Track Stars Vie for Athlete of the Week

Deja vu would be a good thing this week for the Lindbergh girls soccer team.

The Flyers were seeded fourth in last year's district tournament and won the title with victories over Mehlville (1-0), Cor Jesu (in penalty kicks) and Rockwood Summit (in a come-from-behind overtime thriller).

Lindbergh is once again seeded fourth in the Class 3 District 8 Tournament and the Flyers took the first step toward what it hopes will be a repeat with a 2-0 victory over Mehlville in the first round Saturday at Mehlville.

The game was scoreless at half before senior Kate Campbell scored for the Flyers.

Mehlville had a tremendous scoring opportunity while down 1-0 after a corner kick. But Flyer goalkeeper Nina Tzianos made the initial save and back Mackenzie Giegling made a goal line save on a rebound.

The Flyers would add a late goal by junior Miranda Buettner on an assist from freshman Haley Greer.

"I thought we had a slight edge in possession in the first half but Mehlville was always dangerous," Lindbergh coach Mark Giesing said. "Kate made a great shot on the first goal and Mehlville had to look to equalize and almost did on the corner. We had several counter opportunities and finally got another one in."

Lindbergh now takes step two in the familiar road as it faces top-seeded Cor Jesu in the semifinals Monday at 7 p.m.

"You could certainly make the argument that this is the toughest district around," Giesing said. "Cor Jesu is always strong and particularly now. They may be the overall team to beat. Summit is extremely hot and Oakville is another very strong team. You almost have to play error free ball from now on to win."

The Flyers have not played Cor Jesu, which is 17-2, or Summit which is 13-4. They dropped a pair of one-goal games to third-seeded Oakville, which is 16-4 after a 4-0 win in the first round over Fox. Ashley Burton scored twice to pace the Tigers, giving her 20 goals for the season.

Oakville will play Summit in the first semifinal Monday at 5 p.m. The championship game of Class 3 District 8 is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Mehlville.

Affton is the third seed in the Class 2, District 3 Tournament at Lutheran South. The Cougars will open against second-seeded DuBourg Wednesday at 6 p.m. The two teams have split lop-sided games this season. DuBourg won 5-0 on April 10 while Affton came back to win 4-0 on April 23. Haley Stewart, who led the Suburban East Conference in scoring with 33 goals and 19 assists, leads the Cougars.

Notre Dame is the top seed in Class 2, District 3, which will have its championship game Friday at 5 p.m. at Lutheran South.

Track and Field

The Lindbergh girls track team made the first step in what it hopes will be a memorable postseason.

The Flyers won the team title in the Class 4, District 1 Tournament which they hosted Saturday. Lindbergh finished with 140 points. Poplar Bluff was a distant second with 101 points.

Jill Harmon led the way for the Flyers with district titles in the long jump and triple jump. Marina White won the 400-meter dash and the Flyers won a pair of relay events, the 4x800 and 4x400.

Oakville, which finished fifth as a team, had a double-district champion as Nekole Harvey won both the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Mehlville finished seventh as a team.

Mehlville and Lindbergh had strong showings in the boy's meet at the Class 4, District 1 Tournament. The Flyers, who were led by Patrick Partee, finished third. Partee won the triple jump and 300-meter hurdles. Teammate Mike Sulya was a district champion in the high jump and the Panthers also won the 4x200-meter relay.

Lindbergh was fourth as a team. Sebastiano Ferko won the long jump for the Flyers, who also captured the 4x800-meter relay.

Oakville also had a district champion as Elvir Sarajic won the 1,600-meter run.

Rockwood Summit was the team champion with Jackson finished second.

Baseball

Three area teams opened district baseball tournaments Saturday and two have extended their season. Mehlville defeated Fox 13-6 and will play the winner of Sunday's Oakville-Festus game Monday. Affton crushed Imagine 13-0 as Tyler Deane pitched a five-inning no-hitter while striking out 13. The Cougars play Hancock in the semifinals Monday.

Lindbergh, on the other hand, saw its 2012 season end with a 5-4 loss to St. Mary's.

Athlete of the Week

Congratulations to Mehlville baseball's Aaron Onkle, who was overwhelmingly voted as last week's Athlete of the Week! Here are this week's nominees.