Top 10 Hopkins High School Sports Moments

Royals athletes have had no shortage of success this year. Hopkins Patch asked Michael Frey—who's on the sports staff of Hopkins High School's Royal Page newspaper—to pick the school's top sports achievements for the 2010-2011 year. Here are his choices for biggest moments.

#10: Basketball Star Joe Coleman Named Mr. Basketball

• Why it’s important: Coleman had an outstanding year, leading his Royals to the AAAA state title. Along the way he averaged 21.8 points per game and signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Minnesota.
• What Happened: The Star Tribune picked Coleman as the Metro player of the year putting him in the ranks of other stars including Rick Rickert and Kevin McHale.

#9: Senior Football Quarterback Bill Gregg Selected to Star Tribune All-Metro Second Team

• Why it’s important: The Hopkins senior had an outstanding season completing 62 percent of his passes for 2846 yards and 31 touchdowns. Gregg led the team to the Section 6AAAAA tournament.
• What happened: Gregg was selected along with other standout players like Eric Kline of Blaine and Andrew Larson of Eden Prairie.

#8:

• Date: May 31st
• Why it’s important: After a 17-2 regular season, Hopkins entered the Section 6AAA tournament as the top seed. The team beat Edina and Orono to reach the final against second seeded Wayzata with a trip to the state tournament on the line.
• What happened: Hopkins defeated Wayzata 9-2 and headed to the state tournament, where the Royals won their opening round game against Shakopee but lost to Hastings. They then edged out North St. Paul 5-4 to .

#7: Hopkins Baseball Wins First 5 of the Season, Gets to Section 6AAA Final

• Date: June 7
• Why it’s important: Starting the season with five games against the likes of Benilde St. Margaret’s and Eastview might seem daunting to the Hopkins faithful, but the Hopkins baseball team was not fazed. They finished the tough stretch 5-0 and rode a great season to the Section 6AAA final.
• What happened: The Royals met up with a tough team and were defeated 25-7. The loss, though, did not diminish one of the best seasons in recent Hopkins baseball history.

#6: Boys Nordic Skiing Wins Lake Conference Title

• Why it’s important: Hopkins had not captured a Lake conference title in any sport since 1993, the year that most of their teams moved to the Classic Lake conference.
• What Happened: Led by senior Connor Benton, the Royals edged out Minnetonka and Wayzata to take the conference title.

#5: Nordic Skiers and Participate in Junior Olympics

• Date: March 7
• Why it’s important: The Junior Olympics are perhaps the biggest stage for high school Nordic skiers and to receive invites for two members of the same school shows the strength of the Hopkins program. Both Benton and Dirnberger were invited to the event at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.
• What happened: Benton finished 14th in the girls’ 10K, while Dirnberger finished 22nd in the boys’ event.

#4:

• Date: March 3
• Why it’s important: The Hopkins wrestling team hadn’t been to the state tournament since 1989. To get there they would have to face two teams that had beaten them earlier in the season, Minnetonka and Eden Prairie.
• What happened: They beat both teams en route to facing Albert Lea in the first round. They were defeated by Albert Lea and then lost in the consolation bracket to Centennial.

#3: Joe Coleman and Marvin Singleton Commit to D-I Schools

• Why it’s important: Hopkins has a rich history of sending basketball players to Division I schools. Blake Hoffarber and Kris Humphries both joined the University of Minnesota. More recently Royce White and Mike Broghammer went to Minnesota and Notre Dame respectively.
• What happened: Joe Coleman followed in the footsteps of Hoffarber and Humphries and signed on with the Golden Gophers. Marvin Singleton joined up with the Northern Iowa Panthers.

#2:

• Date: March 19
• Why it’s important: Hopkins and Eden Prairie were neck and neck in the Lake Conference, both finishing with a 6-2 record in conference play. Hopkins had beaten Eden Prairie twice during the regular season but of the season.
• What happened: The Royals won 67-45 using a big second half to pull away from Eden Prairie. The title was Hopkins’ first since 2006.

#1:

• Date: March 26
• Why it’s important: In yet another dominating season for the Royals, they were looking for their third state title in as many years. They faced off against Eden Prairie in the final who had dealt Hopkins its only loss of the season.
• What happened: Hopkins dominated the game, winning 64-52 and claiming their third straight state championship. It was the first 3-peat in school history.

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Editor's note: After Patch spoke with Frey, the Royals added one more sports achievement to their year.

• Date: June 11
• Why it’s important: The Royals already boasted ample track and field success when they entered this year’s state tournament. The girls won championships in both 2010 and 2008. They also won this year’s conference title, and .
• What happened: In what seemed almost an inevitable conclusion to the season, the girls clinched the state championship in dominant fashion—blowing past the second-place team 84 points to 48.