Athletics Archives

November 7, 2017

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Natalie Waters Seum
Director of Communications and Marketing
nwatersseum@moundsparkacademy.org
651-485-1597 (cellular)

MOUNDS PARK ACADEMY’S DECLAN DAHLBERG CHOOSES UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TRACK AND FIELD AND CROSS COUNTRY

Signing Wednesday, November 8 at 8:25 AM

November 7, 2017 – Mounds Park Academy is proud to announce that senior Declan Dahlberg will sign with the University of Minnesota’s Track and Field and Cross Country Teams. An exceptional student athlete, Declan was accepted to the University’s School of Science and Engineering.

Members of the media are invited to join us on Mounds Park Academy’s campus Wednesday, November 8 for his signing, which will begin promptly at 8:25 AM. Enter the Lansing Center through door seven, which is located on the north end of campus, furthest from Larpenteur Avenue. Prior notice of plans to attend would be greatly appreciated via email at nwatersseum@moundsparkacademy.org,

ABOUT DECLAN

Two-time state champion (1600m in Track and Cross Country as a junior). He also finished second twice (3200m in Track as a junior and Cross Country as a senior).
Seven-time state qualifier and seven-time All State Honoree between Track and Cross Country.• Part of both of the two closest finishes in Cross Country State Meet history.
Follows in the footsteps of MPA alumnus Evan Ferlic ’15 who currently runs Cross Country and Track for the Gophers.
Writes the weekly Run, Write, Repeat blog for running website MileSplit MN.
Academic All State Recipient, 3.98 Cumulative GPA, honor roll every semester of high school. Declan was one of 14 members of the MPA Class of 2018 to be inducted into the National Honor Society on October 12, 2017. His selection was due to his exemplary commitment to service, leadership, character, and academics, tenants of NHS and Mounds Park Academy.
Volunteers in in emergency room at St. John’s Hospital and does melanoma research with Professor Timothy Lyden at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls specifically related to the 3D modeling of melanoma tumors. He is interested in pursuing medical school after college.
Highly skilled percussionist, pianist, violinist, and choral member, exemplifying the balance between academics, arts, and athletics that students find at Mounds Park Academy.

About Mounds Park Academy
2051 Larpenteur Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55109
Founded in 1982, Mounds Park Academy is a private, PreK-12 college preparatory school serving nearly 500 students from throughout the Twin Cities. The MPA environment is designed to allow each student to discover who they are truly meant to be through rigorous offerings in academics, arts, and athletics. For more information, visit www.moundsparkacademy.org. For more information about Athletics at MPA, visit www.moundsparkacademy.org/athletics.

State Meet

November 4, 2017

The state cross country meet provided a little drama, with Declan once again involved in the closest finish in meet history.

Margo was first on the line for us. She was under strict orders to have fun. Despite a very fast first mile (only a few seconds slower than what she did in Phy Ed a few weeks ago!), she ran one of her best times of the season to finish 46th. Afterwards, the winner of the race took a few minutes to talk with her about her race!

Declan led our boys team during their race. In a near replay of last year, Declan and Matt Steiger sprinted down the final straight side by side. But this year, Steiger outleaned Declan by less than a tenth of a second. Once again, the closest finish in state cross country history. Those two sure know how to put on a show!

Tanner led a pack of panthers across the line, running his second best race ever. Matt was close behind, running his second best time of the season. Henry S. and Isak were only seconds behind to complete the scoring for the boys.

Henry P. and Sumner finished up their races to wrap up the race for the boys. Henry’s time, while not his best of the season, was still a minute faster than his best of last year. Sumner may still be wondering how he wound up running in the state cross country meet. But the answer is simple: he ran a lot of miles last summer.

The state meet is a challenging affair. The course, despite lacking big hills like Battle Creek, is deceptively challenging, and has a way of sucking the life out of your legs. The race starts fast and you’re always running in a crowd. And most of you were tapering for our section race and were probably a little past your peak.

Despite those challenges, you all ran reasonably well. I hope you enjoyed this opportunity. We bid farewell to Declan and Sumner. But the rest of you might just be back here next year.

Results for girls and boys are available at Wayzata Results. There are articles at the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press (with many nice photos of MPA runners), and Down the Backstretch. There is a post-race interview with Declan on Milesplit.

Evan Ferlic ’15 Receives Big Ten Sportsmanship Award

November 3, 2017

Congratulations to Evan Ferlic ’15 for receiving the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for the University of Minnesota Men’s Cross Country Team!

The Big Ten Conference honors athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. Athletes must be in good academic standing and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

As a Panther, Ferlic helped lead MPA to a second place finish at the 2013 MSHSL State Cross Country Meet and anchored the 2015 Class A State Champion 4x800m relay team in Track and Field.

Congratulations, Evan!

Cross Country Qualifies for State

November 2, 2017

The Boys Cross Country team finished second at the Section 4A Championship Meet to qualify for the State Cross Country Meet. Team members are Matthew Bourne, Tanner Kozen, Isak Nightingale, Henry Peterson, Henry Snider, Sumner Wu and defending Class A State Champion Declan Dahlberg. Seventh grader, Margo, finished fourth in the Section 4A Girls Race and also qualified for the State Meet! The MSHSL State Championship is on Saturday, November 4 at St. Olaf College. Margo runs in the Class A Girls Race at 1 PM and the Boys Team runs in the Class A Boys Race at 2 PM. Go Panthers!

Section 4A

October 26, 2017

Declan is returning to state. And he’s bringing some friends!

First up on this blustery day was our girls varsity. Margo ran very well to finish in 4th place, qualifying individually for the state championship! Izzy ran her best time on this section course to finish 19th. Emily, in just her third varsity race, earned a personal best by over a minute. Katie wasn’t far behind. Sarah ran her best time on this section course. Skylar and Ana wrapped things up for the girls. With their efforts, the girls team finished 6th, their best finish in many years!

Next up was our boys varsity. Declan had some company early, but turned on the jets the second half of the race to build a significant lead, winning by over 20 seconds. Tanner ran his personal best to finish 14th. Henry S. was close behind, tying his personal best (run on a much flatter course). Matt ran his best race of a frustrating year to finish 22nd. Isak was just a few seconds behind as the all important 5th runner. Henry P. ran not far off his personal best, as did Sumner. For their efforts, the boys team finished 2nd, qualifying for the state championship!

Our JV runners finished things up for us. Peter ran just seconds off his personal best. Evan ran well. Dylan ran his best race of the season. Aneesh ran his best race of the year. Henry ran his personal best in just his second 5000 meter race. Louis was just seconds behind in his first 5000 meter race.

Emily W. ran her personal best by about 30 seconds, despite having to run around a stray dog (bad owner!). Izzy G. ran her personal best time. And Mari eclipsed her personal best by just a second.

I am so proud of your efforts today. This was a tough day to run, with temperatures dropping into the mid-40s by the end of the JV race, and strong winds to suck the warmth right out of you. But you stayed focused and ran very well.

Margo ran a splendid race to become our first girl to qualify for state since Kristen Bourne in 2008. Our boys team executed their race plan to perfection, being patient early, while everyone else went out fast. You earned this trip to state as a team. Congratulations!

Complete results for the girls varsity and the boys varsity are available from Gopher State Events.

Doubles Tennis Off to State

October 26, 2017

Congratulations to Rachel Lindrud/Sofia Walker and Annika Ide/Gabby Law who represented MPA deep into the Section Finals in Doubles Tennis. Rachel and Sofia took second in the Section and will advanced to the State Tournament and Annika/Gabby took fourth place. The competition was strong and all four players left it all out on the court. This is the first time since 2011 that MPA has had a team in the State Tournament. Go Panthers!

Update: Sofia Walker and Rachel Lindrud had a strong showing at the State Tennis meet at Reed Sweatt Family Tennis Center on Thursday. In their first match vs Minnewaska the Panthers won 7-5, 6-0. As they advanced in the state doubles tourney they played a very strong Litchfield team that went to three sets. In the end, the Panthers lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Please congratulate Rachel and Sofia on great season!

All State Second Team

October 26, 2017

Senior Captain Nicholas Guiang was named to the Minnesota High School Soccer Coaches Association All State Second Team at the MSHSSCA All State Banquet on Sunday at the River Centre in St. Paul! A four-year varsity starter, Guiang tallied nine goals and seven assists this season, both tops on the team. He led the Panthers to the Section 4A Quarterfinals. He is the second member of his family to be named to the All State Second Team—his older brother Eric ’14 earned All State Second Team in 2013. Read more about this family in MPA Now, arriving in homes in early November.

IMAC Championship

October 12, 2017

On a splendid day, you had many splendid performances, including three 1st place finishes and a 2nd place finish, and 5 all conference awards and 2 honorable mention awards.

Our middle school runners started things off with Evan winning the boys race and Emily B. taking the girls race. Louis finished 6th and Ben finished 7th in the boys race, followed closely by Henry G. in 10th place. Soren and Noah wrapped things up for the middle school runners.

Declan led our boys team, and everyone else, winning by over a minute! Tanner finished in 6th place, with Henry S. in 8th place, Isak in 9th place, and Henry P. in 12th place. Isak and Henry P. earned personal best times for their efforts. Matt had a rough outing, not fully recovered from his various ailments. Sumner ran close to his personal best time. Peter ran a personal best by over a minute! Dylan, Aneesh, Travis, and Pranay ran well. Alejandro ran his first full 5,000 meter race, and ran well.

Our boys team narrowly missed the team championship, falling short by 2 points. They ran very well, but Minnehaha ran just a little better.

Margo led our girls team. She shadowed the leaders for much of the race and made a big move during the last 600 meters to take 2nd place. All this in a uniform she stitched to better fit her! Izzy ran well to finish 12th, earning honorable mention honors. Katie ran close to her best on this course. Sarah and Skylar did run their best times on the course. Emily W. was close to her best time. Izzy G. ran well in her debut at Battle Creek. Mari improved her best time by 40 seconds.

You accomplished some big things today. And while the boys team fell 2 points short of a title, they ran very well. With more hard work and a solid taper before our section meet, perhaps you can improve on today’s amazing races.

Results for the middle school boys, middle school girls, varsity boys, junior varsity boys, varsity girls, and junior varsity girls are available at Gopher State Events.

Trinity Invite

October 3, 2017

On a splendid day for running, you earned 11 personal best times and 5 medals!

Margo led our girls, finishing in 4th place, earning a new personal best, and moving up to 2nd place on our all-time best girls list. Izzy Q. finished in 11th place, also running her personal best, and moving up to 6th best all time. Katie ran within a few seconds of her best ever time. Emily B. ran just her second 5000 meter cross country race, and cut about 3 minutes from her best time. Sarah finished as our 5th runner, earning a personal best. Skylar was only seconds behind, and close to her best time.

Emily W. sprinted to the finish with a new personal best, just seconds ahead of Ana, running her best race of the season. Izzy G. ran her best ever time by over a minute. Grace sprinted past a couple of other runners. And Mari ran her personal best by almost 2 minutes.

The girls’ efforts resulted in a 4th place finish out of 19 teams!

Declan led our boys, winning in a new personal best time. The plan was to run even paced, but plans don’t always fare well against reality. His competition went out fast, so he went out fast, in 4:47. His next mile was much slower, but he sped up for the last mile.

Tanner ran his best time of the season, not far from his best ever. Matt ran his best race of the season, thanks to regular iron cocktails to restore his iron levels. He gave us that Bourne grimace as he sprinted to the finish. Isak was only a few seconds back, running close to his best time, in just his first 5000 meter race of the season. Henry P. was right behind Isak, running a personal best time by over a minute. He ran so fast that his coach didn’t see him finish! Sumner sprinted to another personal best time, but only by 40 seconds this time.

Peter broke 20 minutes, running his best ever race. He outkicked Evan P., running his first full 5000 meter race. Dylan ran his best race of the season. Aneesh, wearing the wrong number, ran well. At least I think it was Aneesh! Ben ran his debut 5000 meter race and ran quite well. Travis ran his best race of the season. Pranay and Soren wrapped things up for the boys.

For their efforts, the boys also finished 4th out of 19 teams.

Your outstanding efforts should serve you well as we move to the IMAC championship next week, where all conference honors and more will be at stake.

Complete results are available at Milesplit.

Homecoming Coverage and Photos

September 28, 2017

Homecoming was spectacular! Thank you to everyone who attended the festivities. Find professional photo from Saturday on campus here and photo booth moments here!

Senior Rachel Lindrud of “Freethinker,” MPA’s new student-run news source, covered the excitement of Homecoming Week …

Homecoming: A Time for Pride, Competition, and Dancing
by Rachel Lindrud

On Friday, September 22 through Saturday, September 23, Mounds Park Academy came together as an entire community for its annual and spirited Homecoming events. In the days leading up to the games and festivities, parents decorated the hallways and coordinated multiple events, while over the weekend, kids from all grades streamed to the fields and courts to cheer on their classmates, siblings, and mentors. MPA’s “Panther Pride,” an appellation referring to the school’s panther mascot, was uniquely demonstrated throughout the week in the forms of volunteer work, athletic skill, and blue and white pompoms. This event models not only MPA and its athletic accomplishments, but also its proactive parent, student, and teacher volunteerism and its dynamic community-building spirit.

On Friday, the day before the sporting events, MPA held its annual Homecoming Assembly, at which students and faculty of all grade levels came together to wish the athletes a final good luck and also take part in various competitive community-building events. Sylvia H. ’24, supported her sisters and enjoyed watching her friends and teachers compete with one another: “I supported Soccer and Volleyball because my sisters are on those teams. My favorite part of the assembly was watching the sports teams and teachers do relays.”