June 15, 2021
At MPA, the last name Bourne at MPA is synonymous with cross country running, track and field, and Nordic skiing. Kristin and Kim Bourne dominated the competition in those sports from 2007-2013, and younger brother Matt continued the family tradition before graduating in 2019.
Matt Bourne competed in cross country running, earning all-conference and qualifying for the state meet three times. He helped lead the Panthers to a runner up finish at the 2017 section 4A championships. They went on to finish 12th at the state meet. Bourne’s personal best over 5K of 16:35 is fifth all-time in school history. Read More
In an era where three sport athletes are increasingly rare, Morgan Emmans proved to be the exception to the rule. Emmans earned 12 varsity letters in volleyball, basketball and softball, playing just about everything for the Panthers.
Sometime before her junior golf season, Natalie Lansing realized she had big shoes to fill. Her older sister, Olivia, had graduated two years earlier after dominating the class A girl’s golf scene and was playing collegiately for Drake University. Filling those shoes meant Lansing had to make good on some lofty goals of her own. MPA had never won a section team championship in girl’s golf and she was out to change that.
Tri-Metro Conference champions, section 4A champions, state qualifiers – MPA’s 2010 boys soccer team will go down as one of the Panthers’ all-time great teams and midfielder Nick Campanelli ’11 was the glue that held them together.
Few athletes earn all-state honors in even one sport. But Nick Gardner ’14, among MPA’s most accomplished endurance athletes, was all-state in three sports, excelling in cross country running, Nordic skiing and track and field.
Olivia (Lansing) Herrick ’06 credits her successful prep, collegiate and women’s amateur golf career to an unlikely source: not playing golf all the time. “I didn’t play too much golf growing up,” Herrick told a US Golf Association reporter. “My interests were diversified – I also played varsity soccer and basketball. Once I went to college and golf was the only thing I was working on, I kept improving because I still had this hunger for it. I wasn’t burned out at 18 years old.”
In a program with storied history like MPA boys tennis, tremendous players and big names have come and gone. Parker Law ’19 might just be biggest of all of them.
Ross Kigner, like many in the MPA class of 2008, lived and breathed sports. As a Panther, Kigner played football and basketball. And, like many other MPA students, he also represented the school in a variety of ways beyond athletics, as an award winning debater.
Sisley Ng shined as the Panthers’ goalkeeper, playing on the girls varsity soccer team starting in seventh grade and subsequently earning five varsity letters. Her MPA soccer experience prepared her for playing at the next level because she was able to play multiple positions on the field. “Those experiences helped me understand the game and the positions a lot more,” she said.
When Stephanie Aanenson ’11 looks back on her time at Mounds Park Academy, she is always drawn to her experience on the golf team. “Athletics were the highlight of my thirteen year career at MPA. When I think back to my years at MPA, the girl’s golf team is where my mind goes first.”