While sports are tracked by wins and losses, they’re defined best by those who play them. This month we profile some of the area’s most promising student-athletes as they approach their senior year. These stars shine bright on and off the field with superior skills, class, sportsmanship, teamwork, intelligence and hard work.
An Inseparable Pair
For as long as they can remember, the lives of Ellen Edison and Stephanie Davison have simultaneously revolved around an orange leather ball. As lifelong teammates, neighbors and close friends, the upcoming seniors at Maple Grove Senior High like to say they’re “attached at the hip”: Their lockers are right by each other, they live on the same block, and they study— and goof off—together. But their common passion for basketball, a bond forged in kindergarten while playing on the same YMCA team, is what binds them.
Neighborhood boys have been learning this the hard way summer after summer on Davison’s backyard basketball court. “Their goal for the summer is to beat us,” Davison says. “We don’t let them. That’s what we do all summer.”
Even after years of high school and AAU basketball, Edison and Davison still refine their skills via backyard street hoops, a longtime tradition that keeps fun infused in the game. “We used to make up the most intricate plays possible, and we wouldn’t leave until we could get it perfect,” Ellen says. That chemistry between the girls carries over on the court for the Crimson. “I can throw it up the court,” Davison says,” and I know (Ellen) will be there.”
Both three-year varsity players earned all-conference honors for a Maple Grove team that had a breakthrough 24–2, 2009–2010 season, highlighted by a section title. Edison, who averaged 13 points per game as a junior captain and has 145 career steals, is best known for her defense. “Ellen is the most tenacious on-the-ball defender I’ve ever coached,” says Crimson head coach Mark Cook. “She loves the challenge of guarding the other team’s best player.” Davison, on the other hand, is a jack of all trades, scoring nine points per game and racking up 128 rebounds as a junior. “Steph does so many different things well,” Cook says. “She’s such a long player (at 5-foot-11), she just kind of creates problems for kids.”
Edison (3.9 GPA) and Davison (4.0) also apply their tireless work ethic to the classroom. As Maple Grove Senior High Link Crew leaders, they make academics a top priority, and it’s no coincidence that they are being recruited to play college basketball. “I study all the time—I’m not going to lie,” Davison says. “We basically take all the same high-performance classes, and we help each other.”
As a No. 2 seed, the Crimson suffered a heartbreaking upset in the state quarterfinals to Wayzata in March. Edison and Davison are using the loss as motivation for their senior season and are already pounding the backyard pavement to improve. “Next year we know what we need to do to get back to the point we were at,” Edison says. “We’re going to up the ante a little bit … Let’s just say we have some unfinished business.”
Ellen Edison
Sport: Basketball
Accomplishments: 3.9 GPA, 2008–2010 all-conference, 2009–2010 Minnesota Coaches Association all-state honorable mention, 2008–2010 Channel 12 all-area team, Maple Grove High School Link Crew leader
Stephanie Davison
Sports: Basketball, Volleyball
Accomplishments: 4.0 GPA, 2009–2010 all-conference, 2008–2009 all-conference honorable mention, 2009–2010 Channel 12 all-area team honorable Mention, Maple Grove High School Link Crew leader
Air Orioles
When the Friday night lights illuminate the Osseo Senior High football field in September, the Orioles won’t hesitate to let the ball fly. Featuring two of the elite wide receivers in the state, Jameer Jackson and Joey Sonnenfeld, the Osseo team’s main question isn’t if they will throw the ball; it’s will there be enough balls to throw? “Oh yeah,” reassures head coach Derrin Lamker, “As much as l like to put the ball in the air— we call it the Air Orioles (offense)— there will be plenty of balls in the air.”
If history serves as any indication, Jackson and Sonnenfeld will be ready to grab them. Jackson, who earned first team all-state and all-metro honors last year after transferring from St. Thomas Academy, led Osseo with 86 receptions for 1,139 yards and 15 touchdowns. Sonnenfeld, all-conference as a junior, caught 25 passes for 485 yards (19.6 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns.
Although they play the same position, Jackson and Sonnenfeld are birds of a different feather. At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Jackson prides himself on being a physical receiver who can run over defenders and run spot-on routes. His 19 receptions against Andover last year set a state record for the most in a game. Sonnenfeld, at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, has the rare combination of height and burning speed, which also made him a standout safety on the defensive side of the ball with 47 tackles and two interceptions last year. His large frame makes him an easy target for long bombs, and his 4.6-second 40-yard-dash is the fastest on the team. “Nobody can stop him because he’s so fast,” Jackson says.
Jackson’s and Sonnenfeld’s personalities differ just as much as their skill sets. “They’re totally two different people,” Lamker says. “Joey leads by example. He’s quiet, and whatever you tell him to do, he does. Everyone looks up to him because he’s a great player and a great leader that way. Jameer is a vocal leader. He’ll be yippin’ and yappin’ and talkin’ and getting people excited and fired up. They really mix well with their roles.”
Both of Osseo’s star receivers are being recruited to play football at Division I colleges. The Minnesota Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers are looking at Sonnenfeld, whose father Randy was a tight end for the Gophers. Wyoming and Stanford are both eyeing Jackson, who has a 3.0 GPA in an HP (high performance) class schedule.
But before they move on to the next stage of their football career, Jackson and Sonnenfeld will try to mesh their talents and steer the Orioles, who were 4–6 last year, toward a state title. “We have experience with each other now,” says Sonnenfeld, “so we’re going to be that much better.” Lamker agrees. “One thing in football: If you have one receiver, you can be good,” he says. “But if you have two receivers, you can be great.”
Joey Sonnenfeld
Sports: Football, basketball, track and field
Accomplishments: 2009–2010 all-conference football, 2009–2010 preseason all-state football, 2009–2010 all-conference basketball
Jameer Jackson
Sports: Football (used to participate in lacrosse, hockey and wrestling at St. Thomas Academy)
Accomplishments: 3.0 GPA in HP classes, 2009–2010 first team all-state, 2009–2010 first team all-metro, 2009–2010 all-conference
Serving up Respect
When Lauren Williams and Libby Warren are on the same court, a net and a conference rivalry stand between them. Williams of Heritage Christian Academy and Warren of Providence Academy will be among the top senior volleyball players in the Minnesota Christian Athletic Conference come September, and it’s a good bet they won’t slip each other’s radar when the two teams meet.
“Lauren is the biggest threat from Heritage,” says Warren. “She’s a great player. She’s one of the best attackers in the conference, and even the state.” Williams shares the same respect for Warren. “She was definitely the main person we were worried about from Providence (in years past),” Lauren says. “She’s a good hitter, and I had to watch out for that block. I was very aware of her on the court.”
The girls played on the same club team at age 12, but have since been key building blocks in their respective high school programs. Warren, who has been a varsity starter since her freshman year, earned all-conference honors the past two years despite missing nearly half of last season with a back injury. “She has the talent,” says Providence Academy head coach Kylie Glaser of Warren, “but her heart and spirit is what really makes her a great athlete and a great leader of the team.”
Williams, who made her varsity debut as a seventh-grader, is also a leader, primarily by example, says Heritage head coach Tom Fuglestad. “Last year she was a go-to person for our team, and she’s also the key person our opposition would try to shut down,” he says. “In terms of her dominating skills and abilities, those have become stronger and stronger.” So much so that Williams earned all-state honors in a junior campaign that included 448 kills and 85 blocks.
However, volleyball accomplishments aren’t the only priority for Williams (4.0 GPA) and Warren (3.8), who will serve as role models for their younger teammates off the court as well. Warren is a member of the National Honor Society, has been on the Head Masters List (3.67 GPA or higher) since sixth grade and still finds time to help coach a Minnesota Select youth developmental club team. Williams has attained highest honors since freshman year, has served in student government, and completed mission trips to Costa Rica and the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana.
So for all that stands between Warren and Williams, common priorities—athletic performance, work ethic and classroom discipline—connect them.
Libby Warren
Sport: Volleyball
Accomplishments: 3.8 GPA, National Honor Society member, on the Head Master’s List (3.67 and above) since sixth grade, received two academic letters, two-time all-conference volleyball player (2008-2010) and junior captain
Lauren Williams
Sports: Volleyball, golf
Accomplishments: 4.0 GPA, 2009–2010 all-state and 2007–2010 all-conference volleyball, highest honors for three years, student mentor, winner of choir and math contest awards, served in student government
