Column: Winter season has been busy in District 518

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District 518

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WORTHINGTON — For many Minnesotans, the winter months can get very long. Followers of high school activities are aware of a great antidote for getting through December, January and February. They attend Worthington High School activities like hockey, wrestling, gymnastics, basketball, dance, musical, speech, and band, choir and orchestra concerts. What a great way to help the winter pass quickly!

The Worthington community has a long-standing tradition of supporting the Trojan teams and fine arts performers in impressive numbers. That was certainly the case for the winter season of 2009-10. To kick off the winter season, the Worthington High School choir hosted the Southwest Conference Choral Fest on Nov. 2. That was followed by the Indoor Marching Band concert on Nov. 6. A week later, the fall play was performed for three consecutive nights. The fine arts activities for 2009 concluded on Dec. 21 with the “Festival of Music,” featuring the middle school and high school bands, choirs and orchestras. During the first week of February, the WHS musical, “Fiddler on the Roof,” was performed to large crowds on three nights. The Trojan speech team continues their season, concluded by sub-section, section and state tournaments in April. If you haven’t attended a WHS fine arts activity recently, you’ll want to mark your calendar for future performances. You will be impressed by the talent our fine arts groups display.

The winter sports season began in mid-November with girls hockey and concluded on Thursday, March 11, with the Trojan girls basketball team playing for the Section 2AAA Championship. The Trojan hockey teams didn’t experience a lot of success in terms of wins and losses, but made positive improvements in performance and other areas throughout the season. The dance team labors in obscurity most of the season, but the Trojettes were able to demonstrate the fruits of their hard work during several basketball halftimes, as well as participating in team competitions on several Saturdays. The gymnastics team had a successful season, finishing as the Southwest Conference runner-up. Attending a Trojan gymnastics meet at the armory is a shining example of what high school athletics should be like. Good sportsmanship and positive encouragement is abundant at a gymnastics meet. The Trojan wrestlers enjoyed a successful season, capped by serving as hosts of the Section 3AA Individual Wrestling Tournament, where three Trojans qualified for the state tournament. The WHS basketball teams both claimed Southwest Conference championships, with identical SWC records of 11-1.

All of the Trojan teams and groups received tremendous support from fellow students and community members, which helps to make their high school activities experience even better. WHS students are to be commended for their positive support of Trojan activities this winter.

As the snow melts, the spring activities season approaches. Practices for spring sports begin on March 16 for track and softball, March 22 for baseball and golf, and March 29 for boys tennis. The choir, orchestra, and band all have concerts in April and May. Plan on attending spring events at Worthington High School! Schedules may be found on the District 518 calendar, on the Southwest Conference Web site at www.swcmn.org, or by contacting the high school office at 376-6121.

Mike Traphagen is District 518’s activities coordinator.

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