SAM JOHANNS

St. Thomas Academy • Swimming

With a streak of victories nearly a decade long, Johanns admitted that he and his St. Thomas Academy teammates were feeling some pressure before the Class 1A True Team State Swim Meet on Saturday.

"With so much history for us in this meet, we didn't want to be the one to break tradition," the versatile junior said. "But we always seem to perform well in this meet."

They did again, winning their tenth consecutive Class 1A team championship. Johanns paced the victory with first-place finishes in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke and swimming the lead leg on the winning 200 medley relay team and the anchor leg on the victorious 400 freestyle relay team.

The reason for the Cadets' continued success? Friendly but fierce competition among teammates.

"We push each other in practice harder than most teams," Johanns said. "We're super-competitive with each other. When you race against teammates, you get bragging rights."

WHEELER BAKER

Osseo • Basketball

The senior guard with the smooth stroke and quick first step has opened plenty of eyes with his high-scoring ways. He had 37 points in a victory over Blaine and 21 in a rout of Andover last week, bumping his per-game average to 24.7 points per game.

Wheeler Baker, Osseo basketball, sr., 2013-14

TIA ELBERT

Tartan • Basketball

Tartan has developed a pretty successful basketball reputation, and no one stands out more than Elbert. The senior guard has scored more than 40 points in four consecutive games, becoming the leading scorer in school history with 3,083 career points.

KENLEY FARROW

Minneapolis South • Basketball

A three-game winning streak last week has South within a half-game of the Minneapolis Conference lead. Farrow, a senior guard, scored 57 points to lead the Tigers in victories over Minneapolis Henry, Minneapolis North and Benilde-St. Margaret's.

CAYLA MCMORRIS

Park Center • Basketball

The 5-10 senior forward and University of Wisconsin recruit paced the Pirates to a pair of important Northwest Suburban victories. She had 27 points and 10 rounds in beating Armstrong 71-61 and 22 points in a 72-62 victory over Centennial in a battle of conference leaders.

RYAN OLSON

Andover • Hockey

The senior goalie is clearly hitting his stride. He has posted shutouts in three of his past four games, including back-to-back whitewashings of Cloquet-Esko-Carlton (7-0) and Armstrong/Cooper (8-0) last week. In his past four games, he has stopped 98 of 101 shots for a save percentage of .970.

WHITNEY PADGETT

Eden Prairie • Hockey

The sophomore goalie backstopped the Eagles into a tie for first-place in the ridiculously tough Lake Conference. She made 18 saves to preserve a shutout in a 1-0 overtime victory over Wayzata and made 14 saves to shut down potent Edina 3-1.