Christine Moen Meulebroeck Minnewaska Area High School Class of 1997

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Christine Moen Meulebroeck Minnewaska Area High School Class of 1997 In looking back as we approach the silver anniversary year of Minnewaska Area High School, there have been a lot of great student

Her natural skills and abilities, coupled with an intense and tenacious work ethic, propelled her into the limelight of successful girls athletics at MAHS during the late 1990s.

Christine broke into the volleyball starting lineup as a sophomore in the fall of 1994 when she took her place in the front row as a hitter, a position she would patrol for the next three seasons.

For her career she would receive a number of awards including being selected co-captain her senior year.

1 Christine Moen Meulebroeck Minnewaska Area High School Class of 1997 In looking back as we approach the silver anniversary year of Minnewaska Area High School, there have been a lot of great student accomplishments in many areas of school life over the past two and a half decades. Athletically, one of the very best during the time period was Christine Moen. Her natural skills and abilities, coupled with an intense and tenacious work ethic, propelled her into the limelight of successful girls athletics at MAHS during the late 1990s. A three-sport star who earned 10 letters, she helped lead the teams of that era to some of the greatest moments in Laker athletic history. Christine broke into the volleyball starting lineup as a sophomore in the fall of 1994 when she took her place in the front row as a hitter, a position she would patrol for the next three seasons. During that time the Lakers would win over 30 matches including the sub-section runner-up trophy in For her career she would receive a number of awards including being selected co-captain her senior year. She was also named to the West Central All- Conference Honorable Mention squad following her final season. Of her volleyball career, former coach Dave Moe said of Christine, She was a three year starter and a very consistent server. She was also a strong middle hitter, and always was a very strong defensive presence in the lineup. As each fall turned to winter, Christine took to the hardwood where she would become one of the elite players in the history of girls basketball in Pope County. As early as upper elementary, those who saw Moen play knew she had the ability to be a special basketball talent as she progressed through her high school years. When Minnewaska Area High School opened its

2 doors in the fall of 1991, Christine and her basketball classmates were excited to get started and 50+ girls ultimately made up two full squads during their 7 th and 8 th grade seasons. By their freshman year it became clear how special this group was to be. Led by Moen, and Missy Kath (also a 2015 Minnewaska Area Schools Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee), the class was loaded with a number of other top athletes including Heather Lundebrek, Hollie Johnsrud, Kara Hippe, and Michelle Wendt. As freshmen in they dominated area competition and pushed the varsity players for playing time during the season. As Christine s sophomore year approached there was no doubt she would take a spot in the starting lineup as a power forward who could not only play the physical game in the paint, but also provide a powerful scoring punch with a deft touch from anywhere around the basket. The season would signal the start of the most successful three years in Minnewaska Area girls basketball history as the Lakers would win 69 games and qualify for three consecutive trips to the state tournament. In March of 1995, Christine played a key role in leading her teammates to a thrilling win over perennial power Hancock at the University of Minnesota Morris to advance to their first trip to Williams Arena. Although the initial run to state ended with two losses, the experience Moen and company would gain would catapult them to even greater heights as they moved into their junior and senior seasons. As Christine s junior season began in the fall of 1995, the Lakers were no longer an underdog, but a team now expected to vie for both WCC and Section 6A titles. With the nucleus of the team returning the Lakers blew through the season winning 18 games while finishing second in the conference behind arch-rival New London-Spicer. As they entered post-season play in Section 6A, Hancock was still looked at as the team to beat. Advancing once again to face the Owls for the section title, they did not disappoint the Laker faithful as Coach Arden Hyland s Lakers qualified for their second straight state tourney appearance, this time in convincing fashion. Christine led the blue and green with 18 points. Her offensive prowess and board work, coupled with the long range scoring of Missy Kath, and the crisp no-look passing from sophomore Carrie Cooley (2014 Minnewaska Area Schools Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee), helped the Lakers sail back to Williams Arena. They faced stiff competition from state power The Blake School in the quarterfinal round. The Bears would prove as good as advertised as they handed the Lakers an opening game loss. Moen and her teammates would quickly put their disappointment in the rearview mirror as they rebounded the next morning with a heartstopping win over Pierz in the consolation semifinals. They would eventually finish sixth. Christine would quickly go back to work in hopes of returning to the state tournament during her senior season. As Moen s final Laker basketball campaign began, she had become not only one of the top forwards in Class AA basketball in Western Minnesota, but one of the best players in the entire

3 state. Averaging double figures in points and rebounds through much of her career to that point, the sky was the limit as she prepared for her last season wearing the blue and green. The team was rated in the top ten the entire year as Christine helped lead the Lakers to an 18-4 record. Two of those losses were to WCC nemesis NL-S. The first of their two games with the Wildcats was played at MAHS in front of a standing room only crowd who came to watch the two highly ranked teams battle it out. To date, that contest featured the largest single crowd to attend a Lakers girls basketball game at the high school. As the post-season rolled around there was a bit of anxiety as the girls were now competing in the new Section 8AA which featured state power Roseau led by the state s all-time leading scorer in Megan Taylor. Throughout the tournament those watching were anticipating a section championship matchup at Concordia College in Moorhead which would pit Christine head-to-head against the Roseau forward who was headed to Iowa State on a basketball scholarship. After a harrowing bus ride to Moorhead in near blizzard conditions, the game itself did not disappoint. In a tight contest throughout, the Lakers broke away late to win the section championship in front of a huge crowd at Concordia as Moen out dueled Taylor in an outstanding high school basketball game. With another ticket punched to the State Tournament, the task would be different in 1997 as the quarterfinals were played at outstate sites for the first time. The Lakers would have to go back to Concordia College to win one more game if they were to make the trek back to Williams Arena. In the opening round the Lakers had little trouble defeating Esko to advance to the Class AA Semifinals. Christine and her teammates headed back to the University of Minnesota to face a familiar opponent - a heavily favored Blake Bears squad led by All-State forward Carolyn Moos. Blake had dispatched the Lakers by 23 in the quarterfinals a season before. Undaunted, Christine would break the one thousand point barrier for her career with her first basket of the game. Her 16 points and 12 rebounds helped spur the Lakers to one of the biggest upsets in the decade of the 90s at the state tournament as they stunned the number one rated team to advance to the state finals for the first time in school history. The title game would pit the Lakers against their old WCC rival the Wildcats from New London-Spicer. In a game that would go down to the wire, the Wildcats would spoil Moen and her Laker teammate s dreams of a state title with a narrow win to clinch the championship for the Cats. Despite the loss, Christine s performance on the court that winter, and especially in the state tournament, was nothing short of spectacular. In her six post season playoff games she scored 122 points while going up against many of the top players in the state. This included 24 in the win over Roseau, 26 against Esko, 16 against Blake, and 23 against New London-Spicer in the finals. As she stepped off the hallowed raised floor at Williams Arena holding the second place trophy, she had set a high standard for Minnewaska Area High School girls basketball that exists to this day. The awards she received were many including being selected WCC All-Conference as a

4 junior and senior as well as West Central Tribune All-Area during those same seasons. She also received numerous team awards over her three years of varsity competition including being named captain during her senior year. During the 1997 state tournament she was also named a member of the Class AA State Tournament Team, and fittingly, two days following the 97 tournament, her brilliant basketball career was capped off by being named Class AA All-State. Today, nearly 20 years after she left the court for the last time, Christine still holds records for Most Field Goals in a Season, Most Field Goals in a Career, Most Rebounds in a Career, and Most Points in a Season. She is still in the top ten in team records for Most Field Goals Made in One Game, Most Field Goals in a Season, Field Goal Percentage for a Season, Field Goal Percentage for a Career, Free Throws in a Season, Rebounds in a Season, Points in a Game, and Points in a Career where she is the second leading scorer in school history. Discussing her career recently, former MAHS girls basketball coach Arden Hyland said of Christine, She developed a jump shot at a very early age. She had a unique way of protecting her shot from not getting blocked by taller opponents. A little known fact was that Megan Taylor set the state scoring record against us in the Section 8AA title game in 97, but we had a player who outscored her for the game. That player was Christine Moen. With all the success in basketball that came Christine s way, the sport of fastpitch softball each spring also brought her accolades for her many achievements on the diamond as well. Learning much about the game at a young age from her dad, she would become one of the best two-way players in Laker history. She became not only one of the hardest throwing pitchers Minnewaska softball has ever seen, but also one of the best power hitters with a well-timed and powerful swing at the plate resulting in numerous extra-base hits and home runs. The home runs were hit on fields with the much longer slow pitch fences of the time. Moen would help lead the Lakers to great success during the mid-1990s, while playing alongside many of her basketball teammates including Cooley, Hippe, Johnsrud, and Kath. Christine first appeared on the varsity squad as a freshman when she was a member of the Section 6A Championship and state tournament teams in the spring of Beginning with her sophomore season she cracked the starting lineup as an extremely hard throwing right handed pitcher. When she wasn t on the mound, she patrolled the shortstop position with great range and used her strong and accurate arm to easily throw runners out. At the plate, she showed the type of power she possessed by knocking in several runs with extra base hits. During the 1995 postseason run Christine led the Lakers through the section tournament to the championship game against arch-rival Morris Area where Christine pitched all 9 innings in a tough 1-0 loss to the Tigers.

Never averse to working hard, in the off-season Christine was frequently found in the gym in the early morning hours of the long Minnesota winters, often coming in at 7:00 a.m. to improve her pitching.

5 Never averse to working hard, in the off-season Christine was frequently found in the gym in the early morning hours of the long Minnesota winters, often coming in at 7:00 a.m. to improve her pitching. The hard work paid off as she continued to improve both at the plate and on the mound. Following another very good year as a junior for the Lakers in the spring of 1996, she received her first selection to the WCC All-Conference team as the Laker nine finished second in the WCC. As a senior co-captain, she was once again dominant both on the hill and at the plate as she led the Lakers to the WCC Conference Championship and a runner-up finish in District 22. As she left the diamond for the last time in the spring of 1997 she had become one of the top players in the area. She was again named WCC All-Conference, West Central Tribune All- Area, and was selected All-State Honorable Mention Class A. Her dominance in both positions on the field was illustrated by the number of records she held upon graduation: Most Triples in a Season, Most Triples in a Career, Most Home Runs in a Season, Most Home Runs in a Career, Number of Pitches Thrown in a Season, and Number of Pitches Thrown in a Career. Regarding her outstanding career, MAHS Fastpitch Softball Coach Steve Hoffmann said, Christine was, along with Heather Pennie from Villard in the late 80 s, the hardest thrower I ever had. She was extremely coachable, and a played a key role for us during those successful teams of the late 1990s. She had a tremendous work ethic and was always interested in bettering herself as a pitcher and hitter which was proven by her off-season work habits. At the plate she was not only one of the most powerful hitters I ve ever had with the number of extra-base hits and long home runs she hit, but the timing of those hits was almost always in clutch situations when we needed her to come through and she did. After graduating from Minnewaska Area High School in 1997, Christine enrolled at Concordia College in Moorhead where she received a degree in social studies education while pitching for the Cobbers softball team for four years. She would go on from Concordia to enter the teaching profession, first at MACCRAY, then Minnewaska Area High School for two years, and for the past eleven years at Sauk Centre High School. She also recently received her Master s Degree in Library Science and Information. This past May, Christine rejoined the staff at Minnewaska Area High School to once again teach social studies. MAHS is excited to have her back to share her love of education and past experiences to a new generation of Lakers. Christine and her husband Jason live near Sedan and have two children, Madalynn -11 and Owen 8.

6 Congratulations to Christine Moen Meulebroeck; 2015 Minnewaska Area Schools Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee! Hall of Fame Banquet Information Date: Saturday, October 3, 2015 Time: 5:00 Social Hour 6:00 Dinner with Program/Induction to follow Location: Minnewaska House in Glenwood, MN Tickets: $25 per adult and $10 for children 10 and under Banquet tickets can be purchased at the following locations: Community Education Activities Office at Minnewaska Area High School; Glenwood State Bank in Glenwood and Villard; Eagle Bank in Glenwood, Starbuck, and Villard. You may also purchase tickets by going online to Search for Minnewaska Area and Glenwood, MN for the city. Deadline to purchase tickets is September 16th. Questions about the Hall of Fame Banquet can be directed to You may also call

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