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RPThursday, March 1, 2012 14 sports Bremer chooses the gridiron, gives up the slopes Harry Orenstein Staff Reporter
Photo provided by Shari Bremer
Photo provided by Shari Bremer
Top: Bremer stares down an opposing offense. On the field, he is known for his tenacity and “mean” attitude. Below: Bremer displays his graceful side, cutting across a slope and kicking up powder.
Ever since Brett Bremer, senior, was three, alpine skiing has been a major part of his life. Throughout his high school career, he won numerous awards, including all-section, all-conference, and all-state honors. Bremer was ranked in the top ten in 2009, qualified for the Junior Olympics, and was an alternate for the 15-16 year old national team. This past season, Bremer helped his team qualify for the state competition and finished 13th. Despite his success, he will not continue competitive skiing after high school. Even the best skiers in Minnesota rarely get division one scholarships to compete in college. “There are limited scholarships to begin with and they primarily go to Canadians and Europeans. If they don’t get them, they go to skiers on the east or west coast,” Bremer said. Bremer also participates in football. He started for the varsity team at defensive end and linebacker during his junior and senior years and will pursue football in college. “Brett is a guy that has a high motor with incredible speed and strength. Over the years, he’s turned into a great player,” said John DenHartog, head football coach. Bremer has been playing multiple sports his entire life, and has been encouraged to do so by his parents and coaches. “Football can only be played a few months in the year so we enjoy and encourage our players to play other sports,” DenHartog
said. “Balance relates directly to alpine. There is also a lot of core stability incorporated that he certainly benefits from on the field,” said Matt Sinderson, senior, varsity alpine captain, and football player. The training and skill sets for alpine and football have made Bremer a better overall athlete. After juggling these sports for years, Bremer decided that one football-specific factor helped him choose to continue his playing days beyond high school. “Football is a team sport while skiing is individual. On my alpine club team, we’re all really good friends but we don’t really care how each other does. In football we are a unit, which I really like,” Bremer said. The University of St. Thomas, where Bremer will be playing football, has a club alpine team. However, he will most likely refrain from skiing competitively in any manner. “I’ll consider joining the team, but probably not,” Bremer said. He went on to explain how skiing has consumed his weekends and winter breaks for the past 12 years and said he has lost his love for the sport. Bremer’s passion for football blossomed during high school; the same point when he started to enjoy skiing less and less. “He puts a lot of time into skiing, but he doesn’t enjoy it one tenth as much as strapping on a helmet on Friday nights and smashing kids. He lives, breaths, and sleeps football,” Sinderson said.
Dance team kicks their way to state tournament Andrew Hall Staff Reporter For the first time in the history of the HHS Royelles dance team, they went to the state tournament after placing third in the high kick competition at sections behind Wayzata and Eden Prairie. The top three teams from each section qualified for state. “It felt amazing,” said Ketrin Vinokur, senior, and one of the captains of the Royelles. “The best part was that it is with an amazing group of girls thatn worked so hard and did not give up.” “They believed in themselves and their routine, even more this year than in years past,” said coach Allison Bridges. This year was indeed special from the start for the Royelles. “We saw potential in ourselves,” Vinokur said. “As a captain I made sure that the girls were excited, and that they knew that although it was about having fun,
the hard work was also important,” she said. “As a teammate I did my part and encouraged others to do the same.” Throughout the season, HHS was unable to beat Maple Grove in any of the competitions, until the section meet, where they placed third and knocked Maple Grove out of the state qualifiers for kick. “This team delivered at the section meet, on the day that it mattered the most,” coach Bridges said. In the several days leading up to state, each dancer had to do their part in order to prepare adequately. “Although it is a team sport, each individual has to be perfect, has to hit all of their transitions, and can’t miss a count.” said Emily Costa, junior captain. The state preliminaries took place Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Target Center. It included the top 12 teams in the state. The top six teams moved on to the finals, where the top three placed. “As a team we delivered a great performance that we were proud of and we encouraged each other throughout the day,”
Vinokur said. HHS placed 10th at the state finals, while Eastview captured their second straight state title. “Going into state, my mindset was that it ultimately didn’t matter what the results were. We were so ecstatic to be a part of this experience and we just wanted to give it our best and show everyone we deserved to be there,” Vinokur said. According to Vinokur, the seniors on the team took on important leadership roles throughout the year and really stepped up in the state tournament. “Sarah Evon, Bri Stein, and Mollie Kozberg were very encouraging to the younger girls, and provided support for the captains,” she said. HHS has had past success in the jazz division, so this recent success for the kick team should represent a bright future for the Royelles as a whole. “This is the bePhoto by Mike Newcomer ginning of seeing ourselves as a balanced The HHS Royelles kick team made it to the state tournament for the first time squad,” Bridges said. in team history. They performed at the Target Center in front of a big audience.