Early June means commencement ceremonies and graduation parties and summer vacation plans. Another school year has come to a close and with it, another high school athletic season is in the books.
Well, almost.
Schools are out, but there still are state champions to be determined. The state tournaments in three spring sports — golf, lacrosse and baseball — are on tap this week.
The boys' and girls' golf state tournaments run Tuesday and Wednesday at three courses. The Class 3A tournament will be held at Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids, the Class 2A at the Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan, and the Class 1A at Pebble Creek in Becker. In all three meets, the girls will tee off at 7 a.m. each day with the boys teeing off at 1 p.m.
Five of the six 2014 team champions will be back, hoping to defend their titles. In the girls' tournaments, Legacy Christian (1A), Detroit Lakes (2A) and Wayzata (3A) are seeking to repeat, while Dawson-Boyd (1A) and Edina (3A) are seeking another boys' championship.
The quarterfinals of the boys' and girls' lacrosse state tournaments will be played Tuesday. The girls will play four quarterfinal games at Hopkins, while the boys play at Minnetonka. The sites flip-flop for Thursday's semifinals — the boys at Hopkins, the girls at Minnetonka. Both championship games will be played Saturday at Minnetonka, the girls' final at 5 p.m., the boys' final at 7 p.m.
The baseball state tournament runs Thursday through Saturday, a schedule that puts a premium on pitching depth. The first two rounds in each class will be played at different sites around the state: Class 1A at the Mini-Met in Jordan, Class 2A at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud and Class 3A at the CHS Field in St. Paul. All three championship games will convene at Target Field on Saturday, with games scheduled three hours apart: Class 1A at noon, 2A at 3 p.m. and 3A at 6 p.m.
By the time the sun sets Saturday, the 2014-15 athletic year will be history.
Enjoy the break. It all begins again in 64 days.
