A review of the top prep stories from the north metro in 2014

Young Pirates take the helm

It certainly wasn't a thing of beauty, and Park Center needed 12 extra minutes to do it. But the Pirates finally defeated Marshall 73-71 in triple overtime for the Class 3A championship, the first basketball title of any sort in school history. Park Center did it without star player Cayla McMorris, who fouled out late in regulation. The Pirates even did it without driver's licenses: No Pirates' player on the floor at game's end was out of 10th grade. Four of them — Feyisayo Ayobamidele, Mikayla Hayes, Danielle Schaub and Ann Simonet — were freshmen.

Totino-Grace nearly goes the distance

The Totino-Grace football team faced long odds going against Eden Prairie, perhaps the most powerful program in the history of Minnesota high school football, in the Prep Bowl. Totino-Grace, a private school in Fridley, draws from with an enrollment almost one-third the size of Eden Prairie. But the team was bound by a determination to win for student-manager Rachel Woell, who died from cancer during the season. And as Totino-Grace built a 21-7 lead, three-time defending champion Eden Prairie looked vulnerable. The game came down to a two-point conversion, which Eden Prairie knocked away to escape with a 28-27 victory in a game few who watched will forget.

No more tears

Tasha Feigh's considerable vision problems used to mean lots of striking out and tears during adapted softball games. A narrowed field of vision and multiple visual cuts — imagine looking both through a paper towel tube and out a barred window — left Feigh unable to track the ball from a normal batting stance. Turning her stance to face the pitcher, she batted better than .900 for the Osseo-Maple Grove-Park Center program. Her success in soccer and floor hockey, and a team-first attitude, made her Osseo's first-ever cognitively impaired (CI) athlete to win an Athena Award.

Rooney wins respect

It's all in the kick

Anoka junior Michael Talbot readied for the biggest shot of his soccer career, knowing a goal would bring a Class 2A state championship while a miss would prolong the shootout with Wayzata. No pressure, Tornadoes coach Pete Hayes tried telling Talbot, but the youngster told Hayes, "I'm going to be the hero." Talbot delivered. His goal capped a 5-4 shootout victory and Anoka's second state title since defeating Wayzata in 2007. The victory capped an improbable tournament run for unseeded Anoka, which dispatched previously undefeated Minnetonka and Maple Grove.

Top eight, and then some

Spring Lake Park swimmer Sara Carmean avoided her coaches during the Class 1A state meet preliminaries.

Carmean, a junior, placed 10th at state in the 100-yard backstroke consolation finals as a freshman, then moved up to ninth as a sophomore. The top eight swimmers reach the championship finals and earn all-state honors. Carmean, who swam in the first of three preliminary heats, could not stand the thought of a third near-miss and waited alone for the results. The news was good this time. Carmean made the finals and later placed fifth in a time of 59.36 seconds.

Legacy Christian Academy of Andover won its second consecutive Class 1A girls' golf team title, topping BOLD by 14 strokes. Freshman Kayla Ruf led the Lions and tied for 11th with a two-day score of 176, followed by eighth-grader Sophia Gray (177), junior Jillian Johnson (180) and junior Anna Cleveland (185). Johnson led the team in Wednesday's second round with an 85 at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker.

Connor Wilkie: It was a good day

With the stroke of both pen and jump shot, Andover senior Connor Wilkie enjoyed a historic day in his sports life. On Feb. 5, Wilkie took part in a morning signing day ceremony, inking a national letter of intent to play quarterback at Southwest Minnesota State. Later in the evening, Wilkie took the basketball court at Blaine just seven points shy of 1,000 for his career. Proving good things come in threes, Wilkie drained a trio of three-pointers to reach the milestone. He sparked Andover's victory with a career-high 30 points.

Rebels yell

The Champlin Park gymnastics team posted a program-best score to win the Class 2A, Section 5 meet. The Rebels' mark of 142.725 beat out the eight-year-old record of 141.975. Freshman Liz Hammond posted her second-highest all-around of the season with a 37.05 and qualified for the state meet in all five events. Sophomore Taylor Guckeen set new personal bests in uneven bars, beam and vault. Her floor exercise score tied her own school record. She set a new team all-around record, besting Hammond's 37.1 with a 37.125. Guckeen qualified for state in every individual event except vault.

Friends and battery mates, Anoka pitcher Megan Lindenfelser and catcher Dayja Rosario relished leading the Tornadoes to their first softball state tournament. Anoka made program history by defeating Forest Lake in the Class 3A, Section 7 championship game. The Rangers' final out, a fly ball to shortstop Amber Elliot, triggered an emotional outburst. "I turned and saw Dayja, on the edge of the crowd, with her face in her hands, crying," said Lindenfelser, Anoka's ace. The only two seniors in the lineup embraced. The Tornadoes won the third-place trophy at state.