Head coach Barb Folsom told the Chanhassen swimming team she wanted to go for all three relays to state. The girls weren't so sure.
When Chaska threw the ball on second-and-1 from its own 17-yard line in the Class 5A State Quarterfinals, it caught everybody by surprise. Especially the Mahtomedi Zephyrs.
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A collection of National Letters of Intent ceremony photos from Chaska, Chanhassen and Minnetonka high schools.
Chaska had won just 15 times over a 55-game stretch between 2006 and 2011. Lambert Brown came into the football program and did what he had done previously at Fridley.
With thirteen players back from a third-place finish in Class AA State last March, Minnetonka girls hockey got off to a good start in the season opener Nov. 9.
Scott Jackson thought about all the past teams that came so close. The past players that came up one match short in 2009 and 2010. He wished they could have experienced what he and the Wayzata team felt Nov. 9.
Throw out a loss to Robbinsdale Armstrong in week four and the Chaska Football team entered the Class 5A State Tournament with a common theme in nine wins. They were physical. They beat up the opposition, won the line of scrimmage.
Kailey Pederson was six hundredths of a second from a finals appearance in the Chaska freshman's state meet debut in 2018.
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Mahtomedi won just two games in the regular season. So, how are the Zephyrs playing in the Class 5A State Football Tournament?
All cross country season, it was Nick Scheller and Oliver Paleen. The Class AA State Meet winner likely going to come from one of the two.
What advanced the No. 8 seed Chaska through the Section 2AAA volleyball playoff bracket was strong passing, strong hitting and a belief that was unmatched.
Meghan Pierson was coming off her fastest 5,000-meter time, 18 minutes, 37 seconds, an all-state time in the 2018 Class AA Cross Country Meet.
Mankato West came into the Section 2-5A Championship averaging 39 points scored per game. Chaska averaged less than nine points allowed defensively per game.
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Mankato West posted a pair of sub-.500 seasons in 2004 and 2005, a realignment in Section 2AAAA bringing in a Hutchinson program that had made 11 consecutive trips to the state tournament.
Twice this season Southwest Christian won two games over Belle Plaine. Once in a 3-2 loss on Sept. 12, another time Sept. 21 in a 2-0 win in the Class AA Showcase.
Makayla Wenzel was just about to start her first year at Chaska High School when she stepped onto the volleyball court on Aug. 27, 2011. The freshman found herself starting at setter.
Eden Prairie's strategy was serve aggressively. Chaska felt like if it passed well, the balanced attack at the net would be enough.
Southwest Christian won the first two games over Belle Plaine Sept. 12. The next three games the Tigers prevailed by a total of seven points.
A group of Chaska football players formed a circle on the sidelines, the spoken message was simple. New team, new attitude, change history.
Chanhassen outplayed Minnetonka in game one. Karl Katzenberger, head coach of the Skippers, knew he needed something to get his team over the hump in the Section 2AAA quarterfinals Oct. 25.
Chaska wasn't at full strength against Shakopee Aug. 24 or Sept. 20. They also weren't playing like they are right now.
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Chaska scored 44 points in the regular season meeting with Waconia in 2017. They scored 10 in the Section 2-5A semifinals, turning the ball over four times, one resulting in seven points.
Thirteen different Southwest Christian players hit the court in a 25-8, 25-6, 25-7 win over Richfield in the first round of the Section 2AA playoffs on Oct. 24 in Chaska.
Ben Scheller knew Chanhassen would be right there in the hunt for a team qualification to state. If not, he knew what he needed to do to get there individually.
In a field dominated by ranked Nova Classical Academy and Minnehaha Academy, boys runners from Holy Family Catholic and Southwest Christian were competing for placings and season-best times Oct. 24 at Highland Executive Golf Course in St. Paul.
Kate Hamburg's senior season has been a trying one. She started the year sidelined with a concussion. Her attempts and kills are down from 2018.
Lindsay Smutka and Brooke Freeman finished one-two in the 50-yard freestyle. Smutka claimed the butterfly race victory, while Freeman got to swim in the breaststroke event, helping Chaska finish with a top-three sweep.
A 17-point lead early in the second quarter, Chanhassen found its grip on the Section 2-5A quarterfinal game loosening in the second half.
Olivia Breyer made the pass. Hannah Polk set it up. Chaska was Metro West Conference volleyball champions for the first time since 2015 in a three-game sweep of Bloomington Kennedy Oct. 14.
Listen to this week's episode of Sports 4 Dummies with sports editors Dan Huss, Tom Schardin, Eric Kraushar and Todd Abeln:
Chaska rushed for 239 yards, passed for another 113 yards. Meanwhile, St. Thomas Academy counted three first downs, 75 yards total on offense.
A win likely giving Chanhassen the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Section 2-5A playoffs, a home game with two-win Bloomington Jefferson.
Ethan Leonard became a two-time Metro West all-conference runner, leading Chaska on the Hyland Greens Golf Course on Oct. 15 in seventh place in 17 minutes, 22 seconds.
Southwest Christian beat Sibley East in three games (25-12, 25-16, 25-13) in Chaska Oct. 15. Then all attention was sent on what was happening in Mayer.
Four runners in the top 18, Holy Family Catholic moved up in the Wright County Conference Championships from years past, a third-place boys finish Oct. 15 at Baker National Golf Course.
Chaska clinched the Metro West Conference volleyball title outright, a match that lasted less than 50 minutes, in a 3-0 win over Bloomington Kennedy.
The second meeting in two weeks, Holy Family Catholic and Orono boys soccer played the first 40 minutes going back and forth down the field, each having an understanding of how to defend.
Teammate versus teammate, one spot left into the state tournament, best friends before, best friends after for junior Ally Agerland and senior Cecily Cronin of Holy Family Catholic.
Brooke Freeman knows the season is about the long game. The gains are coming. It's about keeping spirits up. It's about keeping going as the post-season swims get near.
Madeleine Lemkuil's first day of practice as a freshman, she introduced herself and the position she'd like to play.
Just days away from seeding the wide open Section 2AAA Tournament, Minnetonka made a statement at the 31-team St. Michael-Albertville Midwest Fall Classic.
Friday night under the lights has great meaning for Seth Thompson. It's where a wide-eyed sophomore built toughness, making him elite his final two seasons on the gridiron.
Lexi Bauman and Noelle Slezak concluded their Chaska tennis careers paired together, reaching the third round of the Section 2AA Tournament Oct. 12 in St. Peter.
Battle-tested Waconia is not the fourth-best team in Section 2A girls soccer and they showed that in a 4-0 quarterfinal victory over 15-win Southwest Christian Oct. 12.
Chaska clinched the Suburban White District football title for the second time in three years in a 20-0 road win at Waconia Oct. 11.
