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Blake Wins Challenge Cup for Third Consecutive Year

By Athletic Department, 08/22/14, 2:45PM CDT

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For the first time since the implementation of the three-class system, all of the Minnesota State High School League’s 2013-2014 Challenge Cup winners are repeat winners.

Created in 2003 and sponsored League premier corporate sponsor Wells Fargo, the Challenge Cup is a statewide competition among Minnesota high schools. Points are awarded to schools based on their success in section and state fine arts and athletic tournaments. The school earning the most points at the end of the year in each classification―Class A, Class AA and Class AAA―receives the traveling Challenge Cup.

Dawson-Boyd won the highly contested award in 2012. This past school year the Blackjacks racked up 168 points to win the Class A Cup for a second time. To earn those points, the school won the boys’ golf team championship and finished second in both football and girls’ cross country running. Other Challenge Cup points came from runners in girls’ track and field and a fourth-place finish in the State Dance Team Tournament. Several wrestlers also participated in the State Class A tournament.

The remaining top five Class A schools were Minneota (132 points), Legacy Christian Academy of Andover (115 points), Fillmore Central of Harmony (95 points), and Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (92 points).

Three-peat Challenge Cup winner The Blake School first won the Cup in 2005 under the two-class system. The Bears won again in 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2013. This year’s Cup title ties Eden Prairie for most overall Cup wins.

In 2013-14 The Blake School won state championships for the second consecutive time in girls’ lacrosse, boys’ tennis, girls’ hockey and boys’ Alpine skiing. They also had individual champions in boys’ tennis (singles and doubles) and boys’ swimming and diving (1 meter diving and 100-yard breaststroke). Other points came from participants in debate, girls’ and boys’ track and field, girls’ swimming and diving, boys’ golf, and girls’ tennis, plus teams in baseball, girls’ Alpine skiing, boys’ lacrosse, and girls’ soccer.

Totino-Grace (264 points), Rochester Lourdes (232 points), Chatfield (229 points) and Fairmont (218 points) are the remaining top five Class AA schools.

Two-time defending Class AAA Cup champion Wayzata participated in 19 different post-season team and individual tournaments, earning 920 points. The Trojans won championships in both girls’ and boys’ cross country running, girls’ golf, boys’ tennis, girls’ swimming and diving, girls’ Nordic ski racing, and boys’ swimming and diving. They also had first-place finishers in girls’ swimming and diving (200-yard individual medley), boys’ tennis (singles), boys’ track and field (4x200-meter relay, 4x400-meter relay), and boys’ swimming (100-yard freestyle). Other points came from the school’s adapted sports teams, its dance team, and the girls’ gymnastics, boys’ Nordic ski racing, wrestling, boys’ golf, girls’ track and field, and boys’ lacrosse teams. Members of the debate and speech teams also contributed to the school’s overall success.

Eden Prairie (637 points), Lakeville North (521 points), Edina (499 points), and Minnetonka (458 points) round out the top five schools in the Class AAA Cup competition.

The Challenge Cup champions will be recognized at ceremonies early this fall. The three schools will be presented with a traveling crystal Challenge Cup, which moves each year to the winning school.

Previous Challenge Cup winners include St. Cloud Cathedral—2004 and 2006; Eden Prairie—2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012; Lakeville—2004 and 2005; The Blake School—2005, 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2013; Wayzata—2007 and 2013; Perham—2008; Breck—2010 and 2011; Minneota—2011; and Dawson-Boyd—2012.

For a complete list of all the schools that earned Challenge Cup points for the 2013-14 school year, visit the League website—www.MSHSL.org—and click on the Recognition tab in the gold bar at the top.