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Stillwater Area High School (or SAHS as it is commonly known) is a public school located in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota. The newest campus was built in 1993 thanks to a 28 million dollar bond that was approved by the citizens of District 834^[1]. The Stillwater Campus features state of the art gymnasiums, an auditorium, forum rooms, as well as a library. The hallways are lined with lockers on both sides, and features a main rotunda in the center of the school.

Stillwater Area High School

Established	1993
Type of institution	Public
Principal	Chris Lennox
Enrollment	2400+
Location	Stillwater, Minnesota, USA
Colors	Red and Black
Mascot	Ponies
Website	[1], Suburban East

Contents 1 In The News 2 Athletics 2.1 2006/2007 Sports Season 2.1.1 Football 2.1.1.1 Section Playoffs 2.1.1.2 State Tournament 2.1.2 Girl's Swimming & Diving 2.1.3 Boy's Soccer 2.2 2005/2006 Sports Season 2.2.1 Football 2.2.2 Boy's Basketball 2.2.3 Girl's Hockey 3 2006/2007 Theater Season 4 Fight Song 5 Famous Alumni 6 Cited references

[edit] In The News

Stillwater Area High School has received its share of news time in the last few years. In 2004, the school received attention after there were a series of fights stemming from racial prejudice. Since 2004, there have been no noted incidents of racially motivated fights, however in 2006, one African American Stillwater student reported finding a pop-bottle bomb in his mailbox.

In late 2005, Stillwater Area High School received national attention after student journalists from the School Newspaper The Pony Express uncovered Joshua Gardner, a registered sex offender posing as British Royalty at the school.^[2] The journalists who helped uncover the true identity of Gardner were interviewed on Fox News, CNN, Good Morning America, MSNBC, and participated in a number of radio and newspaper interviews.

[edit] Athletics

State Championships
Season	Sport	Number of Championships
Fall	Girls Swim and Dive	1 State Championship 3 True Team State Championships.
	Football	4 State Championships
	Soccer, Boys	2 State Championships
	Soccer, Girls	2 State Championships
	Cross Country, Boys	3 State Championships 1 National Championship,1997[3]
	Adapted Soccer	1 State Championship
Winter	Basketball, Boys	1 State Championship
	Nordic Skiing, Girls	7 State Championships
	Nordic Skiing, Boys	6 State Championships
	Alpine Skiing, Boys	1 State Championship
	Alpine Skiing, Girls	9 State Championships
Spring	Baseball	1 State Championship
	Softball	3 State Championships
	Synchronized Swimming	18 State Championships
	Golf, Girls	2 State Championships
	Track and Field, Boys	3 State Championships 3 True Team State Championships
	Track and Field, Girls	1 True Team State Championship
	Tennis, Boys	1 State Championship
Total		67 State Championships 7 True Team State Championships 1 National Championship

[edit] 2006/2007 Sports Season

[edit] Football

The Ponies entered 2006 with lofty expectations after a trip to the State Tournament the previous year. Led by senior quarterback Danny Johnson, the Ponies suffered their first home loss in over two years in the season opener against Roseville^[4]. The Ponies were scheduled to face Park Cottage Grove in an away game, but a power outage caused the game to be moved to Stillwater, where the Ponies won 28-0.^[5] The Ponies next game matched them against arch-rival White Bear Lake, where they won 16-10. Losses against Mounds View, and Forest Lake on the road quickly ended any hopes for a repeat as Suburban East Conference champions, with Cretin-Derham Hall still undefeated with only two conference games remaining. Victories over Woodbury, Hastings, and Robbinsdale Armstrong gave the Ponies a 5-3 (4-3 Conference) record for the season.

[edit] Section Playoffs

The Ponies began their Section 3AAAAA title defense ranked 2nd in the section behind only St. Paul Johnson. The Ponies defeated the 7th seeded Woodbury Royals 24-7 in Stillwater on October 24th, 2006. Top seeded Johnson was upset by North St. Paul 20-13 in overtime, giving the Ponies home field advantage for the rest of the section tournament. On Saturday, October 28th, the Ponies defeated Park Cottage Grove 6-0 at home on a pair of Joe Stormont field goals to advance the Section Finals. On Friday, November 3rd, 2006, the Ponies defeated fourth seeded Tartan High School 26-7^[6], winning their second Section 3AAAAA Championship in a row, and earning a berth in the 2006 MSHSL State Tournament.

[edit] State Tournament

Rosemount defeated Stillwater 33-10 on November 10th, 2006, ending the Pony's season in the first round of the state tournament for the second consecutive year.

[edit] Girl's Swimming & Diving

The Ponies continue their recent domination over Minnesota Swimming and Diving, having gone undefeated through the entire season, and winning the 2006 True Team State meet, their third in a row, thanks to performances from swimmers Megan Radecke, Rachel Fredrickson, Samantha Hajlo and many others. Stillwater has won the True Team State meet every year since its inception in 2004.^[7]

[edit] Boy's Soccer

The Ponies soccer team posted an impressive 17-3-1 regular season record, going undefeated in conference play^[8], and defeated Harding, Henry Sibley, and Eagan in section play to earn a trip to the 2006 State Tournament. The Ponies were the first seeded team in the 2006 MSHSL State Tournament thanks to the experimental reseeding policy^[9]. They defeated St. Cloud Apollo 4-0^[10] on October 26th, 2006 in the opening round of the State Tournament. The Ponies were defeated on November 1st, 2006 by Mounds View 5-2 in the State Semi-Finals^[11], eliminating them from championship contention. The following day, the Ponies defeated Minneapolis Southwest 3-0 to take third place in the 2006 Tournament.^[12]

[edit] 2005/2006 Sports Season

[edit] Football

2005 was among the most successful in history for the Ponies. With a team of players that had accomplished a .500 season the previous year, the Ponies were predicted by area experts to be a .500 team once again. Coach Scott Hoffman, however had other plans. The Pony's hard nose defensive style of football held teams at bay for the entire season. The Ponies went undefeated during the regular season^[13], and earned their first trip to state in 10 years. Dubbed The Cardiac Kids by local papers and fans for their fourth quarter heroics and comebacks, the year included four come from behind victories^[14], the most impressive being the Pony's dramatic come from behind victory in Hastings to clinch the SEC title. The Ponies, who trailed in the game 20-3 with 6:00+ left in the game scored 28 unanswered points on 4 touchdowns to win the game.^[15] It was their highest point total of the season. The season ended in the first round of the State Tournament with a 35-14 loss to Eastview,^[16] the same school that defeated the Ponies in the 2005 State Basketball Tournament^[17].

[edit] Boy's Basketball

The Pony Basketball team, coming off of back to back SEC Championships in 2004 and 2005 set out to win the SEC once again. With seniors Eric Hostetter and Ivan Franklin leading the team, the Ponies achieved a 21-8^[18] record under head coach and athletic director Dennis Bloom. The Ponies, despite their record that was better than that of the previous year's state tournament team, did not win the SEC, as power-house private school Cretin-Derham Hall, the newest addition to the SEC, won the conference. The Ponies deafeted the Roseville Raiders, ^[19], advancing to the section semi-finals to face archrival Mounds View, a team they deafeated earlier in the season at home,^[20] and by 5 in overtime on the road.^[21] The Ponies face a 1 point deficit with 3 seconds left in overtime at Tartan High School, where the 2006 Section Playoffs were being held. Senior Eric Hostetter threw up an alley oop to center Ivan Franklin who caught and laid it in all in one motion to send the Ponies to the Section Finals for the 2nd consecutive year^[22].
Section Finals featured the 1st seeded St. Paul Johnson Governors against the 2nd seeded Stillwater Ponies. The Governors, led by Freddy Coleman, entered the game as the favorite. Stillwater led through most of the game, however a dunk by Johnson Senior Demetrius Smith with 18 seconds left in overtime gave the Governors one of just a few leads they had the entire game. Seniors Eric Hostetter and Ivan Franklin both missed crucial shots in the dwindling seconds that gave Johnson the win.^[23]

[edit] Girl's Hockey

It was a historic season in every sense for the 2006 Girls Hockey Team. Led by Senior Captains Chelsea Jones and Rachel Zilles, the Ponies posted their best record in team history, with a 22-3 regular season record^[24], which ranked 3rd in the state for most of the season. Senior Chelsea Jones led the team, and tied for first in the state in scoring , finishing with a school record 104 points (68 goals, 34 assists). She won both the Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press Metro Player of the Year awards for Girls High School Hockey, but finished 2nd to North St. Paul's Allie Thundstrom in the "Ms. Hockey" balloting, the award for best Girls Hockey player in the state. Stillwater's only 3 losses of the regular season came against South St. Paul, Elk River, and Hastings. The Ponies entered Sectional play as the number one overall seed in Section 3. They deafeted Spring Lake Park 7-2, and moved onto the Section finals with a 6-2 deafeat of the Blaine Bengals. In one of the more anticipated matchups of Sectional play, the Ponies faced off against archrival North St. Paul, who a year ago ended the Pony's hopes for a state championship. With an overflow crowd that by many estimates was far beyond Fire Capacity limits, the Ponies, won the game 4-3 in a dramatic overtime victory. Chelsea Jones recorded a hat trick (3 Goals), including the game winner in the game, and contributed an assist on the other goal.^[25] The State Tournament's lack of a re-seeding system in the State Tournament hurt the Ponies in the first round which pitted them against #1 seed, undefeated Eden Prairie. The Ponies were deafeated 6-1 in a game that featured more than its fair share of the newly implemented instant replay system, which had been established by the Minnesota State High School League in 2005^[26]. One such goal, apparently scored by Freshman Callie Dahl was reversed after a hand pass, which under MSHSL regulations cannot be reviewed, was ruled as a contributing factor to the goal.^[27] Junior goaltender Amanda Plumm gave the Ponies solid goaltending with an impressive 1.8 GAA (Goals Against Average). Rachel Zilles, the other senior star for the Ponies contributed with great passing, posting 21 goals and 41 assists. The Ponies were an extremely young team in 2006, with just 4 seniors. In 2007, the Ponies will feature another fairly young team.

[edit] 2006/2007 Theater Season

Haunted Caves
SYNOPSIS: Haunted cave tours through the Joseph Wolf Caves in Downtown Stillwater. These spooky tours are complete with ghostly tales and wandering spirits.
AUDITIONS: September 13
PERFORMANCES: Multiple tours take place every Saturday night in October starting at 7:00pm

Pirates of Penzance
SYNOPSIS: Frederick, son of a wealthy 19th century man was to be apprenticed to a pilot, but due to a hard-of-hearing nurserymaid, was instead apprenticed to a pirate. Not just any pirate, but the Pirate King, leader of the not-so-fierce "Pirates of Penzance". He is ready to leave them when his maid pleads to take her with him. He agrees but shortly after he meets the daughters of the major-general and falls madly in love with them.
AUDITIONS: September 25, 26 and 27
PERFORMANCES: December 1 and 2 at 7:00pm and December 2 and 3 at 2:00pm

Festival of Short Plays and Monologues
SYNOPSIS: A collection of senior-directed one-acts to be performed together.
AUDITIONS: December 5, 6 and 7
PERFORMANCES: February 1, 2 and 3 at 7:00pm

You Can't Take It With You
SYNOPSIS: Alice Sycamore has to introduce the family of her fiancée, Tony Kirby, to her own family. The Kirby's are wealthy, stuffy family of great self-importance, while the Sycamore's are a collection of good-hearted lunatics. When the two families come together, their contrasting lifestyles and philosophies collide head-on.
AUDITIONS: March 5, 6 and 7
PERFORMANCES: May 10, 11 and 12 at 7:00pm

[edit] Fight Song

^[28]

(Tune: Michigan State Rouser)
Shout the name that gains the fame
No one but the Ponies
Blast the bleachers with the roar
That bids our team to score
Hand in hand forever stand
United we face the foe
Fight team, win win win
S-T-I-L-H-2-0

[edit] Famous Alumni

Stillwater Area High School has been attended by several persons of note in its history, including:

• Chris Engler - NBA Center for Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, New Jersey Nets and Portland Trailblazers between 1983 and 1988. Majority of college career spent at the University of Wyoming.
• Thomas J. Abercrombie - Famous photographer, first journalist to reach the South Pole.
• Glen Perkins - Pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization. Attended the University of Minnesota.
• Jon Francis - Former Stillwater Area High School cross country runner and track & field participant, went missing while hiking in the summer of 2006.
• Kevin Gullikson - Basketball player at the University of Wisconsin. Led the Ponies to the state tournament in his senior season.
• Luke Watson - Member of the Team USA track and field team. Led Ponies to cross country national championship in 1997.
• Butch Thompson - Jazz Pianist and Clarinetist

[edit] Cited references