Mound Westonka Honors Senior Athletes

By Lorrie Ham

Mound Westonka High School celebrated senior athletic achievement May 8 at a breakfast recognizing the 2013 Athena and Yost/Haddorff/Leopold award winners as well as senior three-sport athletes. Students, parents, coaches and staff were on hand for the event, which was held at the Gillespie Center in Mound.

Yost/Haddorff/Leopold Award

The winner of the 60th annual outstanding male athlete award, now called the Yost/Haddorff/Leopold Award, is Tyler Hebig, son of Don and Dawn Hebig. Also nominated for the award were Trevor Blackstone, Joe Herder, Sander Lee, Grant Nagel, Tanner Palm, Grant Piepkorn, Ben Rogers and Jordan Taylor. 

Hebig participated in football, wresting and baseball throughout his high school career. A three-year letter-winner in football, Hebig received two All-Conference Honorable Mention awards, five Spotlight on Scholarship awards and was a captain for two years.

In wrestling, Hebig earned five letters, four All-Conference honors and one All-Conference Honorable Mention. He is a four-time state entrant, a conference champion, a three-time MVP and an Academic All-State honoree. Hebig is also a two-year letter winner in baseball, earning five Spotlight on Scholarship awards.

In addition to sports, Hebig is a member of Link Crew and National Honor Society. He also received the ExCEL Award and was named a Distinguished Student in two classes. Hebig also volunteers at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church and plays Mound Legion baseball.

The Yost/Haddorff/Leopold Award began as the Yost Award in 1953, honoring the late Frank Yost—a local pharmacist and ardent community sports supporter, who died in 1952. 

In 1994, the award became the Yost/Haddorff/Leopold Award, also honoring the memories of Oscar Haddorff, who died in 1970, a year after retiring as a 25-year MWHS teacher, coach and athletic director; and Cory Leopold, a 1988 MWHS graduate and stand-out high school and college wrestler, who was killed in a car accident in 1993. The scholarship component was added to the award at that time and is given to the school’s top male and female athletes. 

Members of both the Haddorff and Leopold families were present for the breakfast to congratulate the nominees and the award winners. 

Athena Award

Molly Wollner, daughter of Gary and Lori Wollner, was earlier named the MWHS Athena Award winner and attended the area-wide Athena banquet recently.

Wollner was recognized locally at the breakfast for winning both the Athena and Yost/Haddorff/Leopold outstanding female athlete awards. The other 2013 Athena candidates were Paige Beyer, Alicia Martin-Vega, Jessica Nkhata, Brooklyn Pouti and Marilee Saatzer.

Wollner is a three-sport athlete, participating in soccer, basketball and track during her high school career. In soccer, she is a four-year letter winner and was captain her senior year. She earned All-Conference Honorable Mention, was a three-time Star Tribune metro Roll Call Top 15 Scorer and was named Best Offensive Player.

Wollner is a three-year member of the basketball team, earning two letters, three Spotlight on Scholarship Awards and the White Hawk Award. She was named captain her senior year. 

Wollner is a six-year letter winner in track and field and was a captain her senior year. She was named All-Conference three times, Rookie of the Year as a seventh-grader and Team MVP as a sophomore. Wollner was a section finalist in two years and was a member of the school record-setting 4x200 meter relay as a freshman.

In addition to sports, Wollner is a member of Link Crew and the Science Olympiad team. She also volunteers at Our Lady of the Lake. 

Triple ‘A’ Winners

Paige Beyer and Grant Piepkorn were recognized as this year’s school-level Minnesota State High School League Triple ‘A’ winners.

The Triple ‘A’ program rewards a senior boy and girl in each high school in Minnesota for outstanding achievement in Academics, Athletics and the Arts. Region winners are selected from the school winners and all Region winners are in the running for state-level recognition. Although the Triple ‘A’ winners were named last winter, they were also recognized at the breakfast.

Three-Sport Athletes

Also honored at the breakfast were 24 MWHS senior three-sport athletes:

Connor Anderson – soccer, swimming, tennis; Marisa Boeckler – volleyball, Nordic skiing, lacrosse; Erik Hannigan – football, wrestling, track and field; Anton Harms – cross country, basketball, track and field; Pauliina Hartonen – cross country, Nordic skiing, track and field; Tyler Hebig – football, wrestling, baseball; Joe Herder – football, basketball, track and field; Jared Hoffman – football, swimming, baseball; Danny Humbert – cross country, Nordic skiing, track and field; Nick Johnson – football, swimming, track and field; Sander Lee – soccer, hockey, tennis; Kyle Luehmann – soccer, hockey, golf; Rodolfo Lugo Martinez – cross country, Nordic skiing, baseball; Lindsey Minahan – tennis, hockey, lacrosse; Grant Nagel – football, basketball, baseball; Jessica Nkhata – tennis, hockey, lacrosse; Tanner Palm – football, hockey, baseball; Grant Piepkorn – cross country, Nordic skiing, track and field; Tory Robinett – soccer, hockey, baseball; Ben Rogers – football, wrestling, track and field; Tommy Tully – cross country, Nordic skiing, track and field; Damian Urwyler – football, swimming, tennis; Noel Vermaten – soccer, hockey, lacrosse; Molly Wollner – soccer, basketball, track and field.