June 17, 2021

By the time Andrea Heil ’10 finished her career as one of the top throwers in the history of MPA track and field, she learned that top athletes commonly share one quality: resilience.

“I had days when even the technique that I knew by heart was letting me down. I was overthinking everything, scratching every single throw,” she said. “Thankfully, it only took one throw to turn it around and it only takes one throw to win an event.” Read More

June 15, 2021

Before Brenna Kelly was ever team captain, MVP or Panther Award winner, before she was an athlete of the week, or a state champion, before she helped build Mounds Park Academy girl’s tennis into a dynasty, she was just a middle schooler with a do what’s best for the team mentality. That brought her a long way.

In Kelly’s six years on girls varsity tennis, the Panthers made five trips to the state tournament, winning twice. Kelly, called by former head girl’s tennis coach Justen Seim ‘one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached’, played a critical role in that success. “Her intelligence level was just off the charts when it comes to playing tennis,” he added. “She’s able to dissect and break down people pretty well.” Read More

June 15, 2021

Mounds Park Academy won its first state team championship in any sport in school history thanks in large part to Bryan Kelly.

In the 2005 Class A state tennis tournament, Kelly faced an opponent from The Blake school with the state championship tied at 3-3 in the best of seven contest. What followed was a three and half hour long battle that ultimately resulted in a 4-3 Mounds Park Academy victory. “It was one of the most fun atmospheres I’ve ever had an opportunity to be a part of and I’ll never forget the feeling of helping my team accomplish our ultimate goal,” says Kelly. Read More

June 15, 2021

Caitlin Coomes ‘01 starred in both soccer and track and field at Mounds Park Academy. Her experience playing at MPA nurtured her love of athletics in general, which stayed with her through her entire playing career. Much of that love she credits to one source. “The quality of the coaching at MPA was excellent,” Coomes said.

In soccer, Coomes was a three time Tri Metro all-conference selection and earned all-state honors in 2001. On the track, she qualified for the 2000 MSHSL state meet in 100m hurdles and holds the school record in that event. She won the 2001 Athena Award, which honors female high school seniors for their athletic achievements. Read More

June 15, 2021

An MPA lifer, Chad Hanson grew up watching a variety of Panthers’ sports. As he got older, Hanson had the opportunity to try out a number of those different including cross country running, basketball, golf and football. But baseball was his true love, and by the time he entered Upper School, he was playing virtually year round.

For the Panthers, Hanson played many positions, and as a 6’4 athletic infielder, he found success on the pitcher’s mound and at short stop. He earned Tri Metro all-conference honors twice, All-state honorable mention twice, and played on the Metro East all-star team in the Minnesota Lions All Star Baseball Tournament as a senior. Read More

June 15, 2021

Cooper Olson is among the most talented and accomplished basketball players in Mounds Park Academy history, yet ask his teammates, coaches, classmates or teachers, and they’re more likely to bring up who he is off the court than his achievements on it.

Since graduating, Olson continues to give back, maintaining a strong presence at MPA basketball functions, including volunteering his time to assist with the team’s summer workouts and helping to organize MPA’s youth basketball camp. Read More

June 15, 2021

The youngest of three Dahlberg siblings, Declan Dahlberg watched his older brother and sister grow up as three sport athletes at MPA. When he got his turn in blue and white, he made the most of it. A cross country running, Nordic skiing and track and field athlete, Dahlberg’s name dots the record books in each sport.

In cross country running, Dahlberg earned IMAC all-conference in each of his four years, all-state in three of those years, and was involved in the two closest finishes in MSHSL cross country history. As a junior, Dahlberg narrowly edged out Matt Steiger of La Crescent by two tenths of a second to win the state championship, and as a senior, he finished second to Steiger by less than one one-hundredth of a second, despite running his personal best and the second fastest 5K in MPA history, 15:44.8. He was named team MVP as a sophomore, junior and senior and goes down as one of MPA’s most accomplished cross country runners of all-time. Read More

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

June 15, 2021

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.

In the subsequent two years, Saul earned Tri Metro all-conference honors as both a junior and senior, and finished with a personal best 17:43 5K, now 20th best all-time at MPA. Like many cross country runners, Saul also participated in Nordic skiing and track and field. On the track, Saul made the top ten list in both the 4x1600m relay and 3200m run. Read More

June 15, 2021

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.

She was also, of course, a tremendously successful athlete. The 2012 Metro United athlete of the year, she qualified for the 2012 MSHSL state swim meet in the 200m individual medley. Because Metro United is a larger co-op, they competed at the AA level, making Stacy’s accomplishment even more impressive. Stacy also competed on the speech team for MPA, medaling at the state speech tournament three times. She was also inducted into MPA’s chapter of the National Honor Society. Read More