ANNA KEEFER
St. Michael-Albertville • track and field
This is the way, the senior sprinter/jumper thought, meets ought to be.
The Hamline Elite Meet on Friday featured the best track and field athletes in Minnesota. Surrounded by talent that brought out the best in her, Keefer won three events: the 100 and 200 meter dashes and the long jump, where she set a meet record with a leap of 19 feet, 3½ inches.
"I love this meet," Keefer, who has signed with the University of North Carolina, told the Star Tribune. "We've had a few other meets and there are not a lot of people there. This meet's exciting. It's great competition and it kind of gets the adreniline going. It feels really good."
Keefer's mother, Tiffini, was a track and field standout in high school and college and continues to coach a local AAU team. Keefer used her mother, who is also her personal coach, as her primary source of motivation.
"I think my mom was more nervous than I was," she said. "She vocalizes a lot. If I jump good or run well, she's the only one I hear. She's a talker."
DENZEL BROWN
Eden Prairie • track and field
The senior paced the boys with three first-place finishes at the Hamline Elite Meet.He won the 100 meter dash in a meet-record time of 10:53, won the 200 for the second consecutive year and led off the winning 4x100 relay team.
ELLIE SCHWARTZ
Becker • softball
The junior catcher has had four consecutive multiple-hit games. She went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI in a 9-8 victory over Buffalo and followed by going 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored in an 11-1 rout of Mora. She is hitting .452 for the season with four home runs.
LYNDSEY MARQUARDT
Waconia • softball
Not playing for the season's first month due to a knee injury proved to be no problem for the junior outfielder. Marquardt homered in her first at-bat after returning Friday, then did it again in her next plate appearance in a 10-1 victory over Hutchinson. She was 3-for-4 with seven RBI in the game.
