Another year of Trojan sports wraps up

By: 
Chuck Kajer, The New Prague Times

Another year of New Prague High School sports ends this weekend with four Trojan athletes competing at the State Track and Field meet at Hamline University in St. Paul.

It was an interesting year with 12 of the Trojan coaches either in their first or second year at the helm of their programs. There were also some growing pains, as hockey, wrestling and soccer teams moved up to the highest class for the post-season, meaning they were no longer the big kids on the block, a distinction they had enjoyed for several years.

In the fall, there was excitement as new coaches in football and boys and girls soccer worked to build up their team after several down years. In the winter, boys and girls basketball and girls hockey had mixed levels of success throughout the year, while the dance team showed signs of improvement in competing against the bigger schools and the wrestling team was ranked No. 12 in the state, but had the misfortune of being in the same section as the top two ranked teams in the state (Shakopee and Apple Valley) and another top 12 team (Prior Lake) in arguably the toughest section in the state.

And in the spring, second year coaches Anna Borwege and Sean DuBe’ had their teams competing at a high level in the post-season in softball and baseball, while first year coaches Ben Hilding (boys tennis) and Steffi Neisen (girls golf) worked to build up their programs for the future.

The Trojan girls swim team also had a memorable season, competing for the first time in their home pool at the New Prague Aquatic Center. Hayden DeGross won an exciting race to win the conference cross country meet and the boys hockey team had a good showing in its first Class AA playoff game, staging a rally that came up short in a loss to Prior Lake.

The Trojans sent a runner (DeGross) to state in cross country and the Trojan gymnastics and wrestling teams sent athletes to state as well as the four track and field athletes scheduled to compete this weekend. The New Prague adapted floor hockey and softball teams both qualified for state.

Throughout the season, The Times has tried to give good coverage, with both stories and photos, for each of these teams. We rely on coaches to get us the information and for the most part they have done so in a timely manner. We want to thank coaches for their work during the past season, and look forward to working with the returning coaches and also the new coaches during the 2018-19 season.

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