Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

Didn’t I just do one of these?

With the winter sports season stretching over a five-month period, I’m still a little unprepared to have the spring activities over and done with so quickly. The schedules for boys and girls track did all they could, but even those had a difficult time including four months of the calendar.

Nevertheless, there are always moments or events that stick in my memory, so without any more ramblings, let’s begin the Spring Top 5 List.

Actually, like jell-o, there’s always room for ramblings, and I need to state a few of the standard disclaimers:

I wish I could include everyone, but that would take out some of the joy and incredible prestige that comes with being on this list. Where I noticed a big difference is in the more “individual” sports. Watching 7th grader Dusty Boyer absolutely crush upperclassmen on the tennis court was always entertaining, but there wasn’t one particular example that I could include in the top 5.

Same goes with both the boys and girls golf teams. Running between different holes to take pictures tends to eliminate my chances of seeing a miraculous shot (although I did see Kyle Lewis drop an enormous putt at state, which was followed by Laurel Pelton’s eagle on the very same hole), or capturing the entire squad revelling in a team win.

OK, no more jell-o...

5. BASEBALL: Covering the Rangers at Schumacher Field is a fairly easy job requirement, and with it comes the opportunity to observe the sport’s unique culture.

Chatter is a staple of the game, so noise from the Forest Lake dugout is generally considered helpful. The interesting part is that somewhere along the line, names have been scrapped, so everyone is either called “Kid,” or teammates and coaches just use the player’s uniform number.

“Whatysay, two-four, whatysay kid,” is a perfect example of baseball jargon.

I also heard one Ranger do his part to keep the chatter alive by simply yelling, “I’m sittin’ in my chair here, I’m sittin’ in my chair!”

I did say generally helpful, right?

Standing near the team during the season’s midway point, I heard another player confess to a friend, “I still don’t know all the signs.”

Throw in head coach Brian Raabe’s steady comments to “stay back,” and “find a way,” and what goes on outside the white lines is guaranteed to make for an amusing evening.

4. SOFTBALL: This might turn out to be a brief explanation, but these girls were just exciting to watch. It took the state’s top programs to truly beat Angie Ryan’s squad, and the Rangers never believed they were out of any contest.

Much like the girls basketball team from last winter, this group simply played hard, and when that didn’t work, they would play harder. Some big contributors graduated on June 7, but there is plenty of ability coming back in 2008.

3. SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING: With a lot of girls doing double duty from last fall’s swim team, I guess I should have expected this crew to make it into the top 5.

Before the season began I knew little about this sport. And not that I know much now, I should admit that it was not what I envisioned.

I thought there would be an abundance of routines set to classical music, as the other athletes waited quietly and nervously for their turn to perform — like more of how I picture a figure skating competition, only the water had failed to freeze.

Instead I saw probably the liveliest atmosphere of the spring.

Routine after routine, as one group performed, the remaining swimmers surrounded one end of the pool and cheered throughout the song. It wouldn’t matter if it was swimmers from their school or not.

At the other end of the pool, the next team to hit the water would be dancing to the current, hip-hop music, full of smiles and cracking each other up.

The meets felt more like a pool party rather than a competition full of the state’s best.

2. GIRLS 400-METER RELAY: Kelsey Kosman, Kristie Miller, Adri Acosta and Kristi Buerkle made their first official appearance as a foursome at the True Team Section meet in early May. From that race on, they would set records and eventually take seventh place at state.

The first day of the experiment was something to see.

In Kosman’s opening 100 meters, the stagger disappeared a lot faster than it should have, and then she handed off to Miller. When Miller clocked the fastest split of the four, it was apparent that it was going to get ugly for the other relay teams.

Acosta took the baton and zipped around the second turn to set up Buerkle, who was now going to hit the straightaway with a huge lead.

When these two executed the handoff, there was a split-second where a decelerating Acosta was coming right up on Buerkle. A blink later and Buerkle was at full speed, already 30 meters down the track.

The girls would set a school record with a time of 49.61, but watching from the infield, the Frequent Flyers looked a lot faster than that.

1. TYLER KLEINHUIZEN: Oddly enough, my highlight from the spring didn’t occur while Kleinhuizen was winning the shot put competition at the state track and field meet. It came during a low-key affair at Woodbury in mid-May.

The way Woodbury’s pit was set up, I could stand at the end — beyond the short, wood barrier that stops the shot from rolling forever — and take pictures of Kleinhuizen, Matt Schwartz and Kenny Klein. After each competitor threw, their heavy metal ball would be placed in the grass so the thrower could come to the back and grab it.

The only problem with this standard arrangement is that Kleinhuizen had grown too big for this sandbox. While athletes from other schools were walking over to get their shot, Kleinhuizen’s throws were sailing to the back of the pit, and then whack the wood barrier like a speed bump, before traveling down the small decline and into the weeds.

As one heave whacked and rolled over the barrier, the previous thrower jogged over to get his shot. Along the way, he had to avoid Tyler’s latest effort as Kleinhuizen’s ball made its way down the hill.

The young man glanced at Tyler, gave me a defeated look and said exactly what I was thinking.

“That is just ridiculous.”

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