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TOP FIVE1. HEARTBREAK: A chance at consecutive NCAA Division II national championships came to a shocking end for the Winona State University men’s basketball team when it lost 77-75 to Barton (N.C.) on March 24 at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass.
The Warriors led by seven points with 45 seconds to play, but the Bulldogs outscored them 10-1 down the stretch to steal the victory.
Barton’s Anthony Atkinson stole the ball from WSU’s Zach Malvik with about three seconds remaining and beat the buzzer with a layup for the win. Atkinson scored the Bulldogs’ final 10 points.
The loss ended the Warriors’ winning streak at 57 games, which established a Division II record.
2. WIN-ONA! Winona High’s football team put an end to a long losing streak when it won its season opener Aug. 31.
The Winhawks beat Maple River 33-6 to snap a 37-game losing streak that lasted four full seasons. WSHS had not won a game since beating Albert Lea 28-0 on Oct. 16, 2002.
Chad Peterson scored three touchdowns to lead the Winhawks. The junior running back ran for a 41-yard touchdown and caught scoring passes of 45 and 68 yards from Joe Zimbric.
It was the only win of the season for WSHS.
2. CROWNING DAY: Four area athletes won Minnesota state track and field championships June 8 at Hamline University in St. Paul.
Winona High’s Elliott Heath started it by winning the 3,200 meters in Class AA, defending his title from the previous year. Heath set a Class AA state meet record with at time of 9 minutes, 2.65 seconds.
Michelle Potter added a second title for the Winhawks, winning the Class AA discus title. Potter’s winning throw was 146 feet, 9 inches and came in her first attempt.
Cotter’s Donny Wasinger later won the 3,200 in Class A, finishing in 9:24.88, while Rushford-Peterson’s Melissa Smith capped the day with a Class A state title in the discus with a throw of 141-0.
4. ONE OF THE BEST: Wabasha-Kellogg’s Zach Sanders wrapped up his high school career March 3 by winning his fifth consecutive state championship.
Sanders scored a technical fall — 27-12 in 4 minutes, 29 seconds — over Breckenridge’s Spencer Beech to capture the title at 119 pounds.
Among his impressive career stats, Sanders won his final 124 matches and finished No. 1 in the history of Minnesota in winning percentage (97.8), going 223-5.
Sanders later added a national championship March 31 when he beat California’s Nikko Priggas 7-6 to win a title at 119 pounds at the National High School Coaches Association Senior Nationals wrestling meet in Virginia Beach, Va.
5. WHAT A RUN: Winona High’s boys basketball team put together a run to remember in the postseason and reached the state tournament for the first time since 1979.
The Winhawks started the playoffs with a 10-13 record but won three games in a row to reach the Class AAA state tournament.
WSHS opened the postseason with a 60-49 win over Waseca, then beat ALbert Lea 54-39 and Austin 51-34.
Things didn’t go great once the Winhawks reached state, where they lost 54-26 to top-ranked St. Thomas Academy.
BEST OF THE REST6. CENTURY MARK: Winona State football coach Tom Sawyer earned his 100th career coaching victory Oct. 13 when his Warriors beat Northern State 49-20 at Maxwell Field. Sawyer is 104-36 in 12 seasons.
7. SWIMMING FAST: Winona High’s Abbey Staats became the school’s first female state swimming champion Nov. 17 when she won the Class AA title in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.54 seconds.
8. QUITE A STRETCH: Elliott Heath, a graduate of WSHS, won the 5,000 meters at the USA junior championships in June and took second in the 5,000 meters in July at the Pan American Junior Championships in San Paulo, Brazil.
Heath finished the race in 14:34.06, nine tenths of a second behind Mexico’s Diego Borrego of Mexico.
9. COLLEGE BOUND: Cotter’s Jenny Gilbertson and Winona High’s Chari Lehnertz both signed to play basketball at Division I programs a day apart in mid-November. Gilbertson will play at Kansas State and Lehnertz at Rhode Island.
10. GRAN DAY: Led by running back Zach Gran, Caledonia’s football team beat Luverne 14-7 on Nov. 23 to win the Class AA state championship. Gran rushed for 151 yards and scored the winning TD on a screen pass in the third quarter.
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