Como swimmers return to state meet

Swimmers return to State Meet
The success and depth of the Cougar boys’ swim team was evident in the pool and on the podium at the Section 4A Meet held on Feb. 24. Beyond the individual events, there are three relay races in high school swimming and Como qualified for state in all three of them.
Representatives of Como at the state meet included seniors Gabe Napierala, Sig Isaacson and Charlie Power-Theisen, and juniors Kai Sackreiter, Kyle Kosiak and Oskar Helgen.

Nordic skier in State Meet
Talented Como freshman Henry Simmons had an outstanding Nordic Ski season that concluded at the Minnesota State Meet at Giants Ridge in Biwabik on Feb. 16. Simmons also earned all-conference in the Twin Cities Nordic Conference.
History Day winners
11th grade students at Como completed and presented their History Day Research Projects at the end of the first semester. Four projects were chosen for the St. Paul Regional Competition to be held on March 18 at Johnson High School.
In the exhibit category, Melanie Flores was selected for her work on soccer legend Pele. In the virtual exhibit category, Destiny Streeter was chosen for her research on Pablo Escobar.
In the website category, Como qualifiers include Paw Gay Say and Zariya Gemeda for Anne Frank, and Luke Glad and Zak Ahmed Nur for Augustus Caesar.

Spring musical
Como Park’s Theatre Department will present three performances of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling B-E-E Musical Show” from March 17-18. Friday night’s show will be at 7:00 p.m. Saturday will include a 2:00 matinee and a 7:00 performance.
The cast and crew have been working hard under the direction of Siri Keller and Suzanne Myhre. Senior Emerson Spencer said, “it’s an entertaining show and the characters are pretty funny.” The community is invited and encouraged to attend. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults.

JROTC busy as ever
Fifty-two Marine Corps JROTC cadets participated in a winter retreat focused on accountability, leadership, courage and teamwork. During three cold February days, in-town adventures included winter camping at Fort Snelling State Park, discussions with the Department of Natural Resources staff, and a visit to the State Capitol before heading north to Camp Shamineau in Motley, Minn. Activities on the shores of Lake Shamineau involved a low ropes obstacle course, ice wall climbing, zip lining, winter skills training, tent construction, leather designing skills, bonfires and more. Sgt. Major James Kirkland said, “throughout the numerous hours of training, morale was high at all times!”
JROTC Drill teams have also been participating in competitions. An Upper Midwest Meet was held at Cretin-Derham Hall with 11 other JROTC programs from Minnesota and surrounding states. Cadet Chi Say led her team to a first-place finish. Como’s “Close Order Drilling” team traveled to Indiana for another Regional Meet for the first time in program history, where they placed in four out of the eight events.