Sports Roundup: Guzzo makes debut for St. Scholastica

• Libby Guzzo

Silver Bay native Libby Guzzo made her debut for the St. Scholastica Saints women’s hockey team in a 3-0 win against Augsburg College Friday in the team’s first game.

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Silver Bay native Libby Guzzo made her debut for the St. Scholastica Saints women’s hockey team in a 3-0 win against Augsburg College Friday in the team’s first game.

Guzzo, the only senior on the team and a captain, had three shots on goal against Augsburg. On Sunday, the Saints lost to Concordia-Moorhead 5-4 as Guzzo picked up an assist.

The forward was a member of the University of Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team the past three seasons. She was a member of two national championship teams, playing in three NCAA tournaments.

She split time between the third and fourth lines during her time at UMD, but wanted to see more “meaningful minutes” in her senior season.

Guzzo, who would have had to sit out a year if transferring to another Western Collegiate Hockey Association school, said she had been in contact with the University of Maine. She is also expected to play softball at Scholastica.

There are 26 players on the roster, 14 from Minnesota, five from Canada and five from northeastern Minnesota. None have played in NCAA Division III, but two played in Division I in UMD transfers sophomore forward Stephanie Lenz of Duluth and Guzzo.

“The biggest thing in this first year will to be competitive,” said head coach Jackie MacMillan, who was 31-26-3 in two seasons at New England College in Henniker, N.H. “I’m pretty demanding and will expect a lot out of this team.”

The team’s next home game will be against Lake Forest College at 7 p.m. tonight at Mars Lakeview Arena in Duluth. They will also have a game against Lake Forest at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Two Harbors-Cook County cross country

The Two Harbors-Cook County cross country team sent two runners to state Saturday in Kieran Scannell and Ailee Larson, both of Cook County.

“This year’s group was pretty experienced,” head coach Chris Hegg said. “This was our ninth straight trip to the state meet. In addition, Scannell and Larson, both went to state last year in cross country and track.”

Sophomore Scannell finished with a time of 16:57.1 for 34th place out of 161 competitors at the St. Olaf College course. He improved exactly 100 spots from last season’s finish. Larson, a senior, finished No. 43 with a time of 15:54.9 out of 153 competitors.

“Like any sport, it is extremely tough to even get to state,” Hegg said. “Ten-thousand runners start each cross-country season in Minnesota, and only about 500 make this trip.”

Last season the entire girls team made it to the state meet.

Josh Ensign and Anna Schield, both of Two Harbors graduate this year from the team.

Two Harbors swimming

The Two Harbors swimming team began sections Thursday in Hibbing. It will continue Saturday and the state meet will be Nov. 18-20 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

For the past two seasons, junior diver Rebecca Ronning has qualified for the state meet.

Tags: hockey, sports, schools, running