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Interception and nine tackles lands Kimball linebacker on St. Cloud Times top performers

By Reid Glenn, St. Cloud Times,

14 hours ago

SAINT CLOUD — It's the time of year when fall sports are at their peak. Teams are starting section play and athletes are in the best shape of the season.

Several athletes in the area had great performances individually and for their teams last week. Read below for a list of the very best in the St. Cloud area from Sept. 29-Oct. 5. The weekly list includes athletes from Albany, Becker, Foley, Holdingford, Kimball, ROCORI, Royalton, Sartell-St. Stephen, Sauk Rapids-Rice, St. Cloud Apollo, St. Cloud Cathedral, St. Cloud Tech and St. John’s Prep.

Athlete of the week poll: POLL: Who was the best athlete last week? Vote for athlete of the week Sept. 29-Oct. 5

Kimball football senior running back and linebacker Ronnie Arnold

In a matchup of unbeaten teams, Kimball (6-0) beat Holdingford (5-1) last week by a score of 34-8. Senior Ronald Arnold was a big impact on offense and defense. He had 87 of the Cubs’ 142 rushing yards and a touchdown. Arnold’s longest run was 30 yards.

On D he had nine tackles and an interception. The Cubs forced three turnovers and had four sacks as a team.

Kimball volleyball senior hitter Ellie Becker

Like several area schools, Kimball (8-15) competed in the St. Michael-Albertville Midwest Fall Classic volleyball tournament on Friday and Saturday. The Cubs went 3-3 in the tourney after winning two Central Minnesota Conference upsets earlier in the week against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (16-7) and Paynesville (15-6). Ellie Becker had a good all-around week, getting 58 kills and 81 digs. The senior also had nine aces on 71 attempts, picking up 47 points while serving.

Sartell cross country junior Andrew Berndt

Sartell top runner Andrew Berndt ran a PR on Saturday in the Lions Cross Country Invitational in Alexandria. He placed 14 ^th in the fast meet with a time of 16:26.2. The junior was about a minute behind the winner, Roseville senior Robert Mechura.

Tech girls soccer senior Molly Burkstrand

For her standards, the week started quietly for Tech’s star goal scorer. Senior Molly Burkstrand had one goal Monday in a 3-0 win over ROCORI (6-8-1) and scored the Tiger’s goal in a 2-1 loss Tuesday to Sartell (10-5). But, the Tigers (12-3-1) ended the regular season with an exclamation point of a win versus Albany (4-12) on Saturday. They beat the Huskies 12-0 with Burkstrand netting half of her team’s goals.

On the week Burkstrand also had eight goals and an assist. She has 46 goals this year, averaging nearly three goals per game.

Teammates Journee Okwor and Maggie O’Hara also deserve recognition. Okwor had five goals for the Tigers and O’Hara assisted four.

Tech got the No. 1 seed in Section 8-2A over No. 2 Alexandria (10-5-1). The Tigers host eight-seed Detroit Lakes (2-12-1) on Wednesday, the same time as Alex hosts Apollo (2-11).

Albany volleyball senior setter Ellery Ehresmann

Albany played just two matches last week, beating Pierz (10-10-2) and Foley (10-10-1) in straight sets. The Pioneers didn’t score more than 13 points in a set and the closest the Falcons came to Albany’s score was 21 points. As they have all year, the Huskies senior leaders put up great statistics. Ellery Ehresmann averaged 11.7 set-assists per game. She was also 6-9 on kills with just one error and had 13 digs. On 22 of Ehresmann’s serves the Huskies scored 13 points, including her four aces.

Cathedral football junior linebacker and wide receiver Jack Hamak

Winning their third-straight game, the Cathedral football Crusaders (4-2) beat Royalton (1-5) by a score of 21-6. Junior linebacker Jack Hamak had 10 solo tackles and three assists. One of the tackles was a sack. Hamak also had two receptions for 30 yards.

Football coverage: St. Cloud Times high school football 2024: the complete guide for total coverage

Cathedral boys soccer senior goalkeeper Noah Henderson

Cathedral (16-0) won three games last week, finishing up its regular season without a loss. The Crusaders got the top seed in the Section 8-1A boys soccer tournament and will play Wednesday at home against the winner of St. John’s Prep (5-7-2) and Minnewaska (2-11-1).

Senior keeper Noah Henderson had nine saves in the games, allowing two goals. Cathedral beat Melrose (8-6-2) by a score of 5-1 on Wednesday, Minnewaska 4-0 on Thursday and Bemidji (11-3-2) by a score of 3-1 on Saturday.

As a team the Crusaders have only allowed 10 goals in 2024.

Albany volleyball senior hitter Hannah Klein

In the Huskies’ two matches last week Hannah Klein again had an elite kill percentage: .44. She had 22 kills on 50 attempts and also earned six points on serves. She had four assisted blocks and 13 digs in the six sets.

Cathedral girls soccer junior goalkeeper Aubrey Lesnau

Cathedral (11-4-1) picked up two wins and the one seed of the Section 8-1A South tournament last week. The regular season ended with a loss, however. The Crusaders fell 3-2 on Thursday to Providence Academy (9-6).

Keeper Aubrey Lesnau had nine saves in the first win of the week — which came 3-0 over Monticello (7-7-2). She wasn’t tested and didn’t record a save in the 2-0 win versus Melrose (1-12-2), but had 19 against the Lions. Providence scored the only goals Lesnau gave up last week.

The Crusaders have a bye in their section tournament while Albany and St. John’s Prep (9-3-2) play in the quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at the College of St. Benedict. The winner of the game will play Cathedral at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Whitney Park.

Cathedral boys soccer junior midfielder Jacob Oliver

Jacob Oliver averaged a hat trick, netting three shots in each Cathedral win last week. He also assisted a Daniel Lee goal against Minnewaska. Oliver leads the team in scoring with 32 goals.

Senior Connor Stockman also had an impressive week in Cathedral’s midfield. He had five assists, passing Oliver for most on the team with 18.

Sauk Rapids football senior wide receiver Hudson Omoke

Getting back on track with a 66-22 win over Cambridge-Isanti (0-6), Sauk Rapids (4-2) receiver Hudson Omoke had six catches for 170 yards and a touchdown. The Bemidji State commit averaged 28.3 yards per catch.

Sauk Rapids volleyball junior hitter Wendi Peterson

Sauk Rapids went 1-1 in regular-season Central Lakes Conference games last week, then went 3-2 in the Midwest Fall Classic. In the conference games, the Storm beat Sartell but lost to Willmar (23-4).

In 23 sets junior Wendi Peterson had a good week on offense — capturing 41 kills on 103 attempts — but where she shined was at the net on defense. She assisted 21 blocks and had two of her own. Peterson also had 23 digs and eight aces on 95 attempted serves. The Storm got 25 points while Peterson was serving.

Sartell volleyball senior setter Kaylee Rademacher

Sartell (9-13) went just 2-4 in the St. Michael-Albertville Midwest Fall Classic, but the team had athletes with impressive individual performances. Senior Kaylee Rademacher had 57 serves without an error, picking up 43 points and six aces. She also set for 69 kills, getting just over four assists per set. On defense Rademacher had 24 digs across 17 sets.

Albany senior quarterback Boone Roemeling

Leading the Huskies (6-0) to their sixth win in a still-undefeated season, Boone Roemeling was on fire for Albany’s 43-7 victory over Rockford (2-4). Connecting with senior receiver Ethan Miller for three touchdowns and Elliott Burnett for another, Roemeling was 17-25 for 274 yards and one interception. Credit to his offensive line for the time in the pocket, Roemeling was only tackled once for a five-yard loss.

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St. John’s Prep cross country senior Louise Ruzanic

Louise Ruzanic picked up a top-three finish Oct. 1 at Hinckley-Finlayson's meet at the Grand National Golf Club. She took bronze with a time of 19:32.1. Hibbing won the meet as a team and St. John’s placed fourth.

Sartell volleyball junior libero Gabi Schumann

Like her teammate Rademacher, junior Gabi Schumann was nails while serving last week. She also had six aces and picked up 48 points on 59 serves with only three errors. Additionally, Schumann led the area last week in digs. She bumped 106 digs and picked up three kills and five set-assists.

St. Cloud Crush girls tennis junior Paige Tarrolly

Paige Tarrolly went 6-0 last week playing in the team section tournament and in the individual subsection. She won two matches Sept. 20 in the team tournament, not losing a game against Willmar junior Kennedy Mara. The Crush went 6-1 as a team, advancing to face ROCORI. In the match against the Spartans, Tarrolly faced senior Autumn Kron, winning two sets 6-2 and 6-1. The Crush beat ROCORI 6-1 and will play Bemidji in the semifinals.

In the individual subsection tournament Oct. 4 Tarrolly beat opponents from Sartell, ROCORI and two in a row from Annandale. She lost just one game against Sartell junior Brooke Hennen and ROCORI senior Olivia Schreifels. Annandale’s athletes, junior Ella Rassier and senior Avery Gagnon, both won two games in each set.