Sports
Sept 10
BLAKE SOCCER 2010
Both Girls and Boys Teams Expect the Best
Bailey Dunning
Jack Mortell
Contributing Writer
O f all the fall sports teams at Blake,
none have higher expectations
than the Blake Girls soccer squad.
With fourteen returning letter-win-
ners from the 2009 Minnesota State
Runner-Up team, it’s obvious these
girls are primed to make a state
championship run. However, the
members of the team have a different
mindset. “We’re just going to take it
one game at a time,” said Head Coach
Paul Menge. So far, they are off to a
great start. The girls have a record
of 5-1-1 including an impressive 2-1
win over 2009 State champion Orono
in the Challenge Cup soccer tourna-
ment. But the Bears still have work
to do. Assistant Coach Chris Mitch-
ell said, “We’ve had success against
September Mystery Athlete
Alex Gersovitz
Contributing Writer
O nce upon a time, this issue’s Mys-
tery Athlete entered the hallowed
halls of the Blake School of Excel-
lence…(The rest of that story is still
being written). This issue’s mystery
athlete is a man (or a boy, depending
on if he is affiliated with the athletic
department) of fine taste and even
finer athletic ability. In his time at the
storied facilities of the Blake School of
Higher Learning, Mystery Athlete has
racked up a total of eight varsity let-
ters on three separate sports teams.
Now, being a three-sport athlete (and
a two sport captain), you may wonder
when Mystery Athlete has time to do
school work. When asked whether
he was a student-athlete, or the con-
troversial athlete-student, Mystery
Athlete coolly responded, “You know,
when I’m on official recruiting visits
at Ivy League schools, I make sure
tough teams, but we aren’t there yet.
We’re still trying to find our ‘groove’.”
The team is lead by Captains
Claire Wilson ’11, Korleki Akiti
’11, Hillary Crowe ’11, and Addie
Adams ’11. A strong core of upper-
classmen and young guns like Nicole
Kozlak ’13 and Lydia Sutton ’14 add
depth to the team. “ Our work ethic
is good,” said Mitchell, “We’ve played
some teams that gave us valuable ex-
perience for later in the season.” The
team’s only loss has come to Wayzata,
a class 2A school. But according to
Coach Mitchell, “We really learned a lot
playing against a team of that caliber.”
When talking to Adams about
team goals for the season, winning
state was never mentioned, “Our
first goal is to win our conference,”
said Adams, the teams starting goal-
keeper. “We aren’t going to worry
about anything until we accomplish
that.” Either way, the Blake com-
munity is excited to see how far the
team will go. Hopefully the Bears
will return to the Metrodome to take
care of some unfinished business.
“We’ve set high goals for ourselves,
but are confident that we will reach
them,” Menge says. Expect great
things from the Bears this season.
they know I’m a student-athlete.
However, at the D-1 programs, I tell
the coaches I’m dedicated to going
pro.” You may think Mystery Athlete
is being cocky, but no, he is just con-
fident in his superior abilities. When
asked about his favorite part
of playing sports, Mystery
Athlete responded, “I like
fans. I like ‘em a lot.” Brief,
yet abundantly eloquent.
Furthermore, although Mys-
tery Athlete loves the la-
dies, he is no longer single
nor ready to mingle. When
asked about his preferences
for his soul-mate, Mystery
Athlete replied, “No com-
ment. I’ve already got the
perfect lady friend.” How cute. Back
to sports. Many have compared this
week’s Mystery Athlete to a combi-
nation of “The Most Interesting Man
in the World,” Roger Federer, and
the former lead singer of Matchbox
Chance Lillehei
Staff Writer
O ne of the perennially strongest
sports team is the Boys Var-
sity soccer team. Just two years
removed from being state cham-
pions, they are looking to con-
tinue their success for fall 2010.
Jack Mortell ‘11, George
Ordway ‘11 and Charlie Velie ‘11
captain this year’s team. This year’s
team is deep in experience with 16
upperclassmen on the roster, but
it also includes five freshmen, Ko-
rle Akiti, Coleman Dressen, Rahim
Omar, Karl Lovaas and JR Bascom.
Senier captain Jack Mortell com-
mented on the change in teams over
the years, “This team is much young-
er than the past teams I’ve been on.
Yet, with all the young players comes
a lot of talent and promise. We look
to capitalize on important games
this season but not get too ahead of
ourselves. The team looks to build
off our recent success and carry our
momentum into section play and
hopefully into the state tournament.”
After starting the season off
with a tie against Holy Family, the
team won their next two games, in-
Twenty Rob Thomas. (Mystery Ath-
lete is known for being a singer of the
finest caliber). When asked about his
proudest moment in a Blake School
of Integrity Jersey, Mystery Athlete
told the saga of the Boys’ Soccer Team
Kevin Hayes
victory over Breck last year. He said,
“that win was life-altering, although
I’ve participated in several state tour-
naments in tennis, nothing will ever
compare to the air on the pitch on that
fall evening. Life-altering.” Besides
Spectrum
09
Coleman Dressen ‘14 steals the ball from an
opponent Bailey Dunning
cluding a 1-0 win over the number one
team in section 1a, Simley. After the
game, Pat Swearingen’11 described
it: “A surprising accomplishment that
is credited to lots of first half energy
and second half passion to hold onto
the victory. We are looking to build
on this performance in future games.”
The boys soccer team looks to
have a very promising season. Afterall,
they do have pro-dangler Daniel “Mes-
si” Mauer ‘12 out on the pitch. Expect
the boys to put forth their best effort
and dominate out on the field this fall.
being a master on the soccer pitch, a
fulltime dangler on the hockey rink
and a straight-up ball-ripper on the
tennis court, you can find Mystery
Athlete driving around town in his
Jeep Wrangler misquoting lines from
Plies songs, or enjoying a nice nap in
the senior lounge. Finally, when asked
about his plans for the future, Mystery
Athlete added some final words, say-
ing, “you know, it’s hard to say where
I’ll be in four years, college, maybe—
the NFL, likely—playing in the Bra-
zil for the next World Cup, undoubt-
edly.” Words like “legend,” “prodigy,”
and “phenomenon” are seldom used
in a community with so many high-
ly successful individuals; however,
it is safe to say that when Mystery
Athlete’s time at the Blake School
of Distinction is over, those words
still will not be apt to describe him.