Prep athletes of the week: Armstrong skier Luci Anderson leads mates to Nordic relay title

Having just returned from competing at the U.S. nationals in Vermont, where they're not hurting for snow, Anderson, a senior, was eager to get back to competing with her high school team.

"I love high school skiing," she said. "It's what makes skiing fun."

She didn't waste time reaffirming her skills, posting the best freestyle time of the day to help Armstrong win the girls' team championship at the AABCC Relays on Saturday at Theodore Wirth Park. Her time for the 3K course was 8 minutes, 13 seconds, more than 21 seconds better than that of Sarah Olson of Blaine and a full half-minute better than Regan Duffy of Forest Lake, two of the state's top freestyle racers.

"It helped that I went third," said Anderson, referring to her place in the Falcons' relay order. "I didn't have the pressure of having to try to finish the win."

She did fend off a challenge from a Stillwater racer to begin her leg, however. It was just the motivation she needed to give team anchor Rainey Baker a comfortable cushion.

"That gave me a little push," she said. "Then I could just cheer for Rainey and hope she could keep [the lead]."

The 5-10 senior guard has elevated her game since the beginning of January. In three games, all victories, Guebert is averaging 21.5 points, 50-percent shooting, 6½ steals (with a high of nine in a 63-25 rout of Lakeville South) and three rebounds per game for the 10-2 Lightning.

Bengals coach Steve Guider calls Hansen "the best eighth-grade goalie in the state." She showed why in her past three games, stopping 42 shots in a 5-4 upset of Class 2A, No. 2 Edina, 22 of 23 in a 3-1 victory over Proctor/Hermantown and 38 in a 3-2 overtime loss to Maple Grove.

SLOANE MATTHEWS

The talented freshman forward, who already has verbally committed to Clarkson University, demonstrated the skills that lured college coaches with a pair of two-goal games against ranked teams. She scored twice in a 3-2 loss to Breck and two goals and an assist in a 4-1 victory over Minnetonka.

The puck must look the size of basketballs to the sophomore goalie, who did not allow a goal in two games last week, giving him three shutouts in his past four games. He stopped 21 shots in a 5-0 victory over Rochester Mayo and 27 in a 6-0 blanking of Rochester Century.

The senior guard's a scoring spree helped lead the defending Class 3A champs to three victories. He had 37 points in a 105-74 victory over Sauk Rapids and back-to-back 26-point efforts against Albany and Becker.

JIM PAULSEN

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