Top 2014 sports stories: 1-5
Published 8:00 am Thursday, January 1, 2015
The Grand Meadow football team’s second straight state title was voted the top sports story of 2014.
Click here to read 6-10 of the top sports stories of 2014
1. Grand Meadow football team wins second straight title (39 percent of the vote)
The Superlarks put together one of the most dominant runs in nine man state history as they cruised to their second straight football championship.
GM beat Edgerton-Ellsworth 48-0 in the Prep Bowl and they outscored their opponents 240-6 on the season. GM went 14-0 on the season and it had one of the state’s best defenses.
The Superlarks relied a lot on senior running back/linebacker Landon Jacobson, who will look to continue his football career in college. Jacobson is GM’s all-time TD leader.
Pacelli’s Kayla Christopherson runs down the stretch at the Class A state cross country meet in Northfield .
2. Pacelli 8th grader earns all-state recognition in cross country (26 percent of the vote)
In 2013, Pacelli 8th grader Kayla Christopherson was happy just to get to the state meet. In 2014, she was near the top of the field.
After winning the Section 1A meet, Christopherson finished in 20th place at the Class A state meet with a personal best time of 15:28. She earned all-state recognition with the finish.
Blooming Prairie’s Kalyn Naatz, right, hugs her teammate Sara Noble after the Awesome Blossoms upset Lyle-Pacelli 72-63 in Mayo Civic Auditorium last year.
3. Lyle-Pacelli girls basketball team goes unbeaten and wins SEC title (24 percent of the vote)
It was only about five years ago when Lyle-Pacelli was the laughing stock of the Southeast Conference. The Athletics would routinely lose games by 50 or more points and the thought of contending for a conference crown seemed unthinkable.
In 2014, the Athletics made their program turnaround official when they went unbeaten in the regular season and won the SEC title.
The team relied on a young roster and the Athletics should be a force for years to come.
Austin’s Ajuda Nywesh was all smiles last year as the Packers wrapped up their Class AAA semifinal win over Holy Family in the Minnesota State Boys Basketball Tournament at Target Center.
4. Austin boys basketball team takes second at state (21 percent of the vote)
In a year where some people weren’t sure if the Packers would win the Big Nine, they made it to their third straight state tournament and they took second place for the second straight year.
The Packers were knocked off in a 60-40 loss to De La Salle, but Ajuda Nywesh shined in his last game for Austin as he poured in 24 points.
Austin’s Sela Fadness explodes after nailing her beam routine during the Minnesota State Class A Individual Gymnastics Meet last year at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis.
5. Austin’s Sela Fadness wins second straight all-around gymnastics state title (15 percent of the vote)
Sela Fadness certainly felt the pressure of repeating and it vaulted her into new heights as her encore performance was better than her first. Fadness delivered in all four of her events as she tallied a career-best score of 38.7 to win the Class A all-around state title for the second straight year in her final meet with the Packers.
Fadness, who is now competing on the Hamline University gymnastics team, also won state titles in the beam and vault.
