2019 Fall Sports Review
Football- The HF Football team went 1-8 this season, beating Watertown Mayer, and losing to Mound, Dassel, Annandale, Glencoe, Litchfield (twice), Milaca, and New London. Middle linebacker Mark Roane led the team in tackles with 78. Northern Illinois football commit Seth Thompson tallied 60 tackles at defensive end, and countless big blocks at center. Formally a wide receiver, Nate Tinucci took over as quarterback after the starter, Jake Kirsch, went down in the first game. Tinucci gained 542 all purpose yards, with 5 touchdowns. Star running back Nick Hendler ran for 460 yards, caught 5 passes for 29 yards, and 3 rushing touchdowns. Wide receivers Chris Bauer, Then Foudray, and Lucas Lembke, along with backup running back Jakob Lenzemeier , combined for 339 receiving yards, and Lenzmeier and Bauer each scoring once. Injuries plagued the squad this year, with 8 starters being injured at some point in the year. Next year, Kirsch, Foudray, and Lenzemeier, along with other Juniors Thomas Guyer, Will Zay, Carver Kasper, Tyler Pettibone, Joey Richelson, Emiliano Corona, and Patrick “Megastorm” Mulheran will lead the Fire.
Volleyball- Going 1-20 this season, with one of the hardest schedules in the state, a showing of youth and veteran ship was a key. Senior Abby Smith led the team in kills, recording 148, with 20 aces, and combined with Kalie Dahl, had 43 blocks. Senior Kathryn Jans had an incredible 287 set assists on the season. Sophomores Tatum Hussey, Lizzie Guggemos, and Sophia Mackey combined for 154 kills, 51 aces, 310 digs, and 19 blocks. As the volleyball program boasts the most teams at HF with 4 (Varsity, JV, B, C), lots of middle schoolers are getting involved right now, along with high percentages of underclassmen participating as well.
Boys Cross Country- In one of the best cross country seasons in recent history, the boys team, led by Captain Tyler Franck and Ben Fink, acceded in the biggest meets. At the conference meet, Junior Pat Ricke paced the Fire with a 7th place finish, backed up by Fink, finishing 1 second later, giving the two all-conference honors. Franck, along with junior Jaden Lorenz, gained all-conference honorable mention honors. At the section meet, the Fire were projected to place in 3rd place, but only the top 2 team qualify for state.. This meant that all 4 of the top runners, along with Junior Greg Stoffel, had to run extremely well, and also hoping that Minnehaha Academy ran slowly. Coming out fast and toward the front as usual, Ricke lead the Fire, as the chance of qualifying became bigger and bigger by the step. All of a sudden, tragedy struck, as Pat stepped poorly and twisted his ankle, eventually being diagnosed as a sprain, which sadly took him out of the race, and the boys’ chance at state. Fink and Franck, in their final race, placed 23rd and 24th, respectively. Lorenz placed 4 spots later at 28, and Stoffel clocking in at 46th. Sophomores Matt Santini and Grant Hayes ran impressively at 56th and 77th place.
Girls Cross Country- With only 4 varsity runners, 3 of which are 9th graders or under, pushed along through the season. At the conference meet, freshman Ava Mettler came I, 20th place, and 8th grader Morgan Franck finished about a minute in a half later in 29th place. With senior captain Abbey Fink injured and not able to race, Dani Sutcliffe was the final finisher for the Fire in 32nd place. Mettler then became injured, leaving the middle schooler, Franck, and Sutcliffe, a freshman, as the only runners to race in the section race. Franck finished in 36nd impressively, with Sutcliffe in 61st. As coach Ron Hoffman continues to try to recruit more girl runners, the foundation of Mettler, Franck, and Sutcliffe appears ready to lead a new generation of girls cross country, and looks to take the 2022 state championship to Holy Family.
Boys Soccer- Going 8-4-2, the boys soccer team, led by Senior Captain Thomas Aragon-Menzel, Dan Parker, Ben Creager, and Bryce Richter, made it to the section finals. Creager led the team in scoring, with 15 goals. Junior Finn Dowling backed up Creager with 5 goals, and senior Casey Gets, junior Bishop Schugel, and sophomore Ryder Ferguson had 4 each. The strong defensive unit, led by Aragon-Menzel, included different combinations including Jack Bucholz, Sebastian Bojorquez-Rojas, Sam Bradley, Jared Larusso, and Anthony Olson, along with 2x all-state goalie Bryce Richter, recorded 4 clean sheets, allowing 1.1oo goals per game on average. Next year, the team will be led by Dowling, Schugel, and midfielder Gavin Lund.
Girls Soccer- With a heartbreaking section loss to Fairmont in overtime, the impressive 9-7 season with wins over teams like Chaska, DeLaSalle, and Monticello show the strength of this squad, which finished in the top half of the WCC standings. Sophomore Maeve Kelly lead the team with 14 goals, playing alongside fellow hockey player, captain Caitlin Rock, who had 7 assists. Being nominated for the states girls soccer player of the week, Sydney Paulson 139 saves and a 1.51 goals against average. The defense of Kenzie Pavelka, Janielle Stanoch, Maggie Rothstein, Katie Anseth, and Noelle Trombley played exceptionally this season, allowing little to no one past them. Next year, the midfield corps of Junior Sophie Paul, freshman Mimi Pavelka, Hailey Pavelka, Mary Furlong, and 8th grader Kate Bucholz, is on pace to lead the team next year to an impressive season.