Sports

The Centennial High School Varsity Cheerleaders were honored Jan. 28 at the Minnesota State Cheer Competition with the Regional Academic Honors (RAH) award , for having the highest team GPA - 3.75 - in the metro area. That also ranks them second in the state. Shown are (front row from left) Mackenzie Crowley, Shannon Gehring, Sarah DeBoer, Tiffany Freiermuth, Blaire Dallman and Miss Teen Minnesota Rachael Lichtenberg; and back row from left Katy Berise, Amber Jonason , Daryan Naatjes, Shelby Lahlum , Julie Thielman and Morgan Feela. The team is coached by Alyssa Lane.

The Centennial High School wrestling team had a successful week last week, blasting Park Center 52-9 and Osseo 48-22 at an away meet and finishing second at the Eden Prairie Invite with 199 team points.

 The Centennial girls hockey team extended its unbeaten string to eight games this past week with a pair of Northwest Suburban Conference triumphs over Robbinsdale Armstrong and Blaine.

CIRCLE PINES - The Cougar gymnasts remain undefeated in their conference as of Jan. 20.

Centennial High School seniors Mitch Ledin and Kristen Nordby have been nominated for the Academics, Arts and Athletics Award, school Activities Director Brian Hegseth announced last week.

The Cougars traveled north to Hibbing to compete in a two-day dual meet tournament.  Teams competing at the Hibbing Invite included: Bemidji, Centennial, Chisago Lakes, Hibbing, Nashwauk-Keewatin-Greeway, Princeton, and Virginia. The Varsity (4-0) and the Junior Varsity both earned first place at the Hibbing Duals.

The Centennial girls basketball squad rebounded from a loss to Park Center earlier in the week, with an exciting victory over Champlin Park last Friday night.

When you take a look a look back each year at the accomplishments of the Centennial Senior athletic teams, you get an annual reminder of just how successful the entire athletic program is.

It is the season of giving, but that usually doesn't transfer very well to prep sports.

The Centennial High School bowling team, playing in conjunction with Concordia Academy, defeated 23 other teams to take first in the Minnesota High School Bowling 2011 Varsity State Tournament in Alexandria Dec. 3. In the front row from left are Daniel Wood, Brenna Classen and Eric Wing; in back from left are Andrew Perrine, Ryan Dion, team captain Dylan Crane and coach Theresa Schroeder.

The Centennial girls basketball squad improved to 4-0 in the Northwest Suburban Conference by slapping a 72-25 loss on visiting Blaine Friday night.

CIRCLE PINES - The Centennial boys wrestling team used a pin from heavyweight Andrew Gustafson in the final match of the night to beat Anoka 35-33, completing a dramatic come-from-behind victory Thursday night.

On Dec. 9 the Cougars continued their wrestling season by traveling to Maple Grove to take on a North West Suburban Conference and Section 5AAA foe. The Cougars managed a 48-22 win, though the final score is a bit deceiving as the Crimson forfeited three weight classes, giving the Cougars 18 team points (6 for each forfeit). The evening started slowly as both Michael Mischke (113)and Matthew Mulberry (106) were soundly defeated, putting the Crimson up 9-0. The middle weights made a run with Austin Miller, Amakale Tilleskjor, Nate Stott and Jordan Thompson picking up victories to swing the dual in Centennial's direction. Will Noll, Justice Davis, and Andrew Gustafson all picked up pins at the top of the lineup to finish out the dual.

Kahla Becken has made a smooth transition from prep to collegiate women’s basketball. The former Centennial Senior High multi-sport standout is averaging 7.6 ppg. for North Dakota State University. — Photo courtesy NDSU Athletic Department

CIRCLE PINES - Showing off its explosive offense, the Centennial boys hockey team began its season with a dominating 8-3 home victory last Thursday, Dec. 1over Champlin Park.

CIRCLE PINES - Ben LaMere was named Most Valuable Offensive player and Jake Moseng was cited Defensive Player of the Year for the Centennial football team this season.

MINNEAPOLIS - The Centennial Cougar swim and dive team finished its competitive season Nov. 19 with a 24th-place finish at the Minnesota State High School League tournament at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

HUGO - University of Minnesota head women's cross country coach Gary Wilson pulled the plug on his vision of a cross country track at Hugo's 125-acre Irish Avenue Park hours before a subcommittee formed to explore the idea was to meet for the second time.

STILLWATER — The Cougars are fast approaching the end of a very successful season, most recently placing second of eight teams at the 4AA Section Tournament held Nov. 10 to 12 at Stillwater Junior High School. Next up: six Cougars head to the state tourney at the University of Minnesota Nov.17 and 19.

CIRCLE PINES — The packed house at Centennial got a match for the ages Nov. 2 as the Cougars edged out Totino-Grace, taking the fifth set 15-5 after exchanging wins with the Eagles in the section 5AAA semifinal contest.

It seemed only fitting that the Centennial girls soccer team would cap its memorable season with a victory.

ELK RIVER - The Centennial Cougar JV swim and dive team finished the 2011 season undefeated Oct. 29 at Vanderberge Junior High in Elk River, while the varsity team will participate in section and state competition this month.

The Centennial girls tennis team team celebrates after winning the Northwest Suburban Conference for the second year in a row, going undefeated 17-0. The team then won two more matches, but lost to Mounds View 5-2 in the Section 5A championship to finish the season 19-1. Players are Melissa Barnett, Megan Bona, Jasmin Bretoi, Katelynn Brintz, Kelly Jachymowski, Emily Johnson, Courtney Klair, Katie Lincoln, Taylor Loch, Meghan Longen, Danielle Olson, Caroline Porter, Faith Schmidt, Brooke Schutta, Jenna Sundstrom, Maggie Sundstrom, Alex Tangen and Paige Waytashek. Coach is Arnie Lamers.