Sports from the week of November 1, 2006

Ryan Tholen qualifies for state meet

Ryan Tholen is returning to the state cross country meet.

The Tracy sophomore qualified for state by finishing eighth in the Section 3A meet at Adrian Thursday. Tholen ran at state last year as a freshman.

“The boys’ race was very fast, the top runners pushed hard especially at the beginning,” said Coach Marie Hanson. “Ryan likes to start a little easier and work his way up, but that was difficult to do with the competition.”

As a team, the Panther boys were ninth, and the girls were 13th.

Boys’ team scores were: 1) Adrian, 37; 2) Redwood Valley, 73; 3) RCW, 115; 4) HBC/E, 117; 5)MCC, 127; 6)Martin County West, 179; 7) JCC, 180; 8) Springfield/CM, 187; 9)TMB, 240; 10)Luverne, 270; 11) WWG/RRC, 281; 12)BOLD, 288; 13) Windom, 330; 14)MLBO, 413.

Tholen ran the 5,000 meter course in 17:27. He was followed by Alex Jones, 24, 18:29; Derek Evans, 56, 19:51; Sam VanNevel, 72, 21:03; Joe Hook, 80, 21:44; Chad Cooreman, 86, 22:25.

“Alex also ran a great race,” said Hanson. “He had a great start to his race but struggled during the second mile and was unable to fully recover his position.”

Girls’ team scores were: 1) Adrian, 24; 2) MLBO, 79; 3) Luverne, 84; 4) Windom, 113; 5) Redwood Valley, 166; 6) MCC, 177; 7) JCC, 203; 8) HBC/E, 242; 9)Springfield/CM, 249; 10)RCW, 294; 11) MCW, 297; 12)BOLD, 328; 13)TMB, 331; 14) Lakeview, 383.

Karli Tholen led the Panthers with a time of 17:19 and a 40th place finish. She was followed by Ayla Snyder, 66, 18:16; Jen Vroman, 73, 18:45; Jessica Mason, 75, 18:56; Haley Hebig, 77, 19:07; Rachel Stobb, 85, 19:30; Celia Brockway, 88, 19:41.

“Karli battled some leg pain throughout the race, but managed a fine performance nonetheless,” Hanson said. The coach felt that seniors Jessica Mason and Celia Brockway ran one of their best races of the season.

The state cross country meet is scheduled Saturday on the St. Olaf campus in Northfield.

GFW eliminates TMB

Top-seeded Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop eliminated the Panther volleyball team 3-0 Friday. Game scores were 10-25, 22-25 and 23-25.

The Panthers have competed against GFW during the season and during the Junior Olympic spring season and have great respect for the athletic ability of its players. Tracy/Milroy/Balaton was badly out-played in the first game, but were competitive in the last two games.

“We made them earn it in the second and third games,” said Panther Coach Cyndi Raymond. “We played hard.”

The Panthers ended their season with 9-17-2 season record.

Jackie Haecherl and Shelbie Jones led the team in serving as they were both 10 of 10 with 2 aces, Lindsay Daniels was 8 of 8, Molly Miller 11 of 11, Michele Lanoue 9 of 10 with 1 ace and Mallory Fultz was 7 of 8. Fultz led with 10 kills while Lanoue had 8 and Miller 6. Daniels had 20 set assists, Haecherl had 6 blocks and she and Fultz had 9 digs each.

Kruse is head girls' BB coach

Ryan Kruse has been named as the new head coach of the Panther girls’ basketball team. Kruse is a first year teacher in the Tracy Area school system teaching mathematics. He had his first experience coaching this fall as an assistant coach on the Panther football team. He is a native of Lennox, South Dakota where he played basketball and football graduating in 2000.

Kruse matriculated to Dakota State University where he finished a Math Education Degree and earned a minor in coaching. He played football for the Trojans as a quarterback and as a wide receiver.

“My coaching philosophy is to emphasize teamwork and to play good defense,” said Kruse. “Everyone on a team is equally important no matter how much playing time they get or how many points they score. Playing defense is what wins games. It is important to make the opponents work hard for every shot. That will keep us in the game.”

The Panther girls’ basketball team will begin practices on Nov. 13.

38 begin danceline practice

Interest in dance line is on the upswing at Tracy Area High School.

Thirty-eight girls have reported to season-opening practices. Lynn Carlson is the head coach. The students are:

Morgan Babcock, Kathryn Baskerville, Arlin Bautista, Alexia Beierman, Jazmin Birman, Alana Birt, Shauna Bjorklund, Ann Byrne, Kayla Daniels,

Paige Hansen, Ashley Hedges, Brandi Jacob, Rachel Jorde, Jasmyn King, Ashley Knott, Jessica Lamb, Kayla Lanners, Kayla Lanoue, Victoria Lau, Bernadette Lavoie, Katlin LeClaire, Kylie Meyer, Samantha Meyer,

Carley Miller, Zer Moua, Jessica Peterson, Nicole Pool, Monica Przybilla, Mackenzie Radel, Allison Rasmussen, Elizabeth Rayman,

Maria Schmidt, Megan Van Essen, Kassidy Van Gelderan, Dayna Vosberg, Cheri Willard, Mai Ka Yang and Kayla McCaffery.