During Zach Goring’s days as the head boys basketball coach at Apple Valley High School, he blew a whistle all the time. He’s doing the same thing now, but the coach whose teams played in four state championship games and won three titles – and whose rosters included three current NBA players -- is now blowing his whistle as a basketball official.
Sam Helgestad, a senior at New Prague High School, is not alone, and neither are his mother, Karry, and older sister Lucy. The family has been embraced by the community in town and beyond.
Tommaso Costantini is a foreign-exchange student who grew up playing rugby in Italy, and dove right into American high school sports by playing football last fall and wrestling this winter. He was a starting linebacker for the Eagles by the midway point in the season and getting to the state wrestling tournament was another memory that will last a lifetime.
When Delta Airlines flight 3831 returned to earth at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport a few minutes ahead of schedule, all was well for a group of talented students from St. Michael-Albertville High School.
John Lieser isn’t exactly a Forrest Gump-type character, but the longtime MSHSL football and basketball official has seen a lot in 80 years of life in Minnesota.
On the final weekend of the 2023-2024 school year, in the ballpark that every baseball-loving kid in Minnesota dreams about, four state champions were decided after a week of weather delays, uncertainty and waiting … waiting … and more waiting.
I don’t know how many sports books were available at my little hometown library in Graettinger, Iowa, but I do know that I read every one of them, some of them more than once, and my favorites were about great baseball players.
Last fall, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton played at the state volleyball tournament for the first time and won a championship. This week, the softball team reached the state tourney for the first time.
