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SAINT CLOUD — Between two state champion softball teams and squads competing at state golf, tennis and track and field, the St. Cloud area had no shortage of impressive postseason performances during the spring season.
Several players from the St. Cloud Cathedral and ROCORI softball teams had outsized impacts on their teams' inaugural state championships like junior Spartan Jessica Boos or Cathedral junior Sadie Meyer. Boos pitched every game of ROCORI's run through the postseason, inculding a 14-inning marathon against Becker. Meyer was 14-for-28 at the plate and scored 16 runs in nine games.
They join others on this list representing Becker's state champion track and field team, Albany baseball, Foley tennis, Sartell-St. Stephen tennis and baseball, Kimball softball, St. John's Prep track and Becker lacrosse.
Jessica Boos, ROCORI softball junior pitcher
For the first time in school history, ROCORI is the softball state champion. Junior Jessica Boos led the team from the mound, pitching complete games in all six of the Spartans' postseason contests. Boos had a five-inning no-hitter against Alexandria in the Section 8-3A semifinal and had 12 strikeouts against Byron in the state championship, but her most impressive performance was in the state quarterfinal June 4. Going head-to-head with first cousin Jamiee Cook of Becker, Boos threw 195 pitches over 14 innings, tallying 19 strikeouts and giving up one run. Cook had a similar impressive performance, and the Bulldogs lost to Creitin-Derham Hall in the consolation game. In total, Boos was 6-0 in the postseason with 64 Ks and an ERA under one.
Boos also hit well. She had three RBIs in the 9-3 win over Byron in the championship, going 8-24 in the postseason with two doubles and a home run.
Margaret Duffy, SJP girls track and field sophomore
Coming to the end of the 3,200-meter race in the Class 1A state track and field championships, Margaret Duffy was in a footrace for first. She won the title by less than a second, clocking a 10 minutes, 54.63 seconds.
Jack Erkens, Foley boys tennis senior
In his last year, Jack Erkens made the Class 1A state team tennis tournament with the Falcons, and he qualified for the doubles tournament with classmate Aaron VanderWeyst. The pair made it to the Class 1A quarterfinals, but lost to the state runners-up from St. Paul Academy. With VanderWeyst playing solo in the team tournament on June 3, Erkens paired up with classmate Lane Stangler to go 3-0 in doubles. They were the only Falcon duo or singles player to score three points in Foley's run to the consolation final. Erkens' and Stangler's last match against Southwest Christian went three sets after losing the first 6-3. They won the second 6-2 and played to nine games in the final frame.
James Hartkopf, Becker senior boys lacrosse attacker and midfielder
After upsetting Brainerd 16-14 in the Section 8 play-in game, Becker was defeated by Monticello 13-5 in the quarterfinals. Senior James Hartkopf scored eight goals across the two games and assisted four more. In the games, he picked up 12 ground balls and only had three turnovers. Hartkopf also lined up in 10 face-offs, winning four of them.
Sophia Hess, ROCORI softball senior infielder
Sophia Hess had three homers across the postseason, including one that resulted in both of ROCORI's runs in the 2-0 state semifinal versus Mankato East. The Spartan senior was 11-21 in the section and state tournaments, also hitting a double to raise her SLG to 1.000. She had nine RBIs and only one error in the field.
Katelyn Hoff, Albany eighth grade girls golfer
Still with four years of varsity eligibility for the Albany golf team, Katelyn Hoff tied for 18th in the Class 2A girls state golf meet, shooting a 164 on June 10 and 11 at The Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan.
Ethan Meyer, Albany senior baseball pitcher and shortstop
After losing to Cathedral, the five-seed in the Section 6-2A baseball tournament, Albany made a run to the championship, eventually losing to Pierz. Before making the state consolation game, the Huskies made the Pioneers play two section championship games June 5, eventually losing the winner-take-all final 3-0 at Dick Putz Field.
Senior Ethan Meyer was one of the steady pitchers Albany relied on during its seven postseason games. The Husky opened a game and pitched seven innings over three appearances. He gave up just one earned run, holding hitters to an average of .074. Meyer struck out six of the 27 batters he faced, giving up two walks.
Meyer also hit .480 in 25 at-bats, blasting a home run and three doubles. He batted in seven runs.
Sadie Meyer, Cathedral softball junior infielder
For the champion Cathedral softball team, Sadie Meyer's .500 average made up for five errors. The junior had 14 hits and drew two walks in the Crusaders' nine postseason contests. Once on base, she was all but guaranteed to come around and score — Meyer stole 13 bases and scored 16 runs in the postseason. She also batted in 11 teammates.
Jack Michaud, Sartell boys tennis senior
In addition to making the Class 2A singles tournament, Jack Michaud helped Sartell to its first boys state team tennis tournament as the lead singles player. After such a successful section tournament, the Sabres lost 7-0 in the state opening round to champion Wayzata. They were eliminated from the tournament by Elk River, 5-2. Michaud didn't win a match at the state team or individual tournament, losing his singles match 6-0 and 6-1 to Brody Barbeau of Minnetonka.
Carter Reckelberg, Becker boys track and field senior
For the state champion Becker boys track and field team, senior Carter Reckelberg won two individual events and collected hardware in others. He ran a personal-record time of 21.78 in the 200-meter dash and jumped 24 feet, 1.75 inches in the long jump, winning both events. Reckelberg also ran in the finals of the 100, finishing second with a time of 10.87. Finally, he also won silver on the Bulldog 4X200 team.
Nathan Schuver, Cathedral junior boys golfer
In his second year in a row competing at the Class 2A state golf tournament, Nathan Schuver shot a 153 at The Ridges at Sand Creek, tying for 29th. He and Albany sophomore Blake Silbernick were the best boys golfers at the state meet from the St. Cloud area, shooting 153s. Cathedral placed eighth as a team.
Brayden Simones, Sartell senior baseball pitcher and shortstop
Before losing in the Section 8-4A baseball elimination final to St. Michael-Albertville, Sartell senior Brayden Simones was on a tear. He hit three home runs to eliminate the St. Cloud Crush 14-3 on May 29, totaling eight of the RBIs in the game and 12 in the Sabres' five tournament games. For the postseason, Simones hit .375 with a slugging percentage of 1.000.
Simones also pitched two early games in the section tourney, tallying a win against Elk River after advancing past the Crush. He had seven one-run innings in Sartell's opening loss to section champion Moorhead, but the Spuds scored two runs on a different pitcher in the eighth to win. He gave up four hits in 12 innings, striking out 19 and didn't give up an earned run.
Morgan Vee, Becker senior girls lacrosse attacker
After defeating ROCORI 14-5 in the Section 8 play-in game, Becker was defeated by No. 1 seed Buffalo by a score of 20-4 in the quarterfinals. Bulldog senior Morgan Vee had 11 goals in the two games, also assisting a goal against the Spartans.
Tayla Vought, Cathedral softball junior infielder
Cathedral junior Tayla Vought had at least seven more total bases than anyone on her team in the state and section tournaments, including three home runs. Two of the homers were in the state tournament with Vought scoring Cathedral's last runs of the year on an inside-the-parker against Hawley.
In the postseason, Vought hit .448 in 29 ABs with 14 RBIs, nine runs scored and a SLG of .862.
Sami Winter, Kimball softball senior catcher
Like in 2024, Kimball gave Cathedral a run for its money in the Section 2A softball final. For the second year in a row, the Cubs forced a game two, but lost the opportunity for a state berth. They won 8-5 and lost 10-4 on May 29. In the seven games of the section tournament, senior Sami Winter was 11-for-18 with three doubles, a triple and a home run. She took five walks and didn't strike out once. Winter had six RBIs and scored as many runs.
Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud Times high school Athlete of the Spring postseason poll
