lead after five and a half innings on the way to a 7-2 win.
The Farmington offense matched Northfield's five hits but couldn't string any together, scoring its only runs in the fifth and seventh innings.
The sluggish bats came to life in New Prague as the visitors plated five runs in their first trip to the plate on a pair of walks and base hits by Spencer Merle, Sebren Baer, John Stibal and Wallace.
Unfortunately, the Trojans countered with a 10-spot in the bottom of the inning to take a five-run lead. They added six more scores in the home half of the third to pull ahead 16-5.
To their credit, the Tigers battled back, scoring nine runs from the fourth through the sixth innings. The big inning came in the fourth when the visitors scored five times on an error and hits by Dayne Eich, Jake Baskerville, Stibal, Wallace and Merle.
Wallace had a big day at the plate, going 4-5 with two runs-batted-in and three runs scored to pace the Farmington 16-hit attack. Zak Payne, Nick Newman, Eich, Merle and Stibal each collected two hits. Merle and Sebren Baer each smacked triples.
Starter Ty Vincent lasted just a third of an inning and took the pitching loss. Colton Luskey, Morris and Wallace followed him to the hill but without much success.
"Not a pretty game," Winters said. Lots of hits, errors and runs. At least the kids battled throughout."

Girls Golf: Tigers back to seventh in Missota

Terra Klima
Low Farmington scorer at Dahlgreen Golf Club

Three-fifths of the way through the Missota Conference season the Tigers appear to be in battle for seventh place in the league standings.
Coach Rob Carpentier's squad finished seventh in opening meet, fell to eighth in second and then bounced back up to seventh in the third league get-together played Monday, May 9, at Dahlgreen Golf Club.
Red Wing nipped New Prague, the winner of the first two meets, 317-321 to claim first place. Farmington finished at 441 and ahead of eighth-place Holy Angels.
"We had to ask two junior varsity players to step up to the varsity," Carpentier said. "We are hoping for a full lineup next week. If we do, I think we can knock 20 strokes off our team score.
"We are really competing against ourselves and Holy Angels. There's about a 60-stroke jump to sixth place so we do what we can do to improve."
Terra Klima won team honors for Farmington with a round of 101. Bri Swenson shot 111, Annie Grengs 112, Megan Elliott 117, Alexis House 121 and Chelsea Runyon 126.
Next week the girls will tee it up at the fourth conference meet scheduled for Monday, May 16, at the Northfield Golf Club.

Boys Lacrosse: Injury-riddled Tigers fall to Thunderhawks

Mitch Collier 2 goals, 2 assists

The injury-riddled Tigers gave it their best shot but came out on the short end of a 17-6 decision to Chasha/Chanhasen Thursday, May 12, at Tiger Stadium.
"You can't use injuries as an excuse but we have them at crucial positions," coach Paul Sorenson said. "But I am extremely proud of our guys for stepping up and filling in admirably.
"Mitch Collier and Matt Ackerman have answered the challenge lately and are providing some offensive punch and although the statistics might not reflect it, Charlie Weierke keeps stepping between the pipes and giving us a chance to win every night."
Collier finished with two goals and two assists to lead the Tigers. Ackerman and Marques Words each added a goal and an assist. Jake Bauman and Luke Brevick accounted for the other Tiger scores. Trevor Howard chipped in with a pair of assists.
Brevick's goals was his second in as many shots this season, both coming against Chaska/Chanhassen..
"We need to avoid costly penalties and to learn to put it all out on the field for 48 minutes," Sorenson said. "We have the talent. It's that formula that will push us over the top."
While the varsity team (1-9) has battled injuries all season, the Tiger junior varsity has managed to post three wins in nine outings.
"They keep improving every game," Sorenson said.

Girls Lacrosse: Minneapolis tips Tigers in OT

Haley Bradshaw (top) 6 goals, 2 assists
Adrienne Jolicoeur 5 goals, 2 assists


Minneapolis outscored the Tigers 5-2 in a pair of three-minute overtime sessions to score an 18-15 victory, Thursday night, May 12, at Washburn High School.
"Another great game, a crazy game, Tiger coach Dan Pickens said. "We took our bumps and bruises and it was a cold, rainy night but we battled through everything and really played a good game...I'd love it if one of these close games would go our way though.
This year Farmington (1-7) is 0-2 in overtime contests and had also lost a one-goal game to Chaska/Chanhassen.
The Tigers started strong, scoring six goals in the first eight minutes but by halftime they were looking up at an 8-7 deficit.
With four minutes to play the visitors were still down 13-8 before putting on a furious rally to pull even on Adrienne Jolicoeur's goal with two seconds remaining in regulation.
"That was a great run of goals that showed the drive of our team," Pickens said. "We never quit."
Haley Bradshaw (6 goals) and Jolicoeur (5) combined for 11 of the Farmington scores. Ally Midboe and Jessica Erchul each scored twice for the Tigers. Bradshaw, Jolicoeur and Haley Doll each added a pair of assists.
Although Pickens felt badly about the narrow loss, he was encouraged by the play of the junior varsity team that posted a 12-4 win behind four goals by Kaeli Halverson.

Tiger Scoreboard: May 13, 2011

Softball
Farmington 6 New Prague 0

Baseball
New Prague 20 Farmington 15

Boys Lacrosse
Chaska/Chanhassen 17 Farmington 6

Girls Lacrosse
Minneapolis 18 Farmington 15 (OT)

Tiger Scoreboard: May 12, 2011

Softball
Farmington 11 Northfield 5

Baseball
Northfield 6 Farmington 2

Boys Golf: Tigers cart their way back up Missota ladder

Tigers, carts and all, ready for Missota No. 3

After falling from fifth to seventh place after the first two Missota Conference tournaments, the Tigers crept back up a rung on the league ladder with a sixth place showing at the third meet played Tuesday, May 10, at Royal Oaks Golf Club in Cottage Grove.
Chaska won the eight-team meet with a stroke total of 298, followed by fellow league newcomer Chanhassen 308, Shakopee 312, New Prague 320, Red Wing 322, Farmington 328, Holy Angels 338 and Northfield 339.
Cooper Loew displaced Tommy May atop the Tiger leader board with a 40-38 round. May was in good shape with an opening round 36 but ballooned to a 44 on the back nine thanks to a nine on the final hole for an 80.
"Cooper has really been playing well lately," coach Hon Holmes said. "Tommy just had some bad luck on the one hole. That's never fun."
Jacob Hanson ranked third on the Tiger team card with 84, two shots ahead of Matt Provost. Trevor Hockert finished at 90 and Mike Dalhed, battling a bad back, shot 94.
Holmes offered that for the first time his entire team took advantage of the new rule that allows the use of pull carts.
"It used the be that carrying the bag was the manly thing to do," Holmes said, "but I've found that it saves on the shoulders and it gives players access to more helpful tools to store things in regard to things like weather and cleanliness. It allows you to enjoy the experience in a more organized fashion."
The Tigers prepped for the conference get-together with a 14th place finish in the 17-team Shakopee Invitational played Monday at Stonebrooke Golf Club.
"We struggled again with one of the nines," Holmes said. "At some point these boys are going to get the feel down to to keep their mistakes from being bunched together on one nine. Then our team score will come down."
May was the most consistent player, backing up a first-round nine of 38 with a 39 on the back side. Provost shot 82, Dalhed 86, Loew 87, Hanson 88 and Hockert 92.

Girls Track: School jump records fall at True Team section

Nadia Lorencz
New school records in the long jump (18-5.5) and triple jump (36-5)

Farmington scored four first place finishes and set two new school records while finishing sixth at the Section 1AAA True Team Championships held Tuesday, May 10, at Rochester Mayo.
Lakeville North won the meet with 987.50 points, followed by Lakeville South 961.50, Rochester Mayo 724.50, Rochester Century 693, Northfield 691, Farmington 586, Owatonna 581, Winona 452.50 and Rochester John Marshall 327.
"We had a ton of personl records which was great to see," coach Tom Hart said. "I had hoped to be fourth or fifth but with our distance kids nicked up, things became even harder to score in the top places in those events.
"I was happy with the effort and competitiveness all the ladies brought at the hot and steamy meet."
Nadia Lorencz scored two of the Tiger firsts, breaking her own school record in the long jump and winning the 100-meter hurdles. The versatile sophomore leaped 18-5.5 in the long jump and claimed the hurdles in 16.18. She also took second in the triple jump and 10th in the pole vault.
The other blue ribbon performances went to Alyssa Parco in the 300-meter hurdles with a 46.65 clocking and the 4x400 relay team of Parco, Izzie Ferm, Erin Hickey and Maria Kiminski that came within three-tenths of a second of the school standard with a finishing time of 4:01.54.
In addition to Lorencz's runner-up finish in the triple jump, another school record with a jump of 36-5, the 4x200 relay team of Parco, Courtney Johnston, Ferm and Hickey came in second at 1:47.44.
Hickey took fourth in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump while Kiminski came in fourth in the 400-meter dash. Hannah Seitzinger placed seventh in the 800-meter run.

Boys Track: Tigers sixth in True Team section

Tyler Lerbakken
2 sub-2:08 800-meter runs and
sub-52 second split in 4x400 relay

Farmington scored 538.5 points and placed sixth in a nine-team field at the Section 1AAA True Team meet held Tuesday, May 10, at Rochester Mayo.
The unique meet sponsored by the state track coaches association allows each team to enter two individuals and one relay team in each event with every competitor scoring points for his his team.
Owatonna won the team title and berth in True Team title and a berth in next week's True Team state meet with 899.5 points. Lakeville South took the runner-up spot with 888.5, followed by Lakeville North 849, Rochester Century 725, Rochester Mayo 655, Farmington 538.5, Rochester John Marshall 520.5, Northfield 450.5 and Winona 441.50.
The top Farmington finishes came in the 100-meter dash, 4x400 relay and the shot put.
The relay foursome of Jeff Hanson, Tyler Lerbakken, Tyler Grubb and Tyler Grubb lowered its season-best time to 3:32.7 with a fourth place finish. Thrower John Schimmel threw the shot 47-8 and sprinter Tyler Grubb covered the 400 meters in 51.64 to also earn fourth place points.
The 4x800 relay quartet of.... ranked fifth in its race and Zach Wyatt took fifth in the high jump.
...ranked sixth in the long jump and Schimmel made it two top 10 finishes by taking eighth in the discus.
Wyatt placed ninth in the triple jump and three Tigers finished 10th: Tanner Grubb in the 400-meter dash; Carl Elmer in the 3200-meter run and Dan Berg in the high jump.