(11/12/2025) With the fall sports and activities season wrapping up, here’s a look at who’s heading to state, and how they fared when they performed and played. Also included is information about postseason awards gathered by student-athletes and coaches.
Girls swim and dive
The MSHSL Girls Swimming and Diving state championships were held Nov. 13-15 at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota campus.
Anoka-Hennepin was represented by five relay teams and 10 individuals at this year’s state meet.
Andover High School
Junior Cadence Andersland qualified for the state championships in 1-meter diving following her individual section championship.
Blaine High School
Blaine High School has three individual qualifiers and two relay teams who competed at the state championships.
Junior Reese Forrest competed in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races for the Bengals. Freshman Sydney Edwards participated in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke.
Sophomore Reese Pennoyer qualified for the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly.
The Bengals also qualified two relay teams for the state meet and will race in the 200-yard freestyle relay (Sydney Edwards, Reese Pennoyer, Alexis Edwards, and Reese Forrest) and the 400-yard freestyle relay (Reese Forrest, Alexis Edwards, Reese Pennoyer, and Sydney Edwards)
Champlin Park High School
Five individuals and three relay teams represented Champlin Park High School.
Junior Rylee Kuhn participated in 1-meter diving for the Rebels.
Senior Sophie Norsted finished in 7th place in the 100-yard butterfly and in 5th place in the 100-yard backstroke. Eighth-grader Lilia Helmrick also qualified for state in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke.
Senior Sierra Emery and junior Hannah Mayor competed in the 100-yard breaststroke.
The Rebels also qualified three relay teams for the state meet including the 200-yard medley relay (Sophie Norsted, Sierra Emery, Lilia Helmrick, and Lara Deschene), 200-yard freestyle (Lara Deschene, Hannah Mayor, Ellie Kalhof, and Sierra Emery) relay and 400-yard freestyle relay (Lara Deschene, Mia Sanders, Lilia Helmrick, and Sophie Norsted).
Coon Rapids High School
Junior Delilah Smith-Ginnette qualified for the state championships in 1-meter diving for the Cardinals.
Adapted soccer
The MSHSL Adapted Soccer, Physical Impairment State Tournament was held Nov. 14-15 at White Bear Lake Area High School.
The Anoka-Hennepin Mustangs qualified for the state tournament and earned the No. 5 seed.
The Mustangs lost their quarterfinal match-up with No. 4 seed Rochester Raiders but battled back to play for the consolation championship, losing to Dakota United 5-3 in that contest.
The Mustangs entered the state tournament with a record of 3-4, having won three of their last four games to close out the regular season. Anoka-Hennepin is coached by Pete Kutches, who is in his 10th season as the head coach.
Cross Country
The MSHSL Class AAA Boys and Girls Cross Country State Championships was held Nov. 1 at the University of Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Course.
Boys
Anoka-Hennepin was represented by one team and seven individuals in the boys’ race.
The Blaine High School boys’ cross country team won the Class AA State Championship with 77 points, 25 fewer than runner-up Wayzata. This marks the first state championship in school history in boys' cross country.
The Bengals were led by junior David Meberg, who placed fourth overall with a time of 15:34.2 in the 5k race. Israel Sulungaine placed 15th (15:51.1), Alaric Burroughs placed 18th (15:53.9), Jack Zellmer placed 37th (16:12.8) and Henry Meberg placed 43rd (16:18.5) to round out the team scoring for the Bengals.
Austin Matrious placed 59th for the Bengals with a time of 16:26.9 and Elijah Thomas placed 65th (16:29.6).
Andover High School had two individuals in the state meet. Tyler Flippen placed third overall with a time of 15:27.7. Steven Hennig placed 118th with a time of 17:04.8.
Anoka High School had three seniors qualify as individuals for the state meet. Aaron Peterson led the Tornadoes with a 51st-place finish with a time of 16:22.8. William Rengo placed 58th (16:26.9) and Emmitt Revering placed 85th (16:44.7).
Champlin Park High School was represented at the state meet by Blake Frazer and Zakariya Mohamed. Mohamed placed 34th with a time of 16:10.0 and Frazer finished 46th with a time of 16:20.3.
Girls
Anoka-Hennepin was represented by six individuals in the girls’ race.
Andover High School had two individuals qualify for the girls' 5k race. Seventh-grader Leah Jongekryg placed 83rd with a time of 19:36.6 and Julia Strobel placed 125th with a time of 20:24.5.
Blaine High School was led by Brynlee Wegener at the state meet. Wegener, who was the section champion, placed fourth overall with a time of 17:46.8. Sophomore Audrey Schwen placed 18th with a time of 18:31.5 and Nora Kuhn placed 92nd with a time of 19:45.3.
Coon Rapids High School junior Ruby Demmer placed 17th overall with a finishing time of 18:29.0.
Boys soccer
The Minnesota State High School League Boys State Soccer Tournament will be held Oct. 22-31. The quarterfinals will be held at selected neutral sites and the semifinal and championship rounds will be played at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Blaine High School won the Section 7AAA Championship to earn the program’s 12th state tournament appearance in school history, its first trip since 2012.
The Bengals earned the No. 5 seed in the Class AAA State Tournament and took on No. 4 seed Wayzata High School in the quarterfinals on Oct. 22. Wayzata jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first half before extending the lead to three goals in the second.
BHS got on the board in the second half on a goal by Njoyja Nde, but it would not be enough as the Bengals fell 3-1 to close out the season.
The Bengals finish the season with a record of 15-3-2.
Girls tennis
The MSHSL Girls State Tennis Tournament was held Oct. 21-24 at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus.
Anoka-Hennepin was represented at this year’s state tournament by two doubles tandems.
Andover High School's Hannah Kumpel and Camryn Talbot won the Section 7AAA doubles championship. Blaine High School's Rosie Rekucki and Paige Dahlman also earned a spot in this year’s state tournament.
Kumpel and Talbot earned a first-round win, defeating Abby Etten and Isabelle Ronneberg 6-4, 6-0. The duo then squared off against the top-seeded tandem of Rory Wahlstrand and Reese Wahlstrand of Mounds View High School. The Wahlstrands earned a 6-2, 6-1 win over Kumpel and Talbot.
Rekucki and Dahlman took on No. 2-seeded Raya Hou and Lauryn Schenck of Edina High School in the first round and lost 6-0, 6-1.
