Obama calls Lynx coach, White House visit planned

President Barack Obama called Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve on Thursday to congratulate her and her team on the WNBA championship.

The White House let Reeve know ahead of time about the call, so she was at Target Center with a group of people, including guard Lindsay Whalen, assistant coach Jim Petersen and Lynx executive Vice President Roger Griffith.

"I was impressed about how much he knew about our team," Reeve said in a phone interview later Thursday. "He knew we were down at half in every Finals game. He knew that Seimone [Augustus], Lindsay and Taj [McWilliams-Franklin] were three of our keys players. He mentioned [my] Coach of the Year Award, our turnaround. All that is special."

Reeve said she met Obama once before, when she was a Detroit assistant after the Shock won the WNBA title in 2008.

"I'm sure he has no recollection of meeting me," Reeve said. "But he mentioned that Maya [Moore] is becoming a regular at the White House."

Moore has been to the White House at least three times since 2009, including after she led Connecticut to NCAA titles in 2009 and 2010.

"Maya knows her way around there, but it never gets old going," Reeve said. "Our players are particularly fond of this President."

The Lynx earned their first championship by completing a three-game sweep of Atlanta in the WNBA Finals earlier this month.

ROMAN AUGUSTOVIZ

Racing proposals submitted for 2012 Canterbury Park and Running Aces Harness Park submitted proposals for their 2012 horse racing seasons to the Minnesota Racing Commission this week, with Canterbury requesting a 62-day race meet and Running Aces asking for 51 days.

Canterbury Park's thoroughbred and quarter horse season would begin May 18 and end Sept. 3. Days and post times would remain the same, with racing at 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 1:30 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

The Running Aces proposal calls for a harness racing season beginning June 6 and ending Sept. 3, with evening racing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

RACHEL BLOUNT

Twins help trees again State parks and trails can again expect thousands of new trees next year, under a continuing partnership between the Twins and the Department of Natural Resources.

Under the "Break a Bat, Plant a Tree" program, every time a Twins pitcher breaks an opponent's bat, the DNR gets 100 trees. In 2011, Twins pitchers broke 168 bats, meaning 16,800 seedlings will be planted next spring.

It's the program's second year. In 2010, the Twins broke 180 opposing bats, resulting in 18,000 trees.

Etc. • Nadine Muzerall, who played for the Gophers women's hockey team from 1997 to 2001, will join the team's coaching staff, coach Brad Frost announced. Muzerall was a teacher and coach at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Mount Hermon, Mass., from 2002 to '09 and spent the past two seasons playing professionally in Switzerland.