Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Alpine Ski - do you want to race downhill?!

We are exploring the opportunity to add Alpine (downhill) Ski to our list of Charter Stars sports at Great River School! Emma Piorier (Junior in the A3 program) is an experienced racer who has skied at Welch Village for a long time. Because she already has experience and has formed relationships with Welch Village, we will be using that as our preferred site for the 2015/16 school year.

Here are details to help you make a decision about participating:
  • Link to Welch Village website: http://www.welchvillage.com/
  • Right now each racer would need to set up their own practice plan through Welch Village. That means purchase of a season pass, membership in Welch's Junior D Team Racing program, and/or membership in Welch's USSA Alpine Team.
  • If we have enough participants (3-4 minimum), we will explore the option of setting our own practice days/times at Welch Village. This is dependent on finding a practice run at Welch Village that we can use in order to keep initial costs lower.
  • The Coach is Matt McElrath, GRS Dean of Students. He will accompany skiers to races. He will also run practices if we set our own practice schedule.
  • We will develop a race schedule that will include a handful of races against other high school teams (probably 3-6 races total). It will include the Welch Village Invitational and Sections (Feb. 3 at Giants Ridge).
Races are hosted by other high schools throughout the Twin Cities. Skiers need to participate in a minimum of three races throughout the season in order to qualify for Sections. If you/your student joins the team, the expectation is that they will participate in our full race schedule once it is developed.

What Great River will provide:
  • Coach Matt McElrath
  • Membership in the MN State High School League
  • Practice schedule if there are enough participants
  • Race schedule
What the individual racer/family will provide:
  • All equipment (skis, poles, boots, goggles, helmet, etc.)
  • Transportation
  • Access to Welch Village for training/practicing (see above)
  • Lift tickets on race days (e.g., Afton Alps, Giants Ridge, Buck Hill)
Because the high school Alpine Ski season starts on Monday, Nov. 9, we need to move relatively quickly. If you/your student is interested in participating, please email Ilse Larsen at ilarsen@greatriverschool.org by no later than Friday, Oct. 16. Feel free to email Ilse, Matt (mmcelrath@greatriverschool.org), and/or Emma (epiorier@greatriverschool.org) with questions to help you make this decision!

Monday, September 21, 2015

Girls' Hockey - Interested in playing?

Did you know we have a Great River senior that plays on the Minnesota Blades high school hockey team? It's a team made up of players from all over St. Paul. Our Great River player's name is Mollie Duggan and she would love to have other Great River players join her on the team.

Find practice and game info on the St. Paul Public School website:
http://sports.spps.org/sport/hs/girls/varsity/hockey/2015-2016

If you don't play Hockey but love to watch it, come cheer on Molly and the team at this year's Senior Night! The game is January 9, 2016 at 7:30pm at Phalen Arena located at Johnson High School.

Get more info on joining the team from Athletic Director Ilse Larsen at coachilselarsen@gmail.com or from Mollie's parent, Cynthia Anderson at canderson@lindquist.com


Wolfpack Football Season Update!

Gabe Funke (A3) and Noah Hanson (A2) are special teams starters for the Wolfpack football cooperative formed with St. Paul Academy, Blake, and Minnehaha Academy this year. Gabe also plays linebacker and Noah is the starting JV Quarterback. Gabe is #25 and Noah is #81 in the photos below. 

The Wolfpack are 5-0 this season, sitting atop the Twin Cities Gold District. They beat previously unbeaten St. Paul Harding 57-21. The Wolfpack football team was ranked the #11 AAAAA team in the state last week by the Associated Press. 

Their next game is against St. Paul Como H. S. on Friday, Sept. 25th at 7:00pm at The Blake School in Hopkins. Go Wolfpack!



Cheerleading Tryouts - Date set!

The Charter Stars Cheerleading team welcomes back Coach Morrison this year!

  • Our team cheers for the Charter Stars Girls' and Boys' Varsity Basketball teams - home games and some away games
  • Home games are at Metro Deaf School in St. Paul (1471 Brewster St., St. Paul 55108)
  • Pre-tryout practice is Tuesday, Nov. 17
  • Tryouts are Thursday, Nov. 19
  • Cheer roster announced on Friday, Nov. 20
  • Practices start on Monday, Nov. 23!
Practice and game schedule can be found on the Online Athletics Calendar!
http://www.emaconference.org/g5-bin/client.cgi?G5genie=70&school_id=781

Have more questions? Contact Coach Morrison at jmorrison@twincitiesacademy.org

GO STARS!!