SPORTS WRAP
Left to right: Owatonna’s Micah Gentz, Lowell Schultz and Carson Van Gelder smile with some cereal donated for Give Week. The Huskies’ Give Week helps support Community Pathways in town. Photo courtesy Casie Devos
Owatonna High School’s Give Week was bigger and better than ever.
“It shows that students can make an impact on our community even though we’re younger and we don’t have as much experience as adults do,” said senior Noelle Kubicek of the student council.
Senior Ava Cox says new ideas were implemented including a chuck-a-duck fundraiser and band-aid collection to donate to Community Pathways. “At our meeting we had a student council member say, ‘Hey. We could do this.’ Yeah. It’s a good idea. So, we acted on it. I honestly think this could be done years in the future too because of the turnout.”
Council president and senior Ayoub Farah told Owatonna Live, “From elementary school to middle school to high school, they all rallied around our community.”
Tying in the elementaries and St. Mary’s was new. “Deep down we knew that elementary schools are a bit more charitable than high school students because we know that parents will more likely be involved.”
Farah put out a challenge to next year’s high schoolers after losing the cereal box count, “Next year our goal is to beat Washington.”
The pep fest had a twist said senior Amal Mohamed. “We did something unique which was introducing club presidents instead of sports captains. It showed how everybody’s involved at OHS and it makes our school so great.”
Junior Andrew Selbrade joined student council on a whim, but found it to be a great choice. “I think someone should join if they want to try to improve as a leader, try to help out other people. It is a big thing to help out around your community and your school.”
Many local charities benefitted from Give Week activities, which included a day of volunteering. “It was nice seeing how happy the elders were to have their lawns (raked),” Selbrade said.
Owatonna will host the state convention for Minnesota student council. Senior Anna Hilgendorf says, “We’ve come together with councils from other towns. We plan things. See how they’re doing with their things at other schools. State is a bigger version of that. We’re really excited to be hosting that this year.”
Circle these dates
Jan. 6 – OHS girls hockey hosts Mankato East after a road loss in early December. The Huskies need a win to stay in contention in the Big Nine race.
Jan. 12 – OHS adaptive floor hockey has their annual game at Federated Gym. This usually features the pep band and cheerleaders. The puck drops at 4:30 p.m.
Jan. 13-16 – Huskies boys hoops entertains Rochester Mayo and Mankato East. Can OHS stay close to the top of the conference while tangling with these favorites?
Jan. 20 – OHS girls basketball hosts Northfield. The Raiders won in late November. Northfield continues to be the team that many athletes tell me is the Huskies greatest rival. After the volleyball and football results this fall, plus a girls hockey contest and wrestling meet this winter, the Raiders have most of the bragging rights currently.
Jan. 22 – Final chance to see the defending state champion OHS gymnastics squad at home as they perform at the old high school against the Mankato schools.
Jan. 23 – Blooming Prairie boys basketball hosts Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. Each team enters the new year atop their division of the Gopher Conference.
Jan. 27 – Huskies boys hockey hosts Waseca, the first meeting between the Highway 14 neighbors since the 2008-09 season. The Bluejays are ranked 20th in Class A.
Jan. 29 – In wrestling, Albert Lea might be the Huskies biggest traditional rival. The Tigers will come to OHS with new coach Preston Nelson, son of 1989 Owatonna grad Gregg Nelson, who is the longtime coach at Adrian High School.
Jan. 31 – Due to a scheduling quirk, Owatonna dance team doesn’t host a competition this season. However, the annual community show features the high school performances plus students from the youth programs in town.