Area athletes honored

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- Amy Lipetzky of Springfield, Dan Unke of Minnesota Valley Lutheran, Nic Adrian of Glencoe-Silver Lake and Danon Anderson of St. James were all honored at KNUJ's 39th Annual Player of the Year banquet held last night at the Orchid Inn in Sleepy Eye before another sell-out crowd.

Lipetzky was named the girls basketball Player of the Year as she led the Tigers to a fourth-place finish in the Class 1A state tournament this year. Lipetzky scored 454 points this season, grabbed 223 rebounds and also handed out 40 assists and had 53 steals.

She was named to the Tomahawk Conference All-Conference team, the coaches All-State team and was named to the state All-Tournament team. In her three-year career, she scored 834 points and ended with 511 rebounds.

Adrian and Unke were named the co-winners of the boys basketball Player of the Year.

Adrian, a 6-foot-5 center, helped the Panthers win their section and advance to the state tournament where they finished fourth. His senior season, Adrian scored 514 points and had 324 rebounds and totaled 81 assists. He is a two-time All-Conference pick and made the All-Tournament team at the state tournament. He will also play in the Coaches Association All-Star game. For his career, Adrian scored 1,044 points, with his 1,000th career point coming in the state tournament. He added 802 career rebounds.

Unke, who will play at Martin Luther College next year, had a great four-year career, scoring 1,662 points, a school record. He was named All-Tomahawk Conference four years and was a three-year captain who led the Chargers win four conference crowns. He was named a three-time MVP of the team and was nominated to the McDonald's All-American team. After a slow start this year because of injury and illness, he scored 293 points, ended with 153 rebounds and 66 assists along with 47 steals and 33 blocked shots. Unke is in the top 10 of MVL's school records in all 17 catagories. His 1,662 points are the second most in New Ulm city history, and his 334 free throws made are a school record.

Anderson is KNUJ's Wrestler of the Year after posting a 37-1 record this year and a state Class 1A championship at 145 pounds. He had 17 pins, three technical falls, four major decisions, 75 takedowns and 178 team points. He won six tournaments this year and ended his career with a record of 136 wins, 66 of which were by falls, and 647 team points along with 244 takedowns. He is a two-time South Central Conference champion and wrestled on three teams which placed in the state tournament.

Guest speaker was Art Westphal of Mankato Bethany College. Westphal, the athletic director and men's basketball coach, spoke about success and excellence.

"Sometimes the emphasis is put too much on success and not enough on excellence," he said.

"Sometimes, you can get caught up in what I refer to as the 'fool's gold' mentality -- or the number one mentality. We have got caught up in the idea that if we are not number one or if we are not the best, it is not worth playing. Coaches are faced with kids quitting for a variety of reasons; perhaps it is because they do not play. Maybe it is because they do not get that instant success that they want instead of paying their dues and waiting their turn.

"We have gotten away from the value of being a member of a team and working for that common goal of being the best that we can be and just being a member of a team and not being a star.

"I really enjoy speaking at these banquets," he said. " I was thinking on the way over here that I have spent my entire career either playing with athletes or coaching them, and I suspect that I am going to do that for the rest of my career. This is a fun time for me."