The top local sports stories
In his career, Pickar qualified for state five times, winning two titles and finishing second once. He is now redshirting in his freshman season at North Dakota State University.
Back
Other area champions were Peter Hayes of Wadena-Deer Creek won the 2A title at 140, Craig Luberts of Pierz won his second 1A title at 140 and Casey Finck of Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale won the 215-pound title in 1A.
Pierz finished fifth in the 1A team tournament.
In 3A, Adam Gosiak of Little Falls was runner-up at 160.
In 2A, Shane Walton Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus was runner-up at 112; Kyle Trout, W-DC, was runner-up at 152; Adam Johnson, Staples-Motley, was third at 189; and Phil Shequen, PL/PR-B, was third at 275.
In 1A, Kyle Bednar, Pierz, was fifth at 103; Nathan Janson, Pierz, was third at 112; Jared Oyster, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale, was third at 130; and Cullen Captain, B-H/V, was third at 135.
2. Kennedy state diving champion
A week after Pickar repeated as state champion, Brainerd's Shaun Kennedy was standing atop the podium at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center after winning the 2A diving title.
Kennedy became the first state champion in Warriors swimming and diving history. He set a 2A state meet record by amassing 526.20 points.
He shattered the previous state meet record by more than 45 points and finished 6.5 points shy of the all-time Minnesota State High School League record. Kennedy became only the sixth diver since 1924 to score more than 500 points at the state meet.
Kennedy, now diving at the University of Minnesota, qualified for state four times in his career, finishing third, fourth and fifth in his previous trips.
Brainerd's Josh Olson placed 15th in diving, Scott Antolak was 11th in breaststroke; Antolak, Matt Schmitz, Miles Krueger and Andrew Mehr were 14th in the 200 medley relay; and Schmitz was 19th in butterfly.
3. Staples-Motley cross country championships
The Cardinal boys' cross country team won its seventh 1A state championship in eight years, and its third straight, at St. Olaf College in Northfield.
Individually, S-M's Isaac Landecker was seventh, Chad Brever 18th, Dan Freeman 20th and Dan Huebsch 38th.
The Cardinal girls' team won its first state title. Its 45 points tied the record low set by Windom/Storden-Jeffers in 1987.
Individually for S-M, Steph Jares was 13th, Hannah Landecker 16th, Naomi Landecker 17th and Amanda Reichel 32nd.
4. Scearcy wins 500th game
Brainerd coach Lowell Scearcy became the winningest active coach in Minnesota State High School League baseball history May 15 when the Warriors beat Sauk Rapids 11-1.
Scearcy's 511 wins trail only Jim Senske of New Ulm, who retired following last season, as the all-time victory leader with 707.
Brainerd baseball coach Lowell Scearcy accepted an autographed ball and a cake from captains Chris Klabo (left) and Kevin Mertens after the Warriors beat Sauk Rapids 11-1 May 15 for Scearcy's 500th career victory. (Dispatch File Photo)
5. Division I signings
Five area athletes signed Division I tenders this fall.
The delegation included Brainerd's Megan Arns, Erin Holznagel and Justin Grunewald; Parker Robinson of Crosby-Ironton; and Laura Harms of Little Falls.
Arns signed with Minnesota to play softball, Holznagel with Minnesota-Duluth to play women's hockey, Grunewald with Minnesota to run cross country, Robinson with Minnesota for track and field and Harms with Mercer to play volleyball.
6. Warriors cross country
In the 2A state meet, the Brainerd Warrior girls' team was runner-up, six points behind champion Lakeville, to attain the highest finish in program history.
In the individual race for the Warriors, Jenna Dean was 33rd, Audree Goodew 35th and AshLeigh Hakes 54th.
In the boys' 2A race, Brainerd was 10th, also the highest finish in program history.
Individually, the Warriors' Justin Grunewald was fifth in 15:33, a school-record time and a career best. Teammate Chris Woodard was 24th.
7. State track and field
In the 1A state meet, C-I's Parker Robinson won the high jump and was seventh in the triple jump and Pequot Lakes' Teresa Parker was runner-up in discus.
Staples-Motley's Josh Smith was third in the long jump and fifth in the 400; Pierz's Zach Solinger was sixth in the 1600; S-M girls' 4x800 and 4x400 relays were fourth; W-DC's Avery Buresh was fifth in the 800; S-M's Kelsey Griffith and Brita Binek were seventh and eighth in pole vault; Pillager's Mark Gaalswyk was fifth in pole vault; and teammate Luke Kavanaugh was third in high jump.
In 2A, Brainerd's Justin Grunewald was ninth in the 3200, Maria Swanson was fifth in shot put, Jason Roberts was fifth in long jump and the boys' 4x200 and 4x400 relays were eighth.
8. Warrior baseball team fifth
The Warriors wound up fifth in the 3A state tournament, edging Elk River 5-4.
Brainerd opened the season with 15 consecutive victories, matching the start of the 1981 team. The Warriors finished 28-4, setting records for most games won and most games played in school history.
9. Raiders fourth in nation
The Central Lakes College Raiders volleyball team sailed through the regular season with a 20-7 record and captured state and Region 13B championships on its way to its third national tournament in four years.
At nationals, CLC's only loss was to Fergus Falls in the semifinals. The Raiders finished third following a 3-1 victory over College of DuPage (Illinois).
CLC's Lane tenCate was named a first-team All-American and a first-team all-state player.
10. Warriors gymnastics team fourth at state
Brainerd finished fourth in the 2A state tournament, its highest finish in 16 trips to state.
Individually, Katie Perpich finished 12th on beam, 14th on floor, 13th on vault, 15th in all-around; Kathleen Lorenz was 11th on floor, 17th on bars; Amanda Johnson was 12th on floor; Tessa Helland 28th on beam; and Maggie Freiday 21st on vault.