Minnetonka junior Lucille Hoelscher carried the baton and the flu on her anchor leg of the Skippers' 4x800-meter relay last weekend at the Class 2A state track and field championships.
Sickness ended her day early, but not until she helped maintain the Skippers' status as rulers of the grueling race. Minnetonka's 4x800 relay teams have run to glory eight times in 13 championship races since 2003 and have not lost at the state meet in the past four years.
Guts were required by every runner, but Hoelscher's performance stirred coach Jane Reimer Morgan.
"She was throwing up on Friday but she told the trainer she could do it," Reimer Morgan said. "After the 4x800 she was done for the day. But I couldn't be more proud of her."
Younger sister Grace Hoelscher ran the first leg, followed by Marla Bailey and Meghan Janssen. Lucille Hoelscher crossed the finish line at 9 minutes, 10.59 seconds, a full second before runner-up Bemidji.
Door closes, another opens
Last year at this time, A.J. Petterson was still chasing his dream of playing professional baseball. Petterson, a former Gopher, spent four years in the Twins organization, advancing as far as Class AA baseball before deciding to hang up the spikes.
For the Chanhassen baseball program, Petterson's timing was perfect. With a flexible schedule provided by a new career as a real estate agent, Petterson took over as coach for the Storm and guided Chanhassen to its first state tournament berth. Chanhassen will play St. Michael-Albertville in the Class 3A quarterfinals Thursday at CHS Field in St. Paul.
"I was pretty lucky," Petterson said. "This team was pretty good when I got here and I've got a great staff around me."
