June 19, 2019
MPA Track and Field went toe to toe with the best competition in Section 4A and emerged with a record number of runners advancing to the state meet!
On the girls side, highlights include eighth grader Zoe M. winning her prelim heat in the 100m, advancing through her semifinals heat, and qualifying for finals, placing fourth with a season best time of 13.17. In the 400m, 8th grader Greta M. (Gentry) advanced to finals and placed fifth, running a near season best of 1:02.81. In the 800m, senior Sofia Walker’s dream of qualifying for the state meet came to fruition, as she won the 800m in 2:26.43, just off her personal best. Sophomore Izzy Quam ran near her season best to make finals in the 800m and finished seventh in 2:34.94. In the 1600m, Sophomore Katie Dahiya earned a medal with her sixth-place finish, running her second-best time of the season in 5:49.26. She added another medal in the 3200m, running 12:26.80 and finishing fifth with a personal best by nearly 30 seconds! She is now fifth all time in MPA history in the 3200m. In the 100m hurdles, 8th grader Emily B. qualified for the finals running a personal best time of 18.56 in the prelims (now eighth best all time at MPA) and took eighth in the finals.
In the 4x100m, the team of eighth grader Zoe M., ninth grader Ella Fruchterman, junior Catherine Moore and senior Ellie Quam made the finals and placed seventh, running 53.34. They are now sixth all time at MPA. In the 4x200m, the team of eighth graders Zoe M. and Greta M., ninth grader Ella Fruchterman, and junior Catherine Moore. ran 1:52.22 to earn medals with their fifth-place finish. Their time is now eighth all time at MPA. In the girls 4x800m, the team of seniors Sofia Walker and Gabby Law, tenth grader Izzy Quam and 8th grader Margo N. ran a heroic race to finish second and qualify for state! Their time of 10:05.06 is the second fastest ever at MPA and the fastest in 21 years. Read More
MPA senior Parker Law entered the 2019 Class A Singles State Tennis Tournament as the #1 seed. Parker’s path to the State Championship included four matches, in which he defeated Worthington High School’s Blaine Doeden in the opening round of 16, St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s Kai Sih, the #4 ranked player from the Breck School Ishan Nadkarni in the final four, and the #2 ranked player from Redwood Valley Rikard Wilkens in the Championship match. After these crucial wins, Parker finished as the 2019 MSHSL State Class A Singles Champion!
The Mounds Park Academy Panthers defeated the St. Paul Academy Spartans 4-3 in the Class A State Tennis Tournament at the Reed-Sweatt Indoor tennis facility in Minneapolis Wednesday. MPA secured wins in first singles, second singles, first doubles, and the deciding win came in a three hour and 30+ minute marathon match in fourth singles. Vlad Vutov (Nova Classical Academy) secured a Panther victory with a 6-4 third set win. This was MPA’s second State Boys Tennis Championship—the last time was in 2006. Congratulations, Panthers!
Congratulations to MPA’s Sailing Team for placing third in the 2019 State Co-Ed Championships and to senior Toby Sullivan and eighth grader Henry S. for placing first in the Boys State Championships! Both regattas were held last weekend at the Minneapolis Sailing Center under challenging conditions.
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.
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!