by Todd Abeln
THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS

With the high school sports season over, it is now time for all the all-star games to take place and many area athletes are competing in the games.

In the 18th annual Minnesota High School All-Star Softball Series that was held last weekend, representing Rosemount was Sam Sakala and Hanna Schmitt. Representing Eastview was Nikki Disel and Paige Hanegraaf. Area coaches also participated in the All-Star series by coaching some of the teams. Burnsville head coach Hilary Hansen was joined by former Blaze co-head coaches Pat Feely and Terry Hunst in coaching the Blizzard team. Lakeville North's Randy Schmitz and Jim Carlson coached the Breeze team.

In baseball's all-star game, Eastview's Allen Bechstein, Apple Valley's Chris Quam and Brian Pohl and Farmington's Carson and Tyler Jones will participate for the West team. Apple Valley's coach Allen Iversen will coach the West Metro team.

In the football all-star game, Eastview's Jake Machacek and Evan Sanford, Eagan's Chad Knuppel, Apple Valley's Scott Madson and Farmington's Brad Albano will participate.

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Caitlin Terhar, of Apple Valley, has concluded her college volleyball career in fine fashion. Terhar finished as the all-time assists leader for Concordia University in St. Paul. She finished this past season as the nation's leader in assist average, No. 2 in career assists and was a first team All-American at the Division II level.

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Shane Bailey, a 2005 Eagan High School graduate, was chosen to play for the Northern Ontario Junior A Hockey League All-Star game in January. Bailey was the only American player selected to play in the game. Bailey, who plays for the Blind River Beavers in Ontario, finished the season with 19 goals and 10 assists with 89 penalty minutes.

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As a way to assist with the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort, University of Minnesota-Duluth sophomore baseball infielder Andrew Heieie joined UMD Chancellor Kathryn A. Martin and a battery of volunteers from the NCAA National Office and NCAA Division II institutions earlier this month in Indianapolis to construct a Habitat for Humanity home.

The home, which was fully framed on the University of Indianapolis campus, will eventually be shipped to a location on the Gulf Coast as part of Operation Home Delivery "Habitat home in a box.î

Heieie, an Eastview graduate, was among 14 student-athletes from six different NCAA II schools (UMD, Central Missouri State University, University of Indianapolis, Pfeiffer University, St. Thomas Aquinas College and Texas A & M University-Kingsville) who participated in the March 7 event.

Heieie is in his second year as a member of the UMD baseball team. The 6-foot-2-inch, 210-pound first baseman is currently batting .250 while starting in 29 of the team's 33 games.

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Burnsville's Lauren Huhnerkoch was named the MVP of the Rutgers' Women's Golf Team. Huhnerkoch was the only member of the women's golf team who played in every tournament and had her score used for every round.

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Freshman Mike Freeman and sophomore Adam Rietz from Eagan, John Ongjoco and Chris Pruesser of Lakeville High School, Tyler Sweeney of Apple Valley were members of the national runner-up lacrosse club at Saint John's University in Collegeville this spring. Playing in the U.S. Lacrosse Intercollegiate Association B Division tournament, the Johnnies defeated four other college clubs before falling Saturday, May 13 to the defending champion University of San Diego 10-3 in Plano, Texas.

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Mark Nodell of Apple Valley was a member of the 2006 men's Bemidji State University Outdoor Track and Field team.
Nordell, a senior, is majoring in industrial technology and competed in jumping events.

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Jessica Nordness of Burnsville was a member of the Augsberg College track and field team in 2006.

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Jacci Mattern of Lakeville batted .325 for the Augsburg College softball team. Her .325 average was second on the team. She started all 38 games for Auggies, scoring 25 runs, with six doubles, six triples and 18 RBIs.

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The NISCA judged the All America tapes/DVDs submitted to them for high school divers recently. MSHSL State Class AA state champion diver P.J. Rongitsch was named an All America diver. This is his second time to be named All American.

Todd Abeln is sports editor for Thisweek Newspapers and the Dakota County Tribune. He is at sports.thisweek@ecm-inc.com. Columns reflect the opinion of the author.

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