Sports shorts . . .

By John Fragodt, Sports Reporter

•  Homecoming at MAHS — The Laker football team finally was notified of its 2023 district alignment and schedule and thus, MAHS AD Phil Johnsrud was able to determine the date of the 2023 Laker Homecoming.

The 2023 Laker Homecoming football game is set for 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 29 versus Rockford.

Johnsrud asks that people planning various Homecoming events that coincide with Homecoming week let the AD staff know so that they can begin inserting the events/dates on the Lakers activities online calendar.  For now though, make sure to enjoy the wonderful summer!

•  Great golf action at Minnewaska Golf Course — I had a chance to go out to the Minnewaska Golf Course to watch a pair of WCC meets last Wednesday.  The Laker boys and girls golf teams are both doing great this spring and I finally got a chance to see both teams in person.

And, it’s often said every stroke makes a difference in golf and all you have to do is look at the boys’ golf results from last week to see that’s true.  WCA won the boys’ meet at Minnewaska by one stroke over the Lakers.  The Knights also won the meet at Benson later in the day by one stroke over Minnewaska and Morris.

The Tigers won the fifth-score tiebreaker over Waska, meaning the Lakers finished one stroke from winning the meet but still placed third.

Minnewaska and WCA are tied going into the final WCC meet, Tuesday (tomorrow) at Morris.

•  Laker track and field — The Laker track and field teams had quite the day at the section true-team meet.  The girls’ team won the section true-team meet and will now compete at the State True-Team Meet this Saturday at Stillwater, while the boys’ team earned fourth at the true-team meet.

During the meet, the boys’ 3200 meter relay team of Jayce Kovarik, James Ward, Nick Ankeny and Maeson Tank set a new school record during the section true-team meet.  Congratulations to the tracksters, who are starting to peak at the right time with sub-sections set for Tuesday, May 23 at Maple Lake.

•  Record game for Noah Jensen — Noah Jensen had a big game for the Lakers’ baseball team last Tuesday, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and a walk-off homer in the eighth inning during a 9-8 win over Melrose.  According to local sports’ historian Matt Pederson, Jensen’s offensive exploits were one of the best all-time individual games by a Laker.

Not only did he join a list of players with four hits in a game, he became the first Minnewaska Area player to hit a walk-off homerun for the Lakers since 1998.  He joins Josh Lamski (1992) and Brant Swenson (1998) as players that have had walk-off homers for the Lakers.

In addition, he became the seventh player with three extra-base hits in a game, joining Joe Alexander (1994), Brant Swenson (1998), Aaron Chan (2002), Andy Toop (2007), Shane Bosek (2010) and Matthew Gruber (2017).

He wasn’t the only one with a big week for the baseball team though as Dylan Alexander was 11-for-18 for the Lakers last week during five-straight wins with one pitching victory.  Go Lakers!