May 30, 2019
MPA Track and Field traveled to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead High School for the Section 4A True Team Meet, and ran, jumped and threw to excellent performances. In a typical meet, only the top eight individuals and top six relays score, but in a True Team meet, every competitor scores. There are 14 teams in Section 4A, and with each team able to put up to two athletes in an event, many individual events included 28 athletes.
On the girls side, eighth grader Zoe M. won the 100m dash in a personal best time of 13.26 and placed second in the 200m in 27.42, which is the seventh fastest time ever at MPA! Eighth grader Greta M. (Gentry Academy) placed fifth in the 200m in 28.04 and won the 400m in a personal best time of 1:02.44, making the MSHSL honor roll and moving up to third place all time at MPA with the fastest 400m since 2007! In the girls 800m, senior Sofia Walker won with a personal best time of 2:26.04, the third fastest time ever at MPA and fastest 800m since 2002! Notable performances in the field events include senior Gabby Law placing sixth in the triple jump with a season best performance of 30’11.
In the 4x100m relay, the team of junior Catherine Moore, ninth grader Ella Fruchterman, and eighth graders Zoe M., and Greta M. (Gentry Academy) placed won with a time of 53.04, tied for fourth best all time at MPA! The 4x200m team of eighth grader Alexa H. (Gentry Academy), ninth grader Ella Fruchterman, eighth grader Emily B. and junior Catherine Moore placed third in 2:00.44. In the 4x800m, senior Sofia Walker eighth Margo N., senior Gabby Law and sophomore Izzy Quam placed third in a season best of 10:27.09, seventh best all time at MPA!
On the boys side, senior Tae’Vion Wilkins placed third in both the 100m dash (11.96) and the 200m dash (24.11). MPA placed two runners in the top six of the boys 400m with senior Flynn Opatz running a season best 54.43 for fourth place and Nathan Harvanko running 56.55 for sixth. In the 800m, senior Matt Bourne was fifth in a personal best of 2:07.93. Junior Henry Snider was a double winner, taking the 1600m in 4:41.03 and the 3200m in a personal best of 9:53.70. He became the fourth panther ever to break 10 minutes in the 3200m. In the 300m hurdles, senior Dylan Dickinson ran a personal best 46.76 to move up to sixth place all time at MPA, and the fastest 300m hurdles time since 2008. In the high jump, senior Yahya Madar won with a personal best of 6’7, extending his school record. 6’7 is one of the best jumps in Minnesota so far this year. In the triple jump, senior Tae’Vion Wilkins jumped a personal best of 38’11.75 to place fifth and move up to fourth all time at MPA. Also in the triple jump, senior Dylan Dickinson jumped 36’9.5 to record a personal best of nearly two feet and move up to tenth place all time at MPA.
In the boys 4x100m relay, the team of seniors Tae’Vion Wilkins, Ian Olson, junior Shane Fruchterman and sophomore Caleb Rhodes ran 46.82 to place second in a season best and move up to fifth all time at MPA. In the boys 4x200m relay, seniors Flynn Opatz and Ian Olson and juniors Shane Fruchterman and Nathan Harvanko, placed fourth in season best 1:38.32. In the 4x400m, seniors Matthew Bourne and Henry Peterson, junior Nathan Harvanko and freshman Cullen Moore ran a season best 3:44.79 to place fifth. In the 4x800m seniors Matthew Bourne and Henry Peterson and freshmen Cullen Moore and Isak Nightingale ran a season best 8:34.78 to place third and earn a spot on the state honor roll. Their time is fifth best all time at MPA.
In a true testament to the strength of the panthers’ teams, the girls placed fifth of fourteen teams with 595.5 points and the boys placed fourth of fourteen with 610 points. The next meet is the IMAC Championship on Thursday, May 16 at Providence Academy.
In a great tune up meet before the Section 4A Championships, MPA Track and Field traveled to the St. Croix Lutheran Invitational in West St. Paul. Notable performances on the girls side include senior Sofia Walker placing second in the 400m in a personal best of 1:02.59. Her time is fourth all time in MPA history! Senior Gabby Law came in sixth in the 400m, running a personal best of 1:07.49. In the 800m, sophomore Katie Dahiya placed second with a personal best time of 2:43.47. In the 1600m, junior Izzy George ran a personal best of 6:56.61, breaking seven minutes for the first time thanks to a dramatic kick over the last 100m! In the 100m hurdles, eighth grader Emily B. ran a personal best of 18.91 to place fourth, earning the tenth spot on the MPA top ten in that event.
The Panthers traveled to Providence Academy on a warm Thursday afternoon for the IMAC championships. Noteworthy performances on the girls side include eighth grader Zoe M. placing fourth in the 100m dash in 13.39 and adding a fifth place finish in the 200m in 28.02. Eighth grader Greta M. (Gentry Academy) finished fifth in the 200m in 28.10 and fourth in the 400m in a personal best 1:02.28. In the 800m, senior Sofia Walker ran a near personal best 2:26.18 to place second and sophomore Izzy Quam ran a season best 2:33.63 to finish sixth. Eighth grader Emily B. ran two personal bests in the hurdles races, placing sixth in 19.13 in the 100m hurdles and recording another personal best of 55.12 in the 300 hurdles. In the field events, Zoe M. placed fifth in the long jump with a personal best jump of 15.8.75, now third all time in MPA history. 15.8.75 gets Zoe on the state honor roll in the long jump! Junior Catherine Moore placed fourth in the discus throw with a near personal best of 80.9.
Congratulations to the Middle School Boys and Girls Track And Field Teams! These Panthers won the Conference Championship last week!
The Spirit Committee gathered yesterday to celebrate the contributions of long-time members, and senior parents, Kathy Bourne and Kathi Peterson. After many years of dedication to the Spirit Committee they bid a fond farewell with their seniors and leave MPA Athletics stronger than ever. Mounds Park Academy would like to sincerely thank them for their many hours of volunteer service and incredible contributions through the years.
A group of former MPA girls soccer players, some of their partners, eight little ones, and coaches Mike Scinto and Al Greimel recently got together for an MPA soccer reunion!
Congratulations to the MPA Girls Softball Team for winning the 2019 IMAC Conference Championship! This is the first championship title to be won by MPA’s softball team in school history. This year’s team composition has been tremendously successful, as it features a variety of grades and even a few players from Gentry Academy, who MPA has a co-operative partnership with this year. There are two seniors, four juniors, six eighth graders, and three students from Gentry Academy. All the players showed a commitment to the team from the beginning, such as eighth grader Siri S., who chose to play on MPA’s team along with her traveling softball team.
After his performance at March’s US Nordic Skiing Junior Nationals race in Anchorage, AK, freshman Isak Nightingale was one of just 40 youth nordic skiers invited to the US Skiing National U16 Nordic Camp this July at the College of St Scholastica in Duluth. The camp brings together the top U16 Boys and Girls talent from across the country for a week of intensive training and education as one of the first steps towards the US Skiing national team development pipeline. Congratulations, Isak!
MPA Track and Field traveled to Blake for the IMAC relays on Thursday and had a number of terrific performances. Notable results for the girls team include 10th grader Katie Dahiya placing third in the 1600m run with a new personal best time of 5:39.78, now eighth best all time at MPA. In the 1600m medley relay, the team of seniors Gabby Law and Sofia Walker, junior Catherine Moore and eighth grader Greta M. (Gentry Academy) placed third with a time of 4:42.20, now ninth place all time at MPA. In the 4x100m relay, the team of junior Catherine Moore, ninth grader Ella Fruchterman, and eighth graders Zoe M., and Greta M. (Gentry Academy) placed third with a time of 53.64, now seventh of all time at MPA.
While it may not feel like spring sports weather today, we have some exciting MPA athletics results to share from earlier in the week!