Here it is already, the first week of August and fall sports practice begins for high school athletes next Monday, August 12. Time moves by quickly, especially in the good old summertime.
With the cooler weather and fewer hours of daylight soon approaching, it won’t be long until another school year begins and a hectic schedule of activities fills the calendar.
This will be the second year of the football pairing between Heron Lake-Okabena and Fulda. The Coyotes won three close games last fall and were very competitive in four losses, including an 11-Man playoff game against Bethlehem Academy of Faribault on the home turf in Fulda. Only two games — at Hills (mid-September) and at Mountain Lake (mid-October) — were large-scale losses.
Adrian, which may be bolstered in football by the addition of several Ellsworth athletes this season, will have a fine group of seniors leading the way. Murray County Central graduated an exceptional bunch of seniors, but the Rebels have been building a winning tradition in recent years, including an 8-3 season in 2018. Both MCC and Adrian will likely field competitive football squads again in 2019. The two teams play each other early — second game of the season — at Adrian on Friday evening, September 6.
MCC and Fulda remain paired in cross country. The Rebel boys were hit hard by graduation, but the girls — led by amazing front runner Morgan Gehl (one of the best in the entire state) — will be very good again this fall and certainly be among the contenders for a state-meet team qualification when all 20-plus Section 3A squads converge at the Madison Golf Course on Thursday, October 24.
This will be the final year of just two classes of high school cross country in Minnesota. In the fall of 2020, there will be three classes. It is expected that MCC / Fulda, Adrian and HL-O will all remain in Class A, the smallest class. Perennial power Luverne will likely be bumped up to Class AA.
The Ping sisters — Grace and Lauren — from Winona Cotter, are moving again, this time to Arizona. A couple of years ago, Grace spent a year running in Utah before coming back to Cotter. Those two, along with Tierney Wolfgram from the Math and Science Academy in Woodbury, are the only girls (just a total of three) who have finished ahead of Gehl in any Class A long-distances races (cross country or track) in recent state meets.
Adrian is coming off a banner s eason in volleyball. The Dragons earned a share of the Red Rock Conference title before playing so well in post-season action and winning the South Sub-Section championship. Adrian graduated several very good players, but has a bundle of returning talent and experience.
Likewise, both MCC and the newly-formed — first-year pairing — of HL-O and Fulda will feature plenty of athleticism, along with volleyball savvy on their squads this fall.
Check out the fall schedules on your school’s websites, the first action takes place during the final week of August — which will be here sooner than you anticipate. Ready or not, here comes another season of high school athletics.
