She’s a two-year starter on an NCAA Division II womens’ basketball team headed to the Elite Eight Monday night in St. Joseph, Mo. New Prague’s Emily Russo is enjoying quite a ride with the Mavericks.
New Prague High School wrestler, senior Destney Lofton is headed for the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) girls’ state championships Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2. Lofton qualified when she took second at 118 pounds during the section 2 and 4 tournament Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9 and 10, in Redwood Valley.
Fellow New Prague wrestler, junior Teva Feit placed fourth at 106 pounds after battling her way back into the top at the tourney.
“Both girls came to battle and wrestled to their seeds,” said New Prague head coach Dan Wagner.
After an early-season setback to the defending state champion, the Trojans’ floor hockey team are continuing to improve their overall game. “Overall, I like where we are at and I feel confident this team can make a push down the stretch to compete for another state tournament berth and hopefully compete for another state title, said coach Jeremy Kalal.
At 5-1, the Trojans travel to East Ridge High School today, Thursday, Feb. 8, to face South Washington County. Tuesday, Feb. 13, the Trojans will host Stillwater at 4:30 p.m. in the New Prague Community Center gym.
Heading into the section dance competition, New Prague High School’s dance team members knew everything had to fall just right for them to have an outside chance at making the state meet.
While the Trojans didn’t make the state field, they left the floor at Shakopee High School emotionally and physically exhausted knowing they offered their best. In a 12-team field, New Prague finished seventh in jazz and eighth in kick.
New Prague High School’s wrestlers had a busy few days as they won both the Highway 13 Rumble at home, Friday, Feb. 2, and the Takedown on 22 tournament in Mapleton, Saturday, Feb. 3.
Triangular The Trojans started by traveling to Farmington High School Thursday, Feb. 1, where they defeated Lakeville South, 47-18, and lost to Farmington, 31-30.
“This was a great event as both these teams are in our new section,” said head coach Dan Wagner.
New Prague’s swimmers have reason to enjoy growing confidence as the schedule turns the final leg of the regular season.
The Trojans earned their first-ever dual meet win over Benilde-St. Margaret’s Thursday, Jan. 25. With two meets left before a 20-day layoff before the section meet Feb. 21-22 in Lakeville, coach Dakota Becerra said the team’s hard work and talent are coming together to pay dividends.
With two regular-season games left to play before the section playoffs commence, the New Prague High School girls’ ice hockey team is working to build as much momentum and confidence as possible before the section playoffs open.
At 3-18-2 overall, the Trojans expect to play a top-seeded team in the section playoffs. Their aim is to enter the section playoffs playing at the top of their game regardless of their opponent.
After splitting its first two games, the New Prague floor hockey team has enjoyed surge, overwhelming opponents with plenty of offensive and solid defensive play as well.
The Trojans have scored 29 goals in three games. The most recent, a 13-goal effort against Owatonna, is a sign the Trojans’ offense is rounding into form. The win improved the Trojans’ record to 3-1.
New Prague played Chaska/Chanhassen/Shakopee/ Prior Lake co-operative team Tuesday, Jan. 30, after The New Prague Times went to press. Today,Thursday, Feb. 1, New Prague will host South Suburban at 4:30 p.m.
New Prague High School’s wrestlers split a triangular in Jordan, Friday, Jan. 26. The Trojans beat Glencoe-Silver Lake, 58-9, and then lost to Scott West, 40-14.
On Saturday, Jan. 27, New Prague was on the road for a 16-team individual tournament in Orono. The Trojans tied for third in the competitive tourney.
Triangular
Monday was a hard night on the hardwood for the New Prague Trojans.
On a night where Katie Boulanger was honored for eclipsing 1,000 points in scoring, Chanhassen topped NP, 77-52.
New Prague Trojans will host Bloomington Jefferson Thursday, Feb. 1, 7 p.m.
The NPHS boys fell to the Storm, 63-62, Monday in Chanhassen.
The New Prague Trojans will be at Bloomington Jefferson Thursday, Feb. 1, 7 p.m.
Losses are by definition tough. When a team suffers a setback it expected to win, had reason to believe it would win and had victory within its grasp, those setbacks can be an especially bitter pill.
New Prague High School’s girls’ basketball team suffered a pair of tough losses this past week, setbacks coach Eric Specht hopes his players will use as both an educational tool and motivation as the Trojans continue their schedule of games against conference opponents.
New Prague’s floor hockey team built a big lead early and cruised to an easy 17-10 win over Mankato last Tuesday, Jan. 16.
After the loss to state champion Lakeville the previous week, the Trojans faced Owatonna Tuesday, Jan. 23, after The New Prague Times went to press. The Trojans will face Chanhassen/Chaska/Shakopee/Prior Lake Tuesday, Jan. 30, 4:30 p.m., in Shakopee.
“We rebounded nicely after our loss last week and set the tone going forward. We are hoping to rattle off a few wins in a row here and build some momentum,” NP coach Jeremy Kalal said.
Facing a pair of injuries to forwards Owen Blair and Bobby Goggins, depth could become a challenge the Trojans will have to address in the next few weeks.
The two injured players will require shuffling of personnel as the Trojans face a pair of conference and non-conference ice hockey games in the next 10 days. They’ll also face a section opponent as well.
“Our depth has been dinged a bit. I guess it’s the next-man-up mentality,” said NPHS coach Brad Drazan.
New Prague High School volleyball coach Greg Sayuk has been named the Class AAAA Coach of the Year by his peers in the Minnesota High School Volleyball Coaches Association (MNVBCA).
Sayuk’s team finished the season in the Class AAAA championship match against undefeated Wayzata, a team loaded with college-bound talent. Though the Trojans fell in three tough games to Wayzata, they finished the season with a best-ever record of 27- 6. They finished undefeated in conference play and swept their four matches against section competition.
Having taken on two tough teams, one the defending state champion and the other a state participant, the New Prague floor hockey team knows it will need to play a little better to return to the top of the mountain.
The Trojans opened the season Jan. 9 with a win over Dakota United, a team they topped at the state tournament a year ago. They fell in the second game, a rematch of the last two state championship games against Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville. The Trojans won the 2022 game and the Blazing Cats enjoyed revenge in 2023.
New Prague’s gymnastic team hosted the 11th annual Matt Shetka Invitational Saturday, Jan. 6, with nine teams competing.
“The Matt Shetka invite was a great meet. New Prague had two teams of nine competing at the meet,” said head coach Darrell Christenson.
“Our team one took third place overall with a score of 138.3. That's our second highest score of the season so far.”