Area notebook: Ellsworth grad snags NCAA title

Ellsworth native Sean Larson captured the national discus title at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Larson, a senior at Wisconsin-Stout, won the competition May 29 in Berea, Ohio, with a second throw of 174 feet, 10 inches. The throw broke the school record and bettered the second-place finisher by 2-3.

“That series was the best series I have ever had in my life,” Larson said in a statement.

Larson entered the discus competition as the No. 6 seed.

He also finished fourth in the hammer throw at the national championships with a throw of 194-6.

Larson earned All-American honors in both events.

•Anna Ramboldt of Goodhue competed with the Rochester Community and Technical College fastpitch softball team at the NJCAA Division III National Championships.

RCTC took sixth place in the tournament May 20-22. Ramboldt was a freshman first baseman for the Yellowjackets.

She was one of 16 players across the nation selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association 2010 Division III Louisville Slugger/NFCA NJCAA All-American Team.

She also earned Minnesota Community College Conference Southern Division player of the week honors once and was selected to the MCAC All-Tournament Team.

She played in 46 games and finished with a .465 batting average. She also had a team-high 55 runs batted in. Her teammates named her RCTC’s offensive player of the year.

•Morgan Place of Ellsworth added a sixth All-American honor to her resume when she placed seventh in the 10,000-meter finals at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Place, a sophomore at Minnesota Duluth, finished in a school-record time of 35 minutes, 17.69 seconds on May 27 in Charlotte, N.C.

Previous to the outdoor season, Place had earned All-American status in cross country twice and in indoor track and field three times.

Cannon Falls' Kyle Blakeslee missed advancing to the finals of the women’s 3,000 steeplechase at the same meet by two spots. In the prelims the Augustana College freshman came in 14th (10:54.95).

Competing in the men’s 3,000 steeplechase finals, Augustana College sophomore Travis Beniak finished ninth at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The Zumbrota-Mazeppa graduate finished in 9:09.87.

• Red Wing’s Reid Cashman helped the Cincinnati Cyclones win the ECHL Kelly Cup on May 21. Cashman played in 14 of the team’s playoff games and had two goals and five assists. He played in 18 regular-season games and had one goal and 18 assists.

Cashman also spent time with the Milwaukee Admirals in the American Hockey League this season.

• Red Wing’s Britta Hendrickson was named to the All-Midwest Region Team in women’s golf. Hendrickson recently finished her senior season with St. Olaf College.

• Z-M’s Ashley Matthys and Red Wing’s Cally Simanski were recently named to the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All-Academic Team.

Both women were sophomores on the track and field team at Luther College.

To be eligible for IIAC all-academic team honors, a student-athlete must be in his or her sophomore, junior or senior year of eligibility, have maintained a grade point average of 3.50 or greater on a 4.0 scale, have attended the school for at least a year and been a member of the varsity team.

• Julia Thompson of Cannon Falls was recently named to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All-Sportsmanship Team.

Thompson is a member of the women’s track and field team at Gustavus Adolphus College.

• Augie Lindmark of Red Wing recently wrapped up his sophomore season with the Luther College baseball team. He appeared in 18 games on the mound for the Norse and finished with a record of 2-1 and a team-high three saves. The Norse finished the year with a 25-18 overall record and a 12-12 mark in the IIAC.

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