Talented and smart.

Thursday, December 09, 1999

Talented and smart.

That’s the best way to describe the 1999 Albert Lea High School girls’ soccer team, according to coach Dawn Conzemius.

&uot;This year’s team had many honors with academics along with athletics,&uot; said Conzemius, whose varsity team finished 8-8 in the Big Nine Conference and 9-10 overall.

Among the academic award winners was Jess Hanson, who was honored by the Big Nine for excellence in the classroom while participating in soccer. Hanson and Katie Hutchison received the Minnesota Soccer Coaches Association Academic Excellence Award for the highest grade point average on the team.

&uot;We had many girls receive the honor of maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher,&uot; said Conzemius. &uot;This says a lot about our team and the place that they will have in society in the years to come.&uot;

On the field, the 1999 Tigers overcame a great deal of adversity – something the coach feels will benefit the girls in the future.

&uot;This year’s varsity team had many obstacles,&uot; said Conzemius. &uot;These obstacles proved to make them a solid team near the end of the season. The team was able to learn many valuable lessons not only in the game of soccer, but in real life.

&uot;It was a difficult obstacle to overcome, but once we were past the hill, our team was more connected than ever. I am hoping that our players will take what they learned this season about oneness and begin the season next year on a high note.&uot;

Conzemius said this year’s Tigers were an all-around talented team, which made the awards difficult to determine.

Award winners were: Stacy Vanderploeg, Most Improved Defense; Laura Olson, Most Improved Offense; Amy Ravenhorst, Most Valuable Offense and all-conference; Megan Levisen, Most Valuable Defense and honorable mention all-conference; Jenny Elseth, Team Spirit and Coaches Award; Kim DeYoung, Most Valuable Player and all-conference; Jess Hanson, honorable mention all-conference; Stephanie Sigurdson, Most Valuable Player Junior Varsity.

DeYoung and Amy Jacobson, the 1999 captains, handed over leadership of the 2000 squad to Hutchison and Elseth.

Conzemius said she feels good about the Tigers’ future based on their returning players and the development and success of the C-squad under coach Kristy Kenis and the junior varsity under Todd Lange.

&uot;This was the first year that it has been a close competition between the junior varsity and varsity,&uot; said Conzemius. &uot;Many of the players were even able to swing up and play a few varsity games. This is an exciting fact for the years to come. We’ll be fitted with valuable, talented athletes.&uot;