A look back at some of the top prep stories in Washington County in 2013.

• Senior center J.C. Hassenauer of East Ridge verbally accepted an offer to play football at the University of Alabama, becoming the first Minnesotan to commit to playing football for the Crimson Tide since 1925.

• Another East Ridge athlete, Nathan Roese, broke a 20-year-old Minnesota State High School League state meet record in the 400-meter run with a time of 47.56. The previous best of 47.59 was set by Randy Melbourne of Minneapolis Washburn in 1993.

• Forest Lake sophomore Toby Boyer nearly made it five consecutive Class 2A boys' tennis singles championships for the Boyer family, losing in the finals to Minnetonka's Joey Richards. Older brother Dusty Boyer had won the previous four titles.

• Senior Elizabeth Koprucki of East Ridge had her best Alpine skiing meet of the season on its biggest stage, winning the girls' state championship with a combined time of 1:15.52.

• Buoyed by a strong cadre of distance runners led by Eli Krahn and Wayde Hall, Stillwater won its fifth Class 2A boys' track and field championship in six years.

• New Life Academy, which had won four consecutive Class 1A softball titles from 2008 through 2011, returned to the 1A finals. The Eagles fell to Blooming Prairie 3-1 after leading 1-0 through four innings.