Prep athletes of the week: Red Wing girls' hockey star on scoring tear since gold-medal win

It's been a pretty incredible run so far in 2107 for the speedy junior forward and future Gopher.

She began January by winning a gold medal for the second consecutive year as a member of Team USA, which won the women's 18-U world championships in the Czech Republic.

"It's been pretty amazing to get the chance to play with pretty much the best players anywhere and win the gold medal," Heise said. "And to be able to do it twice is even more than I could have hoped for."

Since her return, Heise has been on a scoring binge. She's scored goals in eight consecutive games and has had at least a hat trick in each of her last four. Despite missing two weeks to play with the national team, she's fourth in the state in goals with 45 and third in overall points with 69. So it's no surprise that the Wingers are 6-1-2 since her return and received the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A, Section 1 playoffs.

"We've really come together as a team and my teammates have been so supportive, no matter what happens," she said. "Our goal this year is to get back to the state tournament, but we can't look ahead. Our motto this year is 'The next game is our biggest game. Check your egos at the door.' "

The senior 152-pounder won his weight class and became the first four-time St. Paul City Conference champion Saturday. He improved to 30-3 on the season. He has won 120 matches in his career and is No. 7 in Class 2A at 152 according to ranking by www.theguillotine.com.

It was a big week for the senior 195-pounder. He improved to 24-0 on the season by pinning all four of his opponents, moving within one victory of reaching 100 for his career. He also committed to play football at Minnesota as a preferred walk-on.

A pair of victories lifted the Jaguars to a 14-3 record and into sole possession of first place in the Metro West Conference. Riemersma, a 6-8 center bound for the Naval Academy, scored 30 points in a 78-63 victory over Chanhassen and 28 in a 73-43 rout of Richfield.

NAOMI ROGGE

The defending Class 2A champs won three consecutive games last week – their longest such streak since late December – with the Ms. Hockey semifinalist providing the spark. She had seven goals, including two hat tricks, and two assists in victories over Wayzata, Farmington and Hopkins/Park.

The junior point guard led the Magic to victories over Princeton and North Branch and a near-upset of Delano. In three games, Todd scored 88 points — including 41 in the 88-81 loss to the Tigers — grabbed 20 rebounds, dished out 19 assists and made 10 steals.

JIM PAULSEN