Prep athletes of the week: Forest Lake's Boyer finally gets state tennis title

It took a little longer than he might have expected, but Toby Boyer finally got that state championship.

Boyer rolled over close friend Josh Gearou of Elk River 6-0, 6-2 in the Class 2A singles final, completing an undefeated season and finally getting over the hump after losing heartbreaking three-set matches in the finals in 2013 and 2014.

"I had a chance to win three in a row, but the other guys outplayed me those days. But this year I was confident in my game," Boyer told the Star Tribune.

Boyer did not lose a set in the state tournament, beating Chase Johnson of Hopkins, Jessie Aney of Rochester Century (Aney's only loss of the season) and Jackson Allen of Shakopee en route to his victory.

His high school career complete, Boyer is off to join older brother Dusty (Minnesota's only four-time high school singles champion) at Nebraska, for which he signed a national letter of intent in November.

The senior completed a historic high school career, becoming just the fourth boy in state history to win three consecutive singles championships with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over teammate Ben Ingbar in the Class 1A finals. He completed his career 96-4 during the regular season.

Battling a bad back, the senior pitcher shut down Anoka's offense in a 2-1 victory over the Tornadoes in the Class 3A championship game, holding them to one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts. She went 3-0 in the tournament with a 0.67 ERA, 24 strikeouts and only two walks.

The junior smashed the oldest remaining girls' state track and field meet record with a victory in the Class 2A 800-meter run. Her time of 2:06.50 was more than 1.5 seconds better than the previous record of 2:08.24, set in 1984 by Jeanne Kruckeberg of Blooming Prairie.

A five-year varsity veteran, the senior outfielder was an offensive catalyst for the Eagles in their run to the Class 1A state championship. In three games, she went 7-for-11 at the plate, had a .667 on-base percentage, scored four runs and made five putouts in center field.

SAM ZENNER

The senior finished his only season as a high school track athlete in style, taking home three gold medals at the Class 2A state meet. He won the 100-meter dash in a time of 10.84 and anchored Eagan's winning 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay teams.

JIM PAULSEN