June 21, 2021
After winning the 2020 Minnesota state championship in Nordic skiing, Henry Snider was nearly speechless. “I always dreamed of being a state champion,” he told the Pioneer Press. “It’s completely amazing. Just crazy. Lots of training over the summer, dedication, loving the sport.”
That love of the sport of Nordic skiing, and nearly all endurance sports, made Snider into one of MPA’s all-time greats. Though he only competed for the Panthers for part of his sophomore year, his junior year, and part of his year (the MSHSL’s transfer rule and COVID-19 both played a role in that), Snider’s name dots the record books and awards lists.
The 2020 state champion in Nordic, Snider was an IMAC conference and Section 4 champion who also placed sixth in state as a junior (qualifying all four years) and was named the Star Tribune’s Metro Boys’ Nordic Skier of the Year. He led the Panthers to a fifth-place ranking in the state poll in January 2018, especially impressive as there is only one size classification for schools in Nordic skiing.
In cross country running, Snider helped lead the boy’s team to a berth in the 2017 state meet, won the IMAC conference and Section 4 individual championships and earned all-state twice, finishing both ninth and tenth. His 5K personal best of 16:16 is third all-time in MPA history.
On the track, Snider appears on MPA’s top 10 list six times in five different events (800m, 1600m, 3200m, 4x800m, and 4x1600m) Snider was an IMAC conference champion, placed seventh in the 3200m at state and anchored the Panther’s 4x800m that placed ninth. His 3200m time of 9:50.93, run as a junior, makes him just one of four MPA track and field athletes to break the 10 minute barrier in that event. His senior track season was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19.
“MPA had great coaches that allowed me to train and compete at a high level and prepare me for college racing,” Snider says.
Snider chose to compete collegiately in Nordic skiing and cross country running at Michigan Tech, located in Houghton, MI. Since joining the Huskies, Henry has been quite successful. He placed 12th overall amongst both the CCSA and Midwest juniors in the Mt. Itasca skate 10km race. He also placed first in the Midwest junior classic 10km race and garnered 12th place honors at both the 2019 and 2020 U.S. Junior National Championships.
“My college experience so far has obviously been different because of COVID-19, but I was lucky to still have almost a normal ski season. I was able to have some classes in person, but most were online, I also had to eat meals in my dorm. I was able to practice with the whole team everyday though which I found very helpful and important,” says Snider, who is studying mechanical engineering.
Jerusalem Thao ’20 came to MPA as a tenth grader and made an immediate impact. As a Panther, he excelled in both soccer, and his primary sport, tennis. He was captain of the soccer team, IMAC all conference, and a recipient of the coaches’ award.
Playing football for the MPA/SPA co-op team, Adam Frudden ’08 formed lifelong friendships and honed a strong work ethic that served him well far beyond the gridiron.
Adrienne (DeMarais) Zertuche ‘03 put together a very impressive soccer resume playing for long time head girls soccer coach Mike Scinto.
When Amber Washington ’12 first joined the tennis team at MPA as a seventh grader in 2006, she could not have known the record setting career she would go on to have. Washington’s older sister Taylor had played tennis at MPA and led the Panthers to two state team championships, and the younger Washington knew she had big shoes to fill. Those shoes would take her far.
To be a great rower, tremendous upper and lower body strength is key. Nordic skiing, helps aspiring rowers develop those exact skills. Just ask Ana Manolis, who parlayed a highly successful Nordic ski career at MPA into a spot on the rowing team at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Andrew George has never been a stranger to working hard. When asked what advice he had for future MPA students, he said, “Work hard. Education is an important tool in today’s society as well as the in future.” Academically, as well as athletically, George has always been one of the hardest workers. “MPA prepared me for college by conveying the importance of putting in the work, as well as giving me deep passion for the sport of running and the atmosphere a sports team provides.”
MPA’s 2007 Girl’s Tennis state championship, the Panthers’ first in girl’s tennis, was the final, and most difficult step in Beth Larson’s illustrious and successful prep tennis career. But the story does not start at the beginning of the 2007 season. It starts much earlier.
Brendan Connolly loves basketball. When he came to MPA in fourth grade, it marked the start of an eight year basketball journey, that in the end, brought him to places even he couldn’t have imagined. During his four year career as a varsity starter for the Panthers, Connolly became something truly special.
Brenna Bray’s MPA athletics experience came full circle. A member of the class of 2002 and former Nordic ski and track and field and cross country athlete, Bray rejoined MPA athletics as a cross country running and Nordic skiing coach in 2012 and 2013.