Prep Sports Notebook: Individuals take home the trophies, even if teams don’t

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By MATTHEW DAVIS

When state team trophies don’t roll in by the trophy case, individual athletes can still bring home state tourney hardware for their respective schools with individual-oriented sports.

Badminton

Kia Vang and Sheng Vang of Como Park gave the Cougars at least one state title for the spring season during May.

The Vangs won the state badminton doubles title last month in defeating Johnson’s Julie Her and Kar Bao Xiong 10-21, 21-9, 21-17 in Eden Prairie. Before the state tournament, the Cougars tandem beat another Johnson pair for the St. Paul City Conference doubles title. The Vangs won 21-9, 21-7 over Kao Soua Yang and Xai Chang.

Bowling

For state adapted bowling, Kayla Kellerman came five points shy of a state championship in second place for the girls physically impaired division. Kellerman bowled a 467 for her two games while state champion Emily Rettinger from Simley had 472. The Cougars ninth-grader scored 230 in her first game and had a 237 in game two.

Como Park thirdPhoto left: Como Park’s Valentino Diaz (second from the left) finished third in adapted state bowling tournament boys cognitively impaired division on May 15. (Photo by Matthew Davis)

Como’s Valentino Diaz finished third in the boys cognitively impaired division on May 15. Diaz bowled a 449 in his two games with a 218 in the first game and a 232 in the second. The Como junior finished just a point behind second place at Brunswick Zone in Brooklyn Park.

Two Thousand, a freshman at Como, likewise took third in boys physically impaired division with a 446 in two games. Thousand bowled his best in game one with a 221 and then a 225 in the second game.

Tennis

Nathan Parson represented Como in the Class AA boys tennis singles tournament on June 4-5 at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center. Parson won the Section 4AA tournament as the No. 1 seed in defeating Ryan Meger of Mahtomedi 6-2, 6-2.

Track

Similarly, Trevon Clay competed for the Cougars in a state tournament this month in three events for the boys track team. Clay won the Section 4AA title in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.29 seconds to land a spot in the Class AA state meet on June 4-5 at Hamline University. He also finished at the top for the 300 hurdles in 38.53.

In addition to hurdles, Clay came in second in the long jump at 44-1.50 to earn a spot in state. Clay also earned a conference title in the event earlier in May as he did in both hurdling events.

Central had one boys Class AA state entrant with Jakobi Jackson. He ran a 49.92 in the 400 to finish second.

Baseball

Team sports in the area have seen some success this spring too. Como baseball went 12-5 for the regular season and took second in the conference. The Cougars also battled their way through the consolation bracket to reach the final four of the 4AA tournament.

Central finished just a half game back of the Cougars in the conference standing but fell in the first round of the 4AA to DeLaSalle.

Softball

For softball, Como took the conference title with an 11-1 league record in a tie with Highland Park. The Cougars faced a brutal 4AA field with Visitation and Minnehaha, two teams that had three regular season losses between them. Como fell twice to Minnehaha by a run in the double elimination tourney.Central came in third for the conference at 8-4. The Minutemaids had a quick exit in sectionals with a first-round loss to St. Croix Lutheran.

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