“Playing middle linebacker is second nature for me. I’ve been playing that position all my life. I love tackling people,” Pietig said. “We have been playing good, aggressive football on defense.”

“Kadence’s poise and leadership under pressure are what makes her special and stand out,” Raiders coach Greg Ueland said. That showed in the Class 4A, Section 4 championship when Roseville (26-5) rallied for a 21-25, 24-26, 25-14, 27-25, 15-10 victory over Stillwater. A senior, Davison had 50 set assists, 21 digs, three kills, three ace serves and two blocks in the game. She has 917 assists, 271 digs, 32 kills, 33 ace serves and 36 blocks this season. “Kadence has been a confident and vocal leader for this team since the moment she played varsity as a freshmen,” Ueland said. “She is a consistent setter who sees the court so well and knows who to get the ball to, setting our team up for success.”

The future looks bright for Semling, a freshman. Semling won the Class 1A cross-country state championship with a school-record time of 15 minutes, 23.5 seconds over the 5K course at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights. He entered the meet ranked second in the state by the coaches association. “His race was truly impressive,” Winona Cotter/Hope Lutheran coach Mike Costello said. “In two other big meets this year, he was dealing with an illness and minor injury. But he was 100 percent and really uncorked one. An amazing time and feat for anyone but extraordinary for a freshman.”

No moment is too big for Senden. The senior forward scored back-to-back goals, leading the No. 2-ranked Trojans (19-1-1) to a 3-1 victory over Lake Conference rival Edina, ranked fifth, for the Class 3A state championship. She scored at least one goal in each game of Wayzata’s season-ending 13-game winning streak. A Gophers recruit, she finished the season with 26 goals and 17 assists. “Tenley is an electrifying player with super speed who scored key goals in every state tournament game game,” Wayzata coach Tony Peszneker said.

The senior running back/linebacker is dominant on both sides of the ball. The 5-11, 192-pound Smith rushed for 268 yards on 25 carries and scored four touchdowns, leading the Storm (10-1) to a 42-14 victory over Warren-Alvarado-Oslo for the Nine-Player, Section 8 championship at the Fargodome. He scored on runs of 11, 28, 52 and 71 yards. Smith was active on defense as well, making 12 tackles. “Blaine has been consistently productive on both sides of the ball,” Storm coach Ethan Marquis said. “He is a strong player who has carried the ball well as of late for us.”

Brownell lived up to her ranking as the No. 1-rated runner in Class 1A. She won the cross-country state championship with a time of 18:17.2. Three weeks ago, Brownell established the school record with a time of 17:50.1 at the Heart O’Lakes Conference meet at Arvig Park in Perham. “She spent the season achieving goals and then setting new ones,” Cardinals coach Bruce Fuhrman said. A junior, Brownell won six of her seven races this season. “She understands the importance of logging of miles, speed workouts, tempo running, rest and other technical aspects required to become a great runner,” Fuhrman said.

A man suspected in a fatal shooting last month in New Hope has been captured in western Wisconsin, officials said Monday.

Jack Guy 32, no known address, was arrested without resistance early Saturday afternoon near Balsam Lake and remains in the Polk County jail on charges of second-degree murder and illegal weapons possession, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

He remains held in Wisconsin pending his extradition back to Minnesota.

New Hope police said Guy shot 23-year-old Carnell Mark Johnson Jr., of Bloomington, on Oct. 24 in a home in the 7300 block of Bass Lake Road. Johnson was shot in the chest, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Court records in Minnesota show that Guy has been convicted of many crimes over the years, including five times for violating a no-contact order and once each for a weapons offense, domestic assault, forgery, illicit drugs, theft, burglary and disorderly conduct.

According to the charges, which were filed Wednesday but remained under a court-order seal until Guy’s arrest:

In response to a 911 call from the home, officers arrived at the scene, where the caller said her brother had been shot. She later described him to police as not blood-related but a family friend.

She directed the officers to the living room, where Johnson was on the floor. Emergency medical responders took him to North Memorial Health Hospital, where he was declared dead that night.

This is the first election when people with felony convictions who are no longer incarcerated, but are still on probation or parole, can vote. In Hennepin County the change has affected 60,000 residents, said Ginny Gelms, election manager.

Voters can cast early, in-person ballots until 5 p.m. on Monday and polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Election Day. State election officials remind residents they can vote as long as they are in line by 8 p.m.

Results will start being reported after the polls close on Tuesday and Simon expects all the state’s unofficial totals to be in by breakfast-time Wednesday morning.

Simon urged residents not to read too much into how results are reported on election night. He noted that counties often send results in big batches and the state’s reporting website is updated every 10 minutes.

He added that the Secretary of State’s office oversees elections and reports results, but has never counted votes.

“That happens in a spread out, decentralized way, by design, in thousands of places across Minnesota,” Simon said. “In fact, it’s our friends and neighbors who are doing the counting in individual communities.”