Liana Blomgren is female State Class A Triple ‘A’ Award finalist
Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) senior Liana Blomgren, daughter of Kyle and Kim Blomgren of Butterfield, representing Region 2A, was honored today (Saturday, March 25), at halftime of the Minnesota State High School League’s (MSHSL) Boys’ State Basketball Tournament Class AA championship game as a female State Class A Triple “A” Award Finalist.
Students in Class A and AA are recognized annually for their hard work, contributions, leadership roles and successes – earning straight “A”s as MSHSL Triple “A” Award winners in academics, athletics and arts.
Liana was selected as the Sub-Section 6A Triple “A” honoree, and went on to be named the recipient of the female Region 2A award winner. With that accolade, she advanced to the Female MSHSL State Class A Triple “A” selection.
The 29th annual statewide Triple “A” male and female winners were announced at the Triple “A” banquet held this morning at the Loew Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. The top two award finishers from each of the eight sections in the state are invited to the banquet, at which time MSHSL officials announce the four Triple “A” Award recipients at the banquet. Award recipients – a female and a male from both a Class A and a Class AA school – each receive a four-year, $1,000 scholarship. Award recipients are selected through a multi-level process that involves the MSHSL’s member schools and its 16 administrative regions.
The male and female Class A award finalists and winners were introduced to the media and fans during an on-court ceremony at half-time of the Class AA championship basketball pitting Minnehaha Academy and Crosby-Ironton at the Target Center in Minneapolis. (Minnehaha Academy defeated Crosby-Ironton 47 to 36 for the AA title).
According to Liana, “It was a wonderful experience.”
The 32 Academics, Arts, and Athletics Award finalists for 2017 were:
+ Class A –
- Region 1A – Bryant Gernes of Winona Cotter and Kiera Olson of Fillmore Central.
- Region 2A – Noah Decker of Maple River and Liana Blomgren of Mountain Lake.
- Region 3A – Mason Whitehead of Murray County Central and Gabriell Gervais of Tracy-Milroy-Balaton.
- Region 4A – Sam Lee of Nova Classical Academy and Kari Preus of West Lutheran.
- Region 5A – T. J. Johnson of Hinckley-Finlayson and Kacy Broschofsky of Pierz.
- Region 6A – Carter Peterson of Underwood and Midori Soderberg of Morris Area.
- Region 7A – Caleb Curtiss of Aitkin and Ally Bode of Moose Lake.
- Region 8A – Isaac Mills of Stephen-Argyle Central and Elizabeth Birkemeyer of Ada-Borup.
+ Class AA –
- Region 1AA – Trenton Brown of Austin and Harmony Zweber-Langer of Lakeville South.
- Region 2AA – Nathan Weckwerth of Dassel-Cokato and Lauren Smith of Mankato West.
- Region 3AA – Chun-Kit Chow of Burnsville and Lauren Markowski of Eagan.
- Region 4AA – Douglas Shield of White Bear Lake Area and Kaia Porter of Roseville Area.
- Region 5AA – Samuel Skoglund of Anoka and Alyssa Wicks of Anoka.
- Region 6AA – Eric Wilson of Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Amanda Mosborg of Edina.
- Region 7AA – Michael Sullivan of Hibbing and Anja Maijala of Cloquet.
- Region 8AA – Nick Zwack of Monticello and Anna Norgard of Fergus Falls.
About Liana
An “A” Honor Roll student, Liana is a three-sport athlete and participates in the complete spectrum of fine arts availabilities at MLHS. In the fall, she runs cross country; during the winter sports season, she takes to the hard court as a forward with the Wolverine girls basketball team and in spring, is a distance runner in track-and-field.
She also participates in both the vocal and instrumental wings of the school’s music department. Liana is an alto in the Senior High Choir, along with the Show Choir and Acapella Choir. She is a trombonist with the Senior High Band and Senior High Jazz Band. Liana also serves as a Link Crew member.
From her freshman year in high school on, Liana has appeared on the MLHS stage, performing in both musical productions and one-act plays. In this, her senior year, she was the wise-cracking canine, Snoopy, from You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown! and held the role of Hannah in Salt & Pepper, this winter’s one-act play.
She is also the president of the Mountain Lake FFA Chapter and the MLHS Student Council, and is a National Honor Society member.
Last fall, her empathetic nature was personified in a photo and story from the MSHSL Section 3A Cross Country Meet in Luverne that went viral worldwide. At that time, Liana won the hearts of fans and runners with her unselfish act of sportsmanship – which, unfortunately, ended up with her disqualification (DQ). During the girls run, Liana, who had qualified for state in the past, closed out her career by assisting Windom Area High School eighth-grader Gracie Bucher across the finish line. Bucher, too, was DQ’d. Bucher had collapsed in the final 100 meters of the race, and Blomgren, who was running just behind her, assisted Bucher to her feet – and ran with her the rest of the way to the chute
She will be marching in with the Saints of the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth this fall, majoring in physical therapy.
To underclassmen, Liana encourages, “Don’t let anything (or anybody) stop you from doing anything that you want to do.”
About the Triple ‘A’
The Triple “A” Awards, presented by the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) are sponsored by AAA and Fairview Sports and Orthopedic Care. The MSHSL has sponsored the Triple “A” a recognition program the League since 1988.
The purpose of the Triple “A” Awards Program is to recognize and honor high school seniors who have excelled in the classroom, on the athletic field and in the fine arts; to elevate academic standards and create greater awareness of MSHSL-sponsored activities and their values and to provide MSHSL member schools the opportunity to participate in a statewide program that supports, promotes and recognizes academic and extra-curricular achievements.
To be eligible for the “Academics, Arts and Athletics” Award, student must be a high school senior, hold a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher, participate in MSHSL-sponsored athletics and fine arts activities and comply with the MSHSL’s Student Code of Conduct.
The award recipients are selected through a multi-level process involving MSHSL member schools, the MSHSL’s administrative regions and a special committee of educators, business leaders and members from the fine arts and athletic communities.
