alexandriacardinals

April 20

To the best of my recollections, this was the first outdoor event of the spring season. This meet was originally scheduled to take place in Sartell.  Sartell is southeast of Alex. It still had too much snow. We hosted the three other track powers of our conference: Brainerd, Sartell, and Willmar. And it was “Weakie’s” first ever event at the new high school. He proclaimed it a beautiful day for track – sunny and in the mid-50’s. 

[ANATOMY OF THE TRIPLE JUMP:  This is Kaye Paschka. You may recognize Kaye as the point guard for our state tournament basketball team. This was a practice jump. She went on to win the triple jump . . . and the 110-meter hurdles.]

[As a last minute replacement site, the event was a walk-in.  And as they say, you can’t tell the players without a scorecard.  I only know some of the athletes if I recognize them from other sports.  Here is another Cardinal triple jumper.]

[And here’s “Weakie.”  Based on daily associations at the ‘Y,’ he was particularly interested in seeing the boys 100-meter dash and the girls shot put . . . ]

[So here we are checking out the shot put arena.]

[Cardinal long jumpers warming up . . . ]

[And “Weakie” found a place in the sun to watch.]

[The timing judge in the red jacket is better known as the father of the top two 5000-meter runners in Golden Gopher history . . . ]

[They were hand timing because frost had temporarily disabled the electronic timing system (as I understand it).]

[And here comes the first heat of the girls 100-meter dash . . . ]

[We had three black clad Cardinals in this heat . . . ]

[They all appear to be doing well here . . . ]

[And to the finish, it appears that Willmar (“W”)  won, but we may have had 2, 3, 4?]

[And here comes heat 2, then heat 3 of the girls 100-meter.  I think there were five heats in all – and I think we had 3 runners in each of those heats.  So, I naturally thought we must be really good in relays.  In fact, we did win the 4 x 100 quite handily, and were 2nd in the 4 x 200 – and if there were ever a 15 x 100, we’d lap the field!]

[Individually, we placed 2nd, 3rd, and 5th in the 100m; 2nd, 4th, and 5th in the 200m.  All the results are at the end of this missive.]

[“Weakie” had a box seat at the finish line . . . ]

[And next up was the boys 100-meter . . . ]

[Nathan Lusty (l) and Drew Olson (r) are running for the Cards . . . ]

[We were interested in seeing Drew because his folks work out at the ‘Y’ at the same time we do – well, they work out, we amble.]

[Drew and Nathan would place 1st and 3rd in the finals.  In a subsequent meet, Drew would tie the Cardinal all-time record at 10.94.]

[Discuss . . . ]

[I do not know this competitor . . . ]

[Looked like a good throw . . . ]

[Mya Lesnar I know from volleyball.  As I recall she went to state in the shot last year . . ]

[And McKenzie Duwenhoegger, from both volleyball and our center on the basketball team.  She and Mya will make a run at state in both discuss and shot put . . . ]

[ANATOMY OF THE SHOT PUT: This is Bryce Ludwig. You may recognize Bryce as the tight end on the football team or the power forward on the basketball team. These were his last two throws in the meet – 52’+ and 53’+ – to win the event.]

[In a subsequent meet, Bryce set a PR of 55’11”.  He’ll make state and be competitive there.]

[A relay of unknown quantity . . . ]

[Prepping for the long jump . . . ]

[Back at the shot put pits.  As it went on, they could only use one of the three pits because of mud (on the right).  That delayed the girls competition . . . ]

[The school as backdrop . . . ]

[The girls 1,600m is underway . . . ]

[The Cardinal in 5th place here is 8th grader Aleah Miller (as I later discovered from the results).  The 4-pack of Cardinals behind her hung together the whole race . . . ]

[Aleah . . . ]

[Still hanging in there at 4th . . . ]

[And the 4-pack . . . ]

[Aleah put on a tremendous kick on the last lap – you can see her almost tied for the lead between the guys 2 – 3 (from the left) of the 5 guys in black warm-ups . . . ]

[Now they’re right behind red hoodie . . . ]

[Between the 2 blue hoodies, to a very close 2nd-place finish.  As an 8th grader, her whole future, as they say, is ahead of her . . . ]

[This is Nolan Christenson with the early lead in the 1,600m . . . ]

[He’s a bit behind now in I believe the last lap . . . ]

[But he had a terrific kick the final 220 meters and won handily with a PR.]

[And this has every appearance of being the 4 x 100 . . . ]

[And if I’m reading the result right, this is Anna Doherty on lead-off . . . ]

[Passing to Erika Roderick . . . ]

[And ultimately to Kaye Paschka who crossed the finish line with a substantial margin.]

[And here we have Drew Olson anchoring the Cardinals 4 x 100 relay team . . . ]

[There he is!  And was in 3rd place when he got the baton and really closed ground . . . ]

[He was really pumped that he pulled it out.]

[We hoped to also see the girl putters (last seen warming up on the infield) but it just got too late.  I had been in the great outdoors for 3 1/2 hours, and it was time to pick up the Super for an evening at the Andria for Nunsense.]

[On the way out, I noticed this race featuring 5 Cardinals.  I don’t know what it was, but any race that includes a curve is more than I can fathom.]

[All-in-all, it looks like we have two really competitive teams.]

And for future reference, here are all the results – on loan from the Cardinal Connection :

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD

Sabre Quad hosted at Alexandria – Alex Girls Track and Field Results

Team Scores: Willmar 113, Alexandria 108, Brainerd 29.5, Sartell 21.5

On Friday, April 20^th the Alexandria Cards had the privilege of hosting the Sabre Quad, marking our first outdoor meet of the season! We walked away with 15 personal bests, 13 season bests, and A LOT of learning!  This is a young team still learning the techniques and strategies needed for each event, but they are equally competitive, hardworking, and coachable! We walked away with second place, behind Willmar, but we are not yet to the point where we are putting together our strongest line-ups, and we left many points out on the track.  I cannot wait to see how this team grows with each meet!

Top 5 Alexandria Athletes in each event (top 5 athletes earned points) include: 

·         100m Hurdles: Kaye Paschka (1^st), Jacy Roste (4^th)

·         100m Dash: Hannah Quitmeyer (2^nd), Anna Doherty (3^rd), Christina Drown (5^th)

·         1600m: Aleah Miller (2^nd)

·         400m: Addison Rodel (2^nd), Erika Roderick (3^rd)

·         300m Hurdles: Kaye Paschka (1^st), Sierra Cory (2^nd), Lexi Cole (5^th)

·         800m: Bethany Miller (1^st), Myah Kremer (3^rd)

·         200m: Hannah Quitmeyer (2^nd), Addison Rodel (4^th), Christina Drown (5^th).

·         High Jump: Taylor Partington (1^st), Sierra Cory (3^rd)

·         Pole Vault: Jacy Roste (2^nd), Abby Forester (5^th),  Sarah Rohr (5^th)

·         Long Jump: Christina Drown (2^nd), Erika Roderick (4^th)

·         Triple Jump: Kaye Paschka (1^st)

·         Discus: McKenzie Duwenhoegger (2^nd), Mya Lesnar (3^rd), Christina Palmer (4^th)

·         Shot Put: McKenzie Duwenhoegger (3^rd), Mya Lesnar (4^th), Hailey Gill (5^th)

Relays earning points include:

·         4x200m: Christina Drown, Micah Summer, Meg Schercliffe, Myah Kremer (2^nd)

·         4x100m: Anna Doherty, Erika Roderick, Hannah Quitmeyer, Kaye Paschka (1^st)

·         4x400m: Carly Wiirre, Aleah Miller, Caitlin Bright, Bethany Miller (2^nd)

Athletes Earning Season bests include:  Aleah Miller (1600m), Addison Rodel (400m), Julia Brito (400m), Bobbi Galvin (400m), Greta Kremer (400m), Maddy Dahlseid (400m), Christina Drown (200m), Micah Summer (200m), Tausha Lange (200m), Taylor Partington (High Jump), Paige Melton (Shot Put), Meghan Moore (Shot Put), and Mallory Yanda (Shot Put).

Athletes Earning Personal Records include: Sierra Cory (100m Hurdles), Molly Panther (1600m), Lauren Russell (1600m), Stormy Hegg (1600m), Georgia Reemts (400m, 200m), Carmen Krueger (400m, 200m), Brooklyn Von Bank (400m), Kamryn Coauette (800m), Hannah Rinicker (200m), Christina Drown (Long Jump), Erika Roderick (Long Jump), Mya Lesnar (Discus), and Avery Granning (Shot Put).

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

The Cardinal boys track and field team won their Quad against Brainerd, Sartell and Willmar on Friday night. The Cards used 30 personal bests and 7 first place finishes to edge out Brainerd; team scores were Alex 85, Brainerd 84, Willmar 69 and Sartell 33.

First places went to: Drew Olson 100m (11.33) and 200m (23.48, personal best), Nolan Christenson 1600m (4:43.3, personal best), Joshua Kietzmann triple jump (41-8.75, personal best), Bryce Ludwig shot put (53-5) and discus (166-00) and the 4x100m relay team (45.77) Nathan Lusty, Jared Schneider, Michael Empting and Drew Olson.

Second places: Dane Galloway 800m (2:15.79, personal best), Nolan Morical high Jump (5-6, personal best).

Third places: Nathan Lusty 100m (11.69), Wade Odland 400m (53.88), Preston Bowden 300H (42.83), Jackson Wichtendahl 800m (2:16.57), Keaton Gruber 3200m (9:55.61, personal best), Jamyson Wolkow shot put (46-00.5), 4×200 relay (1:36.29) Graham Peterson, Joshua Kietzmann, Nolan Morical and Wade Odland, 4×400 relay (3:46.49) Noah Struck, Keaton Gruber, Brain Denke and Jack Englund).

Fourth places: Daniel Jantzen 300H (43.65), Logan Runge 800m (2:16.75) Nathan Lusty 200m (24.03) and pole vault (10-6)

Fifth places: Preston Bowden 110H (16.44), Jared Schneider long jump (19-4) and triple jump (38-00)

Other big improvements went to: Adam Pohlen in the 110H and 300H, Brett Strandskov 100m and 200m, in the 1600m Jacob Kleven, Hayden Peterson, Brain Denke and Lance Jacobson,Christopher Krueger in the 400m, in the 800m Nathan Klimek and Peyton Fischer, in the 200m Nolan Morical, Malachi Hedstrom and Noah Huss, Nathan Schneiderhan in the pole vault, Paul Schwartz in the long jump, Gabe Moore and Alex Neale in the discus and in the shot put Gabe Moore, Preston Peterson, Brendin Houck, Parker Bomstad and Neko Glaser.

Run like hell and get the agony over with.  ~  Clarence DeMar

Up Next:  Depends on the weather (doesn’t everything?)

January 4

Los Angeles

[I don’t now what this is, but it was the first photo taken back in the good ole U. S. of A.]

[Port of Los Angeles, a/k/a America’s Port, in San Pedro . . . ]

[In the wee small hours of the morning . . . ]

[Aboard our bus for the 20-mile ride north from the port to downtown. Our guide, a native New Yorker, of course, loves L.A.!]

[I suspect this is the Banc of California soccer stadium . . . ]

[An exciting look from inside the bus . . . ]

[The stadium, at Exposition Park, was completed this year . . . ]

[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, built in 1923, home of the 1984 Olympics and the University of Southern California football team . . . ]

[I’m not sure how they were able to land this here?]

[California African American Museum . . . ]

[St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church . . . ]

[Los Angeles Convention Center, or so it is claimed . . . ]

[The Staples Center is home for the basketball Sparks, Lakers and Clippers . . . ]

[Why yes, it is my place!]

[Grammy Museum . . . ]

[Shopping on Figueroa Street . . . ]

[Alexander Calder’s “Four Arches,” Bank of America Plaza . . . ]

[The Music Center with . . . ]

[The Walt Disney Concert Hall . . . ]

[The “Dragnet” building . . . ]

[The Broad, the new (2015) L.A. art museum . . . ]

[The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion And Music Center water fountain with City Hall (the “Dragnet” building) in deep background . . . ]

[Federal Court House . . . ]

[The parish church in the Plaza Historic District was founded as La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Ángeles (“The Church of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels”) on Aug. 18, 1814. The structure was completed and dedicated on Dec. 8, 1822. A replacement chapel, named La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (“The Church of Our Lady of the Angels”) was rebuilt in 1861 using materials from the original church (discoverlosangeles.com).]

[Olvera Street (Calle Olvera) is a historic district, and a part of  El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. Los Angeles was officially founded in 1781, Olvera Street obtained it current name in 1877. Many of the Plaza District’s Historic Buildings are on Olvera Street, as well as some of the oldest Los Angeles monuments including the Avila Adobe built in 1818, Pelanconi House built in 1857, and the Sepulveda House built in 1887. The tree-shaded, pedestrian mall marketplace with craft shops, restaurants and roving troubadours is a popular tourist destination. The street has been described as a “Top Five” in the “Great Streets of America” journal (Wikipedia).  This is the entrance to Olvera Street . . . ]

[This was the only place where we stopped and exited the bus.  It’s L.A. afterall – I think this is the only place where there’s parking!]

[The plaza area . . . ]

[Yup, still the Feliz Navidad season . . . ]

[On my birthday!  I was only 3 at the time!]

[Quite a tree . . . ]

[Quite a bandshell . . . ]

[Leaving the area . . . ]

[Union Station . . . ]

[Los Angeles City Hall . . . ]

[This is the city, Los Angeles, California . . . ]

[Containing such as Sunset Boulevard . . . ]

[And “Hollywood” . . . ]

[How you know you’re in L.A. . . . ]

[Dolby Theatre, home of the Academy Awards . . . ]

[Mann’s (Grauman’s) Chinese Theatre . . . ]

[It really is LaLa Land!]

[The siver ladies “Gateway to Hollywood” . . . ]

[Hop on the bus, Gus . . . ]

[It says Directors Guild of America . . . ]

[The first all nude strip club on Sunset Strip.  I guess that’s worth something . . . ]

[Somebody’s express line . . . ]

[Fred Segal, a big mall guy . . . ]

[Whisky a Go Go opened in 1964 and is now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . . . ]

[Apparently a photo op . . . ]

[On Clampett alert!!]

[Not sure what they do here?]

[Beverly Hills Town Hall . . . ]

[The Super captures the moment . . . ]

[On the lookout for Homer Simpson . . . ]

[The appearance of gantry cranes means we’re heading back to the ship . . . ]

[The Vincent Thomas Bridge crossing Los Angeles Harbor linking San Pedro to Terminal Island . . . ]

[A more closer-upper view of the bridge . . . ]

[USS Iowa ship museum . . . ]

[American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial . . . ]

[Back on board ship for our last night . . . ]

[Saying good-bye to new friends Winston and Sue Shindell, hoping to run into them again some day in Bloomington, Indiana . . . ]

[Our last outdoor deck fine dining . . . ]

[I like this!!  I could do it on a regular basis!]

[Once again playing with fire . . . ]

[Leaning over in direct violation of maritime law . . .]

[New musicians in the Atrium.  The Classical Trio disembarked in L.A. to head back to Hungary . . . ]

[And the piano player, known simply as Grego, is also from Hungary . . . ]

[Say goodnight, Ruthie!]

January 5

This is the day we left the ship for the last time.  It’s now April 25, 110 days later, when I’m finally wrapping up the report of the 22-day trip.  Go figure!  Surprisingly, two-thirds of the travel mates we left on the ship are still on it – at last report they had reached the Mediterranean Sea enroute to the final destination of London.  I cannot imagine staying on the boat that long.

[The Super bids our final adios to the sea . . . ]

[And the Norwegian flag . . . ]

[And the full moon . . . ]

[And Percy, who took care of us and our room!]

Once a year, go somewhere you’ve never been before.  ~  The Dalai Lama

Up Next:  Regular stuff . . .

April 8

We interrupt the final completion of the Panama Canal cruise to include the subject songs and tales from VocalEssence and “Mark Twain” at the high school’s Performing Arts Center.  We had seen this performance a couple of years ago at Theatre L’Homme Dieu and very much enjoyed it again.  Interspersed throughout will be sights of this (unfortunate) spring season . . .  

[The program . . .   ]

[Yes, we did forsake the final round of the Masters . . . ]

[But it was worth it . . . ]

[Although a totally different presentation, this appears to be the most recent YouTube of VocalEssence . . . ]

[And the final bows.  The program started with three songs from our high school choir, and then VocalEssence joined them for a fourth.  I’m always amazed at the talent of the kids . . . ]

[Between songs by VocalEssence, we were treated to the musings of Mark Twain (by Don Shelby) and the barefoot fiddlings of Sara Pajunen . . . ]

[The Super and Patty Wicken enjoy a little post-performance repartee with Mr. Twain (Mr. Shelby and the Super are both native Hoosiers) . . . ]

[Not VocalEssence, but as noted in the program this was the penultimate song.  And while they did it very well, I was thinking it would have been nice to have the high school choir come back out and join them in this.  It’s a BIG sound song!]

I like the ephemeral thing about theatre, every performance is like a ghost — it’s there and then it’s gone.  ~  Maggie Smith

Up Next:  Finally finishing the Panama Canal?

At Sea

January 2 & 3

[Another two days at sea before our final stop in Los Angeles . . . ]

[On the first day, the Super and I just went up on the “roof” to chill . . . ]

[We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves?]

[How ’bout a quick 9 holes?  Here’s the outward . . . ]

[Here’s the inward . . . ]

[Or shuffleboard (curling without ice) . . . ]

[Top o’ the world . . . ]

[I can make this putt with my eyes closed!]

[A spy, to keep an eye on us.  Or is it just Tom Clancy . . . ]

[Did I already use, Top o’ the world?]

[Either a commentary on the state of our republic . . . ]

[Or a report that Twinkies could not be considered a diet food.]

[The next day . . . ]

[3:00 am.  Beat the rush to the laundry room.  Going home in two days . . . ]

[We began the day with a little whale watching . . . ]

[But they were a little far away . . . ]

[None-the-less, the crow’s watch was crowded . . . ]

[Looking around the corner and backwards . . . ]

[The big screen in the atrium was featuring our passage through the Panama Canal . . . ]

[There was a professional photographer on board who took these photos by drone . . . ]

[But then everybody rushed up front again on rumors of whale sightings . . . ]

[And back to the big screen . . . ]

[Can you see me?  Me neither.  But I was on the portside of the observation deck . . . ]

[The photos were terrific – and I was amazed how well I was able to photo them off the big screen . . . ]

[I think I was wearing a shirt . . . ]

[This one catches the lock opening . . . ]

[And the rest of the day was party time.  One third of the passengers would be leaving the ship in L.A., so it was a so long, it’s been good to know ya . . . ]

[This was the Viking Band . . . ]

[Heather charmed with her mezzo soprano voice . . . ]

[This guy was very good (name forgotten) as a singing piano player . . . ]

[Brigi on violin joined the band’s piano player . . . ]

[Elmer, another operatic voice, who I believe was on Heather’s staff . . . ]

[The captain was entertaining . . . and funny, as only Norwegians can be.]

[A toast from the ship’s “officer” class . . . ]

[And then the entire ship’s crew and staff came forward . . . ]

[The guests were represented on all three atrium floors . . . ]

[Yup, the kitchen staff – very important!]

[Guests were planted on the stairs leading up to the big screen.  That’s our friend Jack snapping a shot . . . ]

[A selfie as the stairs begin to clear . . . ]

[Say goodnight folks!]

[The Super gets one last shot . . . ]

[On departure, checking out the big screen . . . ]

[Then back to class.  Dr. Lori was giving a preview about Los Angeles, our next stop . . . ]

[Our last evening with the Viking Classical Trio . . . ]

[Our final thanks to Esza on flute, Brigi on violin, and Szylvia on cello.]

It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression, ‘As pretty as an airport.’  ~  Douglas Adams

Up Next:  I love L.A. . . .