Athletics Archives

December 7, 2017

by Renee Wright, Lower School Director

Lower School students participated in Sports Week the week of November 27. This Lower School tradition is a joyful way to promote physical activity, and as I watched the students immersed in sports activities, I reflected on my own childhood and realize how much I had missed in being a student prior to the enactment and implementation of Title IX. I did not have the opportunity to try out different sports or compete on a sports team. How joyful to watch our students—girls and boys alike—celebrating sports and cheering on each other.

Throughout the week students had the opportunity to tell their sports story and were reminded of the importance of being physically active. On sports dress-up day, students came dressed as soccer players, skiers, dancers, football players, skaters, and more. I was so impressed with the pride Lower School students showed when sharing their sport or talking about the physical activities they participate in individually, on a team, or with their families. When asked why sports are important to them, kindergarteners shared, “Because it is fun to play sports with friends, being active gives you more energy, and playing sports makes your body healthier.”

The kindergarteners were right in identifying the importance (not to mention the fun) of staying physically active. Research shows that sports participation is a significant predictor of a young adult’s participation in physical fitness activities. Three in four adults aged 30+ who play sports today played sports as school-aged children. Only three percent of adults who play sports did not play when they were young (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard University/NPR, 2015). Read More

MPA Sails Through The Great Oaks Regatta

November 30, 2017

MPA juniors Karan Jain, Toby Sullivan, and Jose Varela came in second in the Great Oaks National Invitational Regatta in New Orleans!

The Great Oaks Regatta is a national championship for schools with small sailing teams. Teams need to qualify in a regional regatta in order to be invited to compete in New Orleans. This is the MPA team’s third consecutive year of qualifying and participating and it was their best result yet. Go Panthers!

Lower School Kid Of The Game

November 30, 2017

MPA students in grades PreK-4 are invited to be a Lower School Kid of the Game at an MPA Boys Varsity Basketball home game!

The Kid of the Game will first be introduced before the game, then join the Panthers and coaches on the court for pregame warm ups, and receive an MPA basketball gift and concession stand item. Being a Lower School Kid of Game is free and siblings are welcome to be Lower School Kid of Game on the same night.

Jacob Schwartz ’09 Named Head Varsity Boys Basketball Coach

November 16, 2017

Mounds Park Academy Boys Basketball is thrilled to announce Jacob Schwartz ’09 as head varsity coach! He is taking over for Dan Haase, who moved into the role of Athletic Director after 16 years coaching basketball at MPA. Previously, Jacob coached MPA’s Junior Varsity team while also acting as an assistant coach on the Varsity bench.

“I’m most excited about working with the kids in our program,” said Jacob. “I’ve built some great relationships with them over the years and to see their progression has been terrific. I’m excited to help them achieve both team and individual success as we strive to take MPA basketball to the next level.”

Declan Dahlberg Signs With U of M

November 8, 2017

Mounds Park Academy is proud to announce that senior Declan Dahlberg signed with the University of Minnesota’s Track and Field and Cross Country Teams. An exceptional student athlete, Declan was accepted to the University’s College of Science and Engineering.

“I’m extremely excited to start this new chapter of my academic and athletic career next fall, and I’m honored to do it at the University of Minnesota. In the end, the combination of my interactions with Coach Plascencia, the boys on the team, and the school in general made this an easy choice. I’m extremely grateful to my high school coaches, Dan Ethier, Jerry Slater, and Bev Docherty, my parents, and my teammates and friends for helping me get to this point. I could not have achieved any of this without all of their support,” said Declan.

Declan is a 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). He is a seven-time state qualifier and seven-time All State Honoree between Track and Cross Country. Remarkably, he was part of both of the two closest finishes in Cross Country State Meet history.

Outside of athletics, Declan is an exceptional student and volunteer. He is an academic All State Recipient with a 3.98 Cumulative GPA, making 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. He writes the weekly Run, Write, Repeat Blog for running website MileSplit MN.

Interested in pursuing medical school after college, Declan volunteers in the 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 a highly skilled percussionist, pianist, violinist, and choral member, exemplifying the balance between academics, arts, and athletics that students find at Mounds Park Academy.

Click here to see more photos!

Press Release: Declan Dahlberg Signing

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.