June 15, 2021
For Dylan Merchant ’16, there wasn’t too much more special than winning the state team golf championship with his closest friends as a senior. “I really enjoyed the moment in every event, and played really well. I made my first hole in one, I won the section championship and placed second in state individually, and I really made some great connections with other athletes outside of MPA.”
Merchant finished as a two time team state championship winner, three time IMAC all-conference honoree, team MVP award winner, two time team section championship winner, two time individual section champion, and two time team state champion. Read More
Dylan Saul ’11 was the all-important fifth runner on MPA’s first ever state qualifying cross country team in 2008. Just a sophomore, Saul’s tenacity and selflessness helped bring home a sixth place finish at the class A state cross country meet for the Panthers.
Emma Stacy ‘15 embodies the student athlete at Mounds Park Academy. As a competitive swimmer, she knew that without the right balance of athletics, arts, and academics, plus a healthy dose of joy, she could be susceptible to an early burn out. It was no surprise that Stacy, who swam for Metro United, MPA’s co-op swim team, always made sure to make swimming fun. “My favorite memory was carpooling to the pool with other MPA swimmers and jamming to songs in the car to get pumped up,” she said.
With an older brother considered one of Minnesota’s most accomplished distance runners in recent memory, Evan Ferlic had some big shoes to fill. But with a list of accolades that looks like his brother Mason’s, Ferlic has proven he is up for the challenge.
Late October nights in Minnesota tend to be cold and dark. Soccer players competing in section tournament games, played under the lights, bundle up any way they can.
Jaima (Solie) Salagovic excelled on the soccer field for the Panthers and longtime girls soccer coach Mike Scinto. A part of the 2002 state tournament team, Salagovic chose to play collegiately at the University of Minnesota Morris after graduating from MPA. At UMM, Salagovic earned Academic all-conference in the in each of her four years and was named to the UMAC all-conference first team her senior year.
Jude Hull ’12 was like many of the new seventh graders starting at MPA in the fall of 2006. He was excited and eager to learn, perhaps even a little nervous. But he was certainly the only incoming Panther whose father and grandfather are hockey hall of famers. Hockey is literally in Hull’s blood. So, it comes as no surprise that even as he relished the opportunity to play other sports at over his next six years at MPA, including being named captain of the golf team, he was a hockey player first and foremost.
Team captain, girls tennis and equestrian team state champion, chamber choir member, National Honor Society inductee, thespian, Science Olympiad participant. Kate Roach ’11 accomplished amazing feats at Mounds Park Academy, but her latest and loftiest goal, the opportunity to represent the United States in the Tokyo Olympics, would top any of that.
When Kim Bourne ‘12 looks back on the MSHSL state Nordic ski championships her senior year, her second consecutive year at state, her most distinct memory doesn’t come from the actual race but rather the feeling she got when four of her MPA teammates also qualified.
Kristen Bourne’s senior Nordic ski season didn’t begin with the hot start she had hoped for. Even after devoting her entire off season to training and coming in to the winter in top form, she was in a funk mentally that was proving hard to break. But with supportive teammates and coaches, she found herself relaxing more and midway through the season, approached her races from a different perspective. Success soon followed.