It’s almost here – high school fall sports practices start next week

Competition in South Suburban Conference figures to be fierce

High school athletes have spent much of the summer hitting the courts, the streets and the weightroom, but next week is when it starts to feel real.

First day of official fall practice is Monday, Aug. 17, for all sports except adapted soccer (where practices start Sept. 8).

Some teams will return next week looking to continue being dominant. Others are looking to build. They all want to have reasons for optimism. Here’s an early look at some of the teams in the Sun Thisweek and Dakota County Tribune coverage area:

Football

The most noteworthy game of the 2025 local football season might have been Lakeville South’s 49-31 victory over Maple Grove in the Class 6A quarterfinals. The surprise to observers wasn’t so much that the Cougars won, but the way they tore apart the defending state champions’ defense. Griffen Dean rushed for 286 yards and six touchdowns, and Nic Swanson added 180 yards on the ground.

South lost to Moorhead 26-14 in the state semifinals the next week, but the Cougars are back with another team expected to contend in Class 6A. Dean, a recent University of Montana commit, offensive lineman and future Minnesota player Joseph Hamer, quarterback Gavin Stuart and safety/linebacker Grant Mayer, a University of Jamestown commit, are among the returning players.

Rosemount had an 8-2 turnaround season that ended abruptly with a 14-0 playoff loss to underdog St. Michael-Albertville. Lakeville North will look for a similar revival after a 1-8 record in 2025.

The two Class 5A teams in the coverage area, Apple Valley and Burnsville, have new head coaches. Matt Hentges takes over at Apple Valley and Ryan King is now in charge at Burnsville. Both previously were assistant football coaches at their schools.

Volleyball

Since Minnesota high school volleyball expanded to four enrollment classes in 2021, only two schools have won championships in Class 4A, the largest class. Wayzata won the first three Class 4A titles from 2021 through 2023 (to go with a Class 3A championship in 2019). Lakeville South is two-time defending state champion.

Seniors Kaelyn Bjorklund (setter) and Elleora Utecht (outside hitter), both All-State players in 2025, will lead South’s bid for a third consecutive championship. Other returning All-State players in the South Suburban Conference are Eagan outside hitter Mesa Jameson, ranked as the state’s top player in the class of 2028, and Apple Valley senior outside hitter Sophia Cowan, who’s looking to help the Eagles get to state for the third consecutive year.

Soccer

Eagan teams qualified for the state boys and girls tournaments in 2025, but figure to have stiff competition to get back this year.

The Wildcat girls, who were one of three South Suburban Conference teams to qualify for last year’s Class 3A tournament, return about half of their roster from last season, including senior forward Tess Triplett, a second-team All-State player. Lakeville North will seek to return to state behind leading scorer Brynn Koehnen, a senior forward. Rosemount didn’t reach the girls state tournament but went undefeated in SSC games last season (6-0-2) and has three returning All-State players: junior midfielder Isabella Boser (first team), senior forward Kendall Grate (first team) and senior midfielder Skylar Heimerl (second team).

Among the top returning players in SSC boys soccer are Eastview goalkeeper Miles DeLeon, who was first-team All-State in 2025, and Lakeville North forward Braden Holker, a second-team All-State player.

Cross country

History says Rosemount is the team to beat in South Suburban Conference boys cross country. Since the first SSC meet in 2010, the Irish have won more conference championships (10) than the rest of the schools combined (six).

Five of the seven runners from Rosemount’s Class 3A third-place team in 2025 are back, including top-20 individual finishers Channing Goodwin and Boston Peterson. Eastview and Lakeville North also return their top runners from teams that qualified for last year’s state meet.

Farmington was the top SSC team (eighth) at the Class 3A girls meet in 2025, and six of the Tigers’ seven runners at that meet are back.

Girls tennis

Eagan finished fifth in the 2025 Class AA team tournament and its returnees include state singles qualifier Amelia Johnson, a ninth-grader. But the graduation of No. 1 singles player Cassandra Li will shake up the lineup.

Eastview, Prior Lake and Lakeville South also are expected to be in the mix for the South Suburban championship.

Girls swimming

Lake Conference schools have dominated the sport in recent years, but in 2025 seven South Suburban Conference schools placed among the top 20 teams in Class AA – Shakopee (fifth), Lakeville North (seventh), Lakeville South (ninth), Rosemount (11th), Prior Lake (16th), Apple Valley (18th) and Farmington (20th).

Shakopee starts the 2026 season as the SSC favorite. But the conference is loaded with talent, including Lakeville North’s Chandler Offerman and Theresa Anderson, Lakeville South’s Taylor Hintz and Madi Parent, Apple Valley’s Vivian Lenzen and Rosemount’s Madi Jennen.

Adapted soccer

Park Center is defending PI Division adapted soccer champion. Dakota United has three state championships and two runner-up finishes since 2017, but the Hawks have not been in the title game the last three years and will be looking to change that.

In the CI Division, Dakota United will pursue a third consecutive state championship after graduating only three seniors from its 2025 team. A team to watch will be Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville, which won three championships in a row from 2021 through 2023 and is rebuilding with a new group of players.

Mike Shaughnessy can be reached at mike.shaughnessy@apgecm.com.