Boys Track: Good start for young team

Tyler Lerbakken
400-meter dash winner and part of the winning 4x200 relay team
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers finished behind Burnsville and Shakopee in Tuesday's home triangular but coach Brian Helmstetter saw more than a few positives in his young team's performance.

"Overall I thought the meet was a move in the right direction," he said. "The boys know they have a long way to go, but the majority of them had a mark or time that helped them see the off-season work had paid off.

"We have identified events that we need to improve on and hopefully will have some guys step up in the next couple of meets to give us a taste of where we are at this point in the season."

Burnsville scored 75 points to win the meet. Shakopee finished with 63 and Farmington 48.

The Tigers won four events, including the 1600-meter run where Ty Hyytinen set a new ninth grade school record with a time of 4:42.54.

"That's been a race we've needed to improve on over the past few years," Helmstetter said.

Reid Taubenheim cleared 12-0 to win the pole vault and Tyler Lerbakken claimed the 400-meter dash in 53.05.

Mason Gaylord shows winning form in the 4x200 relay
(photo by Jim Lindquist)


The Tigers also won the 4x200 relay with Mason Auge, Sean McHenry, Lerbakken and Mason Gaylord carrying the baton.

Three Tigers combined for four second place finishes: Joe Ouyang in the shot put and discus; Josh Baker in the high jump and Connor Phu in the pole vault.

Justin Hett had personal bests in both the long jump and triple jump to finish third in each event. Chad Retterath took third in the 3200-meter run and Bret Hoffman placed third in the shot put. Dan Berg scored third place points in the high jump.

Next up for the Tigers is an appearance at the New Prague Invitational Thursday, Apr. 12.

Girls Track: Sabers edge Tigers in opener

Nadia Lorencz
100-meter hurdles and long jump champion
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers scored eight first place finishes in a hotly-contested 75-71 dual meet loss to Shakopee Tuesday afternoon in the season-opening track event at Tiger Stadium.

"The meet was a great opportunity for all of our ladies to compete and get experience," coach Tom Hart said. "We did some very good things and had a lot of intra-team, head to head competition as well as competing against Shakopee.

"I was very pleased with the effort and the competitiveness that our team brought to this first outdoor meet. For many of our team it was the first outdoor high school competition. We look forward to what the next few weeks will hold in store for us."


All-state performer Nadia Lorencz and Maria Kiminski each won two individual events. Lorencz breezed to an easy victory in the 100-meter hurdles and won the long jump by more than a foot, while Kiminski claimed honors in the 400-meter dash and high jump.

Alyssa Parco looked in mid-season form with a win in the 300-meter hurdles and freshman Jennifer Miller sprinted to victory in the 200-meter dash.

The Tigers also won two relay events. The 4x200 team of Parco, Courtney Johnston, Melanie Brothers and Izzie Ferm won by six seconds and the 4x400 foursome of Parco, Johnston, Alicia Hett and Ferm clocked 4:17.2 to beat Shakopee by 11 seconds.

Izzie Ferm carried the baton in the winning 4x200 and 4x400 relays
(photo by Jim Lindquist)


Ferm took second in the long jump as did Miller in the 100-meter dash. Aly Grebner ranked second in the shot put and Hett grabbed the runner-up spot in the 800-meter run. Abby Haugen took second in the pole vault.

Tiger third place finishers included Jessica Arey in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles; Kayla Watne in the 100-meter dash; Alex Frost in the 1600-meter run; Sarah Cummings in the 800-meter run; Maricia Pacheco in the 1600-meter run; Destiny Schmitz in the high jump; Kathryn Beckett in the triple jump, Johnston in the 200-meter dash and Grebner in the shot put.

Thursday, Apr. 12, the Tigers head to New Prague for the New Prague Invitational.

Tiger Scoreboard: April 4, 2012

Girls Track
Shakopee 75 Farmington 71

Boys Track
Burnsville 75 Shakopee 63 Farmington 48

Boys Lacrosse: Tigers set to arrive in 2012

Attacker Mitch Collier 2011 Offensive MVP
(photo by Jim Lindquist)

After winning just one game over the first two years of the program, Tiger coach Paul Sorensen said he has high expectations for his team this spring.

"We are not looking backward," he said. "We're only looking ahead and we see good things on the horizon."

Two of the reasons for Sorensen's optimism are the return of 14 letterwinners from last year's injury-plagued squad and the maturation of a junior varsity team that finished 5-7 last spring.

Senior returnees include offensive player of the year Mitch Collier (attacker) and defensive player of the year Charlie Weierke (goalie), Trevor Howard (attacker), Matt Ackerman (midfielder). Marques Words (attacker) and Alex Rojesky (midfielder). Collier, Weierke, Ackerman and Howard will share the captain's duties for this year's team.

Juniors Joey Todd (defender/long stickman), Jake Baumann (midfielder/attacker), Nathan Brunelle (defender) and Matt Heinzerling-Wiese (defender) and sophomores Cory Rudrud (attacker/midfielder), Dan Block (long stickman), Michael Thompson (midfielder) and Kevin Clifton (midfielder) also earned varsity letters in 2011. Junior attacker Brendan Berg should also vie for varsity playing time this spring.

Goalie Charlie Weierke, 2011 Defensive MVP
(photo by Jim Lindquist)


"We are in our third year now so overall experience and the ability to score from multiple sources should be our strength," Sorensen said. "The experience and a more athletic group of players has our defensive unit in harmony coming into the season."

Sorensen said the question marks remain similar to last season. Can the team stay healthy and how will it react in close-game situations.

"I am cautiously optimistic going into the season," he said. "We have set up our schedule to show our strengths against sectional opponents and we are looking to introduce some new wrinkles that should show well for us at the end of the season."

Sorensen who has been the head coach since day one of the program is joined by assistants Mike Fox and Carl Starkey this spring.

The Tiger open their 2012 campaign Monday, Apr. 9, with a home contest against Simley.

Boys Tennis: Tigers feature veteran lineup

Ben Cline
MVP and All-Missota Conference in 2011

Lack of experience should not be a problem for the 2012 edition of Tiger boys' tennis with coach Jack Olwell looking at the possibility of filling out a lineup card with all returning lettermen.

"We have a lot of guys back from last year and several have had great off-seasons," Olwell said. "Our singles lineup remains pretty much in tact and we have good experience in all three double flights, too."

Seniors Ben Cline and Blake Olmscheid should man the top two singles positions. Cline was an all-Missota Conference performer and team MVP in 2011. Olmscheid received all-conference honorable mention last spring and won the Tiger Award for leadership and spirit.

"Ben and Blake represent the strongest one-two combination we've had in many years," Olwell said.

Olwell said the leading candidates for the other two singles slots are three other letterwinners: senior Tyler Olson and sophomores Ivan Rodriguez and Austin Tremmel.

Junior Christopher Kirchmann returns to fill half of the No. 1 doubles team that could find him paired with Olson or senior Jeff Zakoskie. Other likely doubles canddiates include juniors Austin Rau and Colton Sanders and sophomore Jon Zakoskie, all letter winners last season.

"This is the strongest we have been in several years so we are looking for marked improvement," Olwell said. "The question will be how much our opponents have improved."

Olwell said the always-tough Missota Conference will provide plenty of competition with Shakopee, Red Wing, Chaska and Holy Angels also returning strong squads. Rochester Mayo, Rochester Cetury and Red Wing are all expected to be in the hunt for Section 1 honors.

Veterans Jon Malin and Joe "Doc" Emond return as varsity assistants this spring with Brian Engebretson slated to handle the middle school coaching chores.

The Tigers open the season Thursday, Apr. 5, with a non-conferene dual meet at Lakeville South.