2024 fall sports roundup: Part two

Part two of the fall sports roundup includes information about adapted soccer, girls swim and dive, and a football update. Here’s how teams from Osseo Area Schools fared at these competitions:

Adapted soccer

The 2024 adapted soccer state tournament took place Nov. 15 and 16. The Park Center Pirates’ cognitively impaired (CI) team, which includes team members from all district high schools, faced off against South Washington County in the quarterfinals Nov. 15. They won their quarterfinals game 9-6 before losing 4-2 in the semifinals game. The team finished the tournament in fourth place. 

The physically impaired (PI) Pirates team also made it to the semifinal round with a 6-2 victory over Robbinsdale/Hopkins/MoundWest in the quarterfinals round Nov. 15. The Pirates dropped their semifinal contest against Minneapolis South but bounced back with a 7-1 victory against the Dakota United Hawks to finish third in the state.

Football

MGSH football won the Minnesota 6A state championship on Nov. 22! The team faced off against Minnetonka for the title game at the US Bank Stadium and emerged victorious, 28-21. The Crimson arrived in the state championship game by way of a 26-14 victory over Shakopee in the semifinal round. MGSH finishes the season with a 13-0 record and captures their second championship in three years. 

Girls swim and dive

The 2024 swim and dive championships took place Nov. 14-16, with several athletes from MGSH competing. 

• MGSH senior Libby Bakker took 2nd place in the 100 yard backstroke finals with a time of 54.55 and 5th place in the 200 yard IM finals with a time of 2:04.94.
• MGSH senior Kaya Flaherty placed 7th in the 100 yard butterfly finals with a time of 56.36. She also competed in the 50 yard freestyle preliminary race, finishing in 24.38.
• MGSH junior Ellis Landry placed fourth in the diving competition finals with a score of 422.8.
• MGSH junior Maddie Hetland competed in the preliminary round of the 500 yard freestyle race, finishing in 5:13.20.
• The relay team of Flaherty, Lily Peterson, Molly Menning and Hetland placed 15th in the 200 yard freestyle relay finals.
• The relay team of Menning, Hetland, Flaherty and Bakker placed 10th in the 400 yard freestyle relay finals. 

 

In case you missed it, round one of the fall sports roundup included the following results: 

Cross Country

Several local runners competed in the MSHSL AAA state cross country championships on Nov. 2. On the girl’s side, Maple Grove sent four athletes to the state meet. Junior April Watson led the way for the Crimson in 33rd place with a time of 19:06. Sophomore Kelsey Young finished in 19:39, then senior Kelsey Olson in 20:27. Maple Grove Middle School eighth grader Dakota Laux crossed the line in 20:55. 

In the boy’s race, MGSH senior Gannon Farrens was the first district runner to cross the finish line in 39th place with a time of 16:24. OSH senior Quinlan Rundquist finished soon after in 16:43. PCSH sophomore Blake Beaver finished the race in 17:19.

Soccer

The MGSH boys went all the way to the championship game of the 2024 MSHSL state tournament, besting Rochester Mayo 2-1 in quarterfinals, then Andover 3-1 in the semifinals round. The Crimson lost a hard-fought battle with Eagan in the state championship game, taking it all the way to overtime before falling 4-3.

On the girls side, the MGSH team made an appearance at the state tournament, taking on East Ridge in the quarterfinals round but falling 1-0. 

Tennis

The Maple Grove Senior High girls tennis team took third place at the MSHSL Class AA state tournament in late October. The team won their first round match against Elk River on Oct. 22, then lost to top-ranked Rochester Mayo in the semifinals round Oct. 23, 4-3. They came back to beat Mounds View 5-2 for the third-place finish.