Speaking of Sports

By John Fragodt, Sports Reporter

Life is not fair and high school student-athletes certainly learn that by the time they graduate.  No matter how much they practice and prepare, there are still some things they can do nothing about.

Take the Laker volleyball team for example.  The Lakers have had a great season so far this year, going 15-12 overall and 7-7 in one of the toughest conferences in the state.  Minnewaska Area was also moved from Section 3AA to 6AA this year and sometimes moves can be good for people, but this one certainly was not.

If the Lakers had stayed in Section 3AA, they would have been seeded third in their half of the section and hosted sixth-seeded Eden Valley-Watkins in the first round.  EVW is 3-21 this season.

If Minnewaska Area had won that match, it would have faced a very winnable NLS team that is 13-10.  Paynesville is the current top seed in the north half of Section 3AA with an 18-5 record, while Redwood Valley (26-2) and Windom Area (18-9) are the only teams with winning records in the other half of the section.  Yes, that’s right, only four of the 14 teams in Section 3AA this year have winning records.

Instead, the Lakers are in Section 6AA this year, a section which has 10 of its 14 teams with winning records, including Pequot Lakes (23-5), Albany (24-3) and Sauk Centre (21-6).  Minnewaska was seeded 10th and has to travel 1 1/2 hours to Foley for a first-round match against seventh-seeded Foley (14-9). 

And so, instead of having a first-round playoff game at home against EVW (3-21), the Lakers will be playing on the road at Foley instead.  And, if the Lakers beat Foley, their reward is a match at Pequot Lakes on Halloween night.  Wow, thanks MSHSL!

•  Another complaint I have this year involves girls tennis where Alia Randt and Megan Thorfinnson came within one win of earning a state berth.  It’s always tough to decide where to play in the section individual tournament for the top tennis players of each team, especially when there are only two singles and two doubles state berths from each section.  

Randt played first singles this season and Thorfinnson played second singles, but they also played a few matches in doubles to give them the option in the postseason.  Randt (18-7 record) had lost this year to the top player from Osakis and Litchfield so the decision was made for Randt and Thorfinnson to play doubles in the Section 6AA Doubles Tourney.  

Well, Litchfield’s top player decided to play doubles with a teammate, instead, making the doubles’ portion of the tourney very tough and singles’ a little easier.

Randt and Thorfinnson went on to lose a tough three-set match in the semifinals to a team from NLS and, when that team lost in the finals to the Litchfield pair, Randt and Thorfinnson were automatically eliminated despite winning in three sets during the third-place match.  And, who ended up being the second state entrant in singles besides the top-seeded player from Osakis; none other than Amyra Gomez, of NLS, a player who finished under .500 this season and whom Randt beat rather easily during a mid-September match, 6-2, 6-2.  

But, that’s the way it goes in high school sports; you have to take the good with the bad.  You can bet both Laker players will be looking forward to the section tourney next year to earn some revenge.  But, the decision will have to be made again about playing singles or doubles, and that’s never an easy decision.