Sports Roundup: Ponies Boys Cross Country Wins In Chaska

With several Stillwater teams jockeying for playoff positioning, the Stillwater girls tennis team is entering the postseason on Wednesday—one day after the Ponies boys cross-country claimed a first-place finish in Chaska.

Cross-Country

With a score of 82, the Stillwater boys cross-country team claimed a 28-point victory over second-place Burnsville and the rest of the 24-team field at the Victoria Lions Invitational in Chaska on Tuesday.

Wayde Hall paced the Ponies with an eighth-place run of 16 minutes, 0.3 seconds; he was followed by teammates Eric Colvin (16:14.7) in 13th, Tom Linner (16:16.5) in 15th, Tayler Arness (16:23.2) in 18th and Sean Bjork (17:03.7) in 28th.

The Stillwater girls finished in 11th, led by Abby Lange's 14th-place individual finish of 15 minutes, 22.1 seconds.

Girls Tennis

Following a 10-2-2 regular season, the Stillwater girls tennis team earned the No. 1 seed for the Section 4AA Tournament and claimed byes for the first two rounds of the bracket.

The Ponies begin sectional play on Wednesday as ninth-seeded Woodbury pays a visit for a 3:30 p.m. match. A victory advances the Ponies to the semifinals, to be played at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus at 9:30 a.m. Friday. The 4AA finals are slated for 10 a.m. next Monday at Baseline.

Girls Soccer

A four-game winning streak has the Stillwater girls soccer team riding high into the final game of the regular season versus White Bear Lake at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Ponies shutout Roseville by a 4-0 score on the road on Tuesday night to improve to 8-5-2 overall and 4-3-1 in the Suburban East Conference.

Katie Holder and Ali Schilling both scored twice against the Raiders, with goalkeeper Megan Holthaus making four saves for her fourth shutout of the autumn.

Boys Soccer

The third-ranked Stillwater boys soccer team saw a four-game winning streak come to a close in a 1-1 tie at Roseville on Tuesday. Individual statistics were not made available. 

Despite the tie, the Ponies have claimed the Suburban East championship with a 7-0-1 conference record, as the Ponies carry a 12-2-1 overall mark into Thursday's regular-season finale versus visiting White Bear Lake at 5 p.m.

Volleyball

A 3-0 win over visiting White Bear Lake on Tuesday was the ninth-straight victory for the Stillwater volleyball team, coming on the heels of a half-dozen losses to begin the season.

The Ponies, 9-6 overall, are currently tied with Mounds View and Cretin-Derham Hall atop the Suburban East as Stillwater prepares to travel to face the Mustangs on Thursday with both teams putting their 6-0 conference marks on the line in a 7 p.m. match.