alexandriacardinals

June 4

Section 8AA Track Championship

[Yeah, I know I ask every year – how do the Alex girls do it?  Yesterday, in weather befitting the day before Christmas, they stormed through the field at the section track finals overcoming 15 other schools, including such behemoths as Moorhead, Brainerd, Bemidji, St. Cloud Tech, with 153 points to 2nd place Willmar’s 90?]

Women – Team Rankings – 18 Events Scored ==========================================================================11) Alexandria 153 2) Willmar 90.33 3) Moorhead 76 4) Thief River Falls 66 5) Rocori 54 6) StCloud Tech 53 6) Brainerd 53 8) Bemidji 43 9) Monticello 31.33 10) Becker 24 11) Fergus Falls 19 12) Detroit Lakes 15 13) Sartell-StStephen 10.33 14) Sauk Rapids-Rice 7 15) Little Falls 5 16) StCloud Apollo 2 ==========================================================================Men – Team Rankings – 18 Events Scored ========================================================================== 1) Bemidji 97.50 2) Moorhead 87.50 3) Willmar 84 4) Sartell-StStephen 83 5) Alexandria 62 6) Rocori 55 7) Monticello 53.50 8) Brainerd 42 9) Becker 35 10) Little Falls 32 11) Detroit Lakes 24 12) StCloud Apollo 17 13) StCloud Tech 14 14) Fergus Falls 9 15) Sauk Rapids-Rice 5 16) Thief River Falls 1.50

[As a retiree, I’m strictly a fair weather fan.  It was cold, windy, and rainy to begin the meet so I stayed home watching the sky.  I finally arrived about an hour and a half after it started, and shortly thereafter made my way to the far (east) side of the field where I thought I saw some Cardinals in action.  And there were.  We had three girls in the finals of the triple jump, an event I cannot comprehend.  This is freshman Sydney Gray landing a jump.  I took a series of photos but again was frustrated by having to shoot through a chain link fence . . . ]

[Meanwhile, back on the track, a Cardinal runner was going by so fast she was just a blur.]

[And the Amazing Mr. Ripley was there for school coverage.  Either he, or the other “Mark” (Nelsen, the retired cross country coach who somehow still manages to be “helping” at every meet) invited me inside the fence for photo shooting purposes.  I thanked him but it said it was likely I couldn’t pass  the security screening!  (I’m on TSA’s “No Inside the Fence” list.)]

[A quick glance to my right, and I noticed the girl shot putters were going at it.  Hey, no fence to shoot through!  This is senior Nora Merk.]

[And this is freshman McKenzie Duwenhoegger, also of volleyball and basketball fame.]

[Into the finals, Nora first.  If I may be so bold, she is quite “undersized” compared to her competitors, but she took 5th place in both the shot and the discus.]

[Then McKenzie, who set a PR by TWO FEET, took 2nd place.  As some wag once noted, “She has her whole future in front of her.”]

[Oooops, she may have fouled on this attempt?]

[The Hasz sisters had just finished 1 – 2 in the 1600. I was shooting the girls’ shot put and lost track of what lap they were on. When I heard the cheers I was too late to catch the finish – fortunately Papa Hasz did. This was their last meet ever on “home turf.” They will compete at state in both the 1600 and 3200. Next fall they will be Gophers. What a legacy they leave behind!]

[And here’s Doug Hasz’s coverage . . . ]

[Bethany and Megan also qualified for state in the 3200 on Wednesday going 1 – 2 in Sauk Rapids.]

[Here’s Sydney again, shooting through the fence.  Unfortunately, this is the only one of a series that came out . . . ]

[Then with freshman Kaye Paschka, also of soccer and basketball fame – she was the only one I got the whole series down the track from the “end zone.”  Kaye finished 5th in this event, but also seemed to compete in about a dozen others?]

[I then decided to move to the side so I didn’t have to shoot through a fence.  Here’s junior JeAnna Miller, who finished 8th in this event, 5th in the long jump, 2nd in the high jump (though she tied for 1st in height), and sold popcorn between events.  Quite a busy day!]

[Here’s Sydney again, who also finished 9th in the 300 hurdles.]

[Ms Paschka again . . . ]

[past Tim Ellison . . . ]

[sticks the landing . . . ]

[and receives congrats from Coach Empting.]

[Meanwhile, taking place simultaneously at the far end of the field, boys’ long jump . . . ]

[And here’s junior Josh Molden who finished 3rd.]

[Meanwhile, back at the triple jump, the girls are discussing the basic tenets of string theory while awaiting their next attempt . . . ]

[And here’s Kaye again.]

[Meanwhile, back at the long jump pit, junior Jaran Roste, of football and basketball fame, finished 5th – and the boys’ team finished a respectable 5th overall.]

[You have 16 teams, 18 events (some simultaneously) – what do you do?  Well, field events are easiest to cover – they’re right in front of you.  So that’s what I did – mostly.  But you have to cover running too, even though it involves vast distances.  Why here comes a runner now in the far turn . . . ]

[It’s the girls’ 4 x 100 relay, a Cardinal strength all season . . . ]

[As we come to the first baton pass, our team includes freshman Hannah Quitmeyer, junior Syri Williams, senior Sara Wegner, and junior Kelby Olson-Rodell . . . ]

[Pass number 2 . . . ]

[And now there they go down the farside . . . ]

[Very close, but the Cards got 2nd place.]

[Obviously boys, obviously a relay, but that’s all I got?]

[Podium standing around.]

[And my final piece of coverage . . . ]

[Girls’ 400  . . . ]

[At the end of the race, a member of our Fat Boys’ Walking Club (the skinny one) came by and said that was his 8th grade granddaughter who finished 5th for the Spuds!]

[And the Cards Sara Wegner took 2nd.]

[And the podium for the 400 meters.]

[And then I went home.  The meet wasn’t over but I had been there for 2 hours, standing and moving the whole time.  Thank goodness it was cool!]

[Later that an afternoon – a graduation party.  Can you guess whose?]

[And a final shot by Doug Hasz.  Good luck at state, everyone!!]

Whenever I go running, I meet new people . . . like paramedics!  ~  Anon

Up Next:  Josie?

April 23

~ Cruising to Vienna

[If you’re gonna be on the water, you gotta play by the rules.  It’s like being on an airplane, you have to watch the safety program on your room TV (and you can’t get anything else until you do), and then join the rest of the passengers in practicing your designated escape route.]

[And this was the day we learned . . . ]

[Looks like a metro area ahead.  And it looks like we left the sun in Budapest.]

[And indeed – we’re passing though Bratislava, capital of Slovakia.]

[Apollo Bridge, opened in 2005]

[Ahead on the hill, what we were told is the “upside-down table” castle. The thought is that the four spires on each corner look like table legs?  It’s called Bratislava Castle, oddly enough.]

[A statue of an airman on a new waterfront area – could find no info about it?]

[Bratislava, about the same size as Minneapolis, appears to be booming.]

[Novy Most (New Bridge), seems they have a lot of new bridges here!]

[Looks like some river boats make this a designated stop.]

[Swiss radar . . . runs like a clock.]

[UFO Cafe atop Novy Most]

[Nice to know if there’s an outdoor grill, there will be Gril Music?]

[Good-bye, Bratislava . . . ]

[Hello, safety practice!]

[Dr. Kiehne, ever the experimenting engineer, decided to see if his jacket would fit over his life preserver.  Et, voila!]

[We will be soon hitting a stretch of river where there are castles on every hill top.]

[This is Hainburg.  I know that because that’s what it says on the sign.]

[Practicing river rescues – a strong current here made look very difficult.]

[DJ’s Tap House & Grill in Alex?]

[Dr. Kiehne believes we may be approaching Vienna, if not nirvana.]

[It’s looking like some place big time.]

[Time to head outside for better vantages.]

[Vienna, we have arrived!]

[The portside is modern Vienna.]

[We would spend the night here.  Pam and Tom, ever opting for our options, went into town for Mozart and Strauss concert – I think the rest of us caught up on our reading.]

Addendum:  Just for fun from the internet . . . the Bratislava Paparazzi!  (Of course, technically, it should be “paparazzo,” the singular.)

It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent.  ~ Dave Barry

Up Next:  Josie?

April 22

~ Our last day in Budapest

[We’re on a cruise-sponsored guided tour this morning.  Here we are at Szechenyi Thermal Bath in City Park.]

[And now to Heroes’ Square – remember this from last year?]

[The Millennial Monument]

[Helen and John “play” tourist.]

[Palace of Art]

[And the “BUDAPEST” structure is up again – only at this time of year.]

[Hi, all, from Budapest!]

[Museum of Fine Art]

[The building in the background, as I recall, is an embassy . . . or a hotel . . . or something else.]

[St. Stephen]

[And assorted other famous Hungarians . . . or Magyars.]

[I’d rather be sunbathing!]

[Hey, that was our condo in Arlington!]

[Tom draws a bead on the most important facility.]

[Our guide, name long since forgotten, but quite good featuring excellent English and movie star looks.]

[It may be that we’ve gone up to Fishermen’s Hill?]

[This certainly is – a Trabant, the infamous East German car, just up the block from the restaurant where I lost my watch!  Yes, we checked again.]

[And a secret (at least previously unknown to us) alley to the Labyrinth.]

[And now at Fishermen’s Bastion and Matthias Church.]

[And this time we’re going in the church . . . ]

[But not up its spire – I think Pam and Tom did?]

[And back outside to the Bastion.]

[But we had already scoured the Bastion, just the other day, so we went in pursuit of parts of the Hill we hadn’t previously visited.  For example, here are Helen and John posing in front of a door!  Amazing!]

[Even the Super had to capture it!]

[It wasn’t until after the photo she learned this was a garbage can.]

[And then our guide had told us this was the place to go in all of Budapest for pastry.  So in we went . . . but still stuffed from the shipboard breakfast, we decided pastry would have been too heavy.  So, we all got ice cream cones instead . . . or maybe it was gelato?]

[Hahaha!]

[The Biddies took my picture here last year.]

[What’s that bad boy doing?]

[What’s THAT bad boy doing?]

[Taking the tunnel under the Danube from Buda back to Pest.]

[Driving back to the boat along the river walk . . . ]

[Past “The Shoes.”]

[And back on the boat for lunch.]

[Ahhh, this is the life.]

[As we are officially boating away from Budapest, hoping the bus can make it to shore?]

[Past Madonna’s “Sturgeon” again.]

[Meet the staff and crew . . . Cheers!]

[Dinner . . . again? . . . already?]

[Yup!]

[Looking out our dining room window.]

[And digging in!]

If God had really intended men to fly, he’d make it easier to get to the airport.  ~ George Winters

Up Next:  Dunno yet.

June 2

And so it came to pass, our Cardinals traveled to Detroit Lakes the previous day and defeated the section top-seed Lakers 2 – 1 in the final game of the winner’s bracket.  As in semi-final game, first baseman Ellie Ronning hit a two-run homer in the first inning – and pitcher Caley Haugen, with the help of great defense, made it stand up.  The Cardinals were then host to the section championship games as the remaining undefeated team in the double elimination tournament.  Thief River Falls defeated Detroit Lakes in the play-in game prior to this, the immediate follow-on game . . .

[This team started the season 1 – 5.  And now the team is going to the state tournament for the first time since 1995.  “Weakie” and I have followed the sport for many years, and we have had many good teams with lots of star players.  But if you run into that one team with an overpowering pitcher . . . and for many years that was either Brainerd or a St.Michael-Albertville.  Caley was a returning pitcher this year but as a senior had not had a lot of previous playing time.  She now has a 9 – 2 record, I believe, and does it mainly by changing speeds and throwing strikes.  She is not a strike out pitcher but relies on her defense and not walking anyone.  The defense was super the last (and only) four games we saw this year.  The left side of the infield features a hockey goalie at 3rd, Amy, and a soccer goalie at shortstop, Zieg – so they know how to play defense.  And the outfield can run down some balls.  It’s been fun to watch.]

[Yup, another perfect day for a ball game at the Oz (AAHS) Softball Complex – sunny, warm, not a hint of a breeze.  Here I’m trying to set the camera’s windage and elevation on Rev during warm-ups.  Still, shooting through the chain link fence was strictly a hit-or-miss situation and I ended up deleting about a third of my shots.]

[OK, ladies, let’s do this!]

[Caley set the Prowlers down 1-2-3 in the first.  Allsion led off the bottom of the inning for us.  Yup, the fence’s cross beam was an issue from where we were sitting.]

[Nice swing, but not a hit.]

[The mind fails, but Zieg, as the No. 2 hitter, walked I believe to bring up Ellie.]

[A brief pause from the game while I have a recollection.  The DeMarini bat!  I last played slowpitch softball over 20 years ago but was in my heyday when the DeMarini was introduced.  It totally changed the game, not sure if for the better.  In the wooden bat era, a slugger in slowpitch (that would not include me) would have a hard time hitting a ball over the 210-foot fence on this field.  With DeMarini and its offshoots, the 300-foot fence came into play.]

[Base hit to left.]

[Two runners on for Calley.]

[And I’m already losing track, but now Amy’s up and that looks like Ellie on 2nd?]

[And I believe that was a hit.]

[Then Rev – things were rolling.]

[Now Kelsea . . . ]

[Mmmm, thought that was a little low, blue?]

[And I think Kelsea did good, too.  The Cards got off to a start teams dream off – a 4-run first inning!]

[Caley finished the section playoffs by allowing only one-run in the last two games.  A pitcher is going to win a lot of games doing that!]

[Now Hayley, who as our lead striker in soccer, is someone who can really run down a lot of balls in leftfield.]

[And back to Allison at the top of the order.]

[Again, not quite.]

[Zieg – she may have had the play of the day when she ranged behind 2nd base to field a grounder and threw out the runner at first.]

[And ole automatic, Ellie with a single up the middle.]

[Well, a-beat the drum and hold the phone . . . ]

[The sun came out today . . . ]

[We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field . . . ]

[A-roundin’ third and headed for home . . . ]

[It’s a brown-eyed handsome girl [sic] . . . ]

[Anyone can understand the way I feel.  ~  John Fogarty (except for one word)]

[Oh no, now Allison, our crack lead off hitter, was now 0 – 3 – I knew that would change!]

[As any good coach would say, “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”  Of course, that’s just an assumption on my part believing most of the time they’re discussing post-game dining.]

[Lookin’ good in the neighborhood.]

[Back to Zieg – turned out to be one of the better photos.]

[Hohum, now I’m 3 for 3.]

[Like this shot, too.  Hard to get a good shot of a rightie.  It’s Amy, who not only hit well, but made all the plays at 3rd again.]

[A-roundin’ third and headed for home . . . ]

[Oh, I already did that.]

[And the slide!]

[Hayley joins in . . . ]

[And as previously noted, it was Allison’s turn to shine with a 2-run triple to rightcenter.]

[Let there be runs, runs, and more runs . . . ]

[If you look really close, that’s probably Allison on 3rd.]

[And then Ellie . . . ]

[Who managed to finish off a pretty good day with a double, making her 4 for 4!]

[The Prowler coach emptied his bench to give everyone a chance to play in a section championship.  Zieg played on our basketball team that lost the section final in OT to the Prowlers this year making this game extra sweet for her.]

[Thanks, blue!  Can’t play these games without you.]

[A premonition that I took this shot?  If we get 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th, we win by the 10-run mercy rule.]

[So, let’s see.  We have Amy on 2nd . . . ]

[And Kelsea at bat.]

[And here come the winning runs!]

[Yippee!  We win!!]

[Celebrate . . . ]

[Celebrate . . . ]

[Dance to the music . . .]

[We’ll see you at state . . . ]

[Mankato here we come!]

[Yowza!]

Softball problems:  Getting hit with the ball and being able to see the stitches imprinted on your skin.  ~  Anon

Up Next:  Back to Europe