Liana Blomgren, Sam Grev triple-up with straight ‘A’s in academics, athletics, arts
Behind these doors at 450 12th Street – doors that lead into Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) – seniors Liana Blomgren and Sam Grev have spent countless hours studying to achieve their academic goals, training and competing in athletics across all three sports seasons and practicing, rehearsing and performing in a wide array of fine arts activities during their six years in high school.
The pair are now being recognized for their hard work, contributions, leadership roles and successes – earning straight “A”s as Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Triple “A” Award winners in academics, athletics and arts.
Both were selected as Sub-Section 6 Triple “A” honorees, representing the male and female award winners, respectively. Liana went on to be named the recipient of the Female Section 2A award winner. She advances to the Female MSHSL State Class A Triple “A” selection, held during the MSHSL Boys’ State Basketball Tournament.
Sam will receive his award at the Boys’ Sub-Section Basketball Final, and Liana will be presented her plaque at the Girls’ Sub-Section Basketball Final. Liana’s section recognition at the Girls’ Section 2A Basketball Championship game.
The statewide Triple “A” male and female winners will be announced at the Triple “A” banquet held in conjunction with the Boys’ State Basketball Tournament in March. The top two award finishers from each of the eight sections in the state are invited to a banquet, at which time MSHSL officials announce the four Triple “A” Award recipients at the banquet. Award recipients – a female and a male from both a Class A and a Class AA school – receive a four-year, $1,000 scholarship.
Liana awarded Female Sub-Section 6 and Region 2A Triple ‘A’ honors
Eighteen-year-old Liana Blomgren has well-represented her MLHS school community during her six years in high school, and her efforts are being recognized. She was recently named the Female Sub-Section 6 – as well as the Female Section 2A – Triple “A” Award winner.
An “A” Honor Roll student, Liana is a three-sport athlete and participates in the complete spectrum of fine arts availabilities at MLHS. In the fall, she runs cross country; during the winter sports season, she takes to the hard court as a forward with the Wolverine girls basketball team and in spring, is a distance runner in track-and-field.
She also participates in both the vocal and instrumental wings of the school’s music department. Liana is an alto in the Senior High Choir, along with the Show Choir and Acapella Choir. She is a trombonist with the Senior High Band and Senior High Jazz Band.
From her freshman year in high school on, Liana has appeared on the MLHS stage, performing in both musical productions and one-act plays. In this, her senior year, she was the wise-cracking canine, Snoopy, from You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown! and held the role of Hannah in Salt & Pepper, this winter’s one-act play.
She is also the president of the Mountain Lake FFA Chapter and the MLHS Student Council, and is a National Honor Society member.
Last fall, her empathetic nature was personified in a photo and story from the MSHSL Section 3A Cross Country Meet in Luverne that went viral worldwide. At that time, Liana won the hearts of fans and runners with her unselfish act of sportsmanship – which, unfortunately, ended up with her disqualification (DQ). During the girls run, Liana, who had qualified for state in the past, closed out her career by assisting Windom Area High School eighth-grader Gracie Bucher across the finish line. Bucher, too, was DQ’d. Bucher had collapsed in the final 100 meters of the race, and Blomgren, who was running just behind her, assisted Bucher to her feet – and ran with her the rest of the way to the chute
She will be marching in with the Saints of the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth this fall, majoring in physical therapy.
To underclassmen, Liana encourages, “Don’t let anything (or anybody) stop you from doing anything that you want to do.”
Sam honored with Male Sub-Section 6 recognition
Pulling out a roll of Smarties from inside his very swag “manny-pack” to share ’round, Sam Grev displays the affable personality that leads him through the steps he takes each day.
Eighteen-year-old Sam, the Male Sub-Section 6 Triple “A” winner, says that he enetered high school ready and willing to embrace all of the available opportunities.
He is a three-sport athlete – lineman in football, forward for Wolverine varsity boys basketball and in the infield in baseball – and has been firmly entrenched in the MLHS fine arts programs.
Sam is a bass in the Senior High Choir, and also serves as the group’s treasurer. He also performs with the Show Choir and Acapella Choir. As a member of the Senior High Band, he leads the French horn section, plays the trombone with the Senior High Jazz Band and switches gears from brass to percussion when he appears with the Percussion Ensemble.
Audiences have seen Sam onstage throughout all six years of high school, from musicals to one-act plays; making us giggle and laugh out loud, as well as tear up and sob, as he believably became each of the roles he has portrayed. This year, as a senior, Sam held the fall musical lead as Charlie Brown from You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown! and during the recently-completed one-act play season, appeared as Grandpa Holcomb in Salt & Pepper.
Additional accolades include his position as Senior Class President, member of the National Honor Society and a Mountain Lake FFA Chapter member.
He is also an “A” Honor Roll student.
Sam will follow older brothers Kaleb, Josh and Ben to become a Red Raider at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa in the fall, where he plans on studying mathematics, and perhaps, adding accounting as a double major. He was also awarded a musical scholarship and will perform with the college choir.
He encourages underclassmen to, “Have fun. Get your friends and get involved. It’s all out there.”
About the Triple ‘A’
The Triple “A” Awards, presented by the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) are sponsored by AAA and Fairview.
The purpose of the Triple “A” Awards Program is to recognize and honor high school seniors who have excelled in the classroom, on the athletic field and in the fine arts; to elevate academic standards and create greater awareness of MSHSL-sponsored activities and their values and to provide MSHSL member schools the opportunity to participate in a statewide program that supports, promotes and recognizes academic and extra-curricular achievements.
To be eligible for the “Academics, Arts and Athletics” Award, student must be a high school senior, hold a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher, participate in MSHSL-sponsored athletics and fine arts activities and comply with the MSHSL’s Student Code of Conduct.
The award recipients are selected through a multi-level process involving MSHSL member schools, the MSHSL’s administrative regions and a special committee of educators, business leaders and members from the fine arts and athletic communities.
