Features

When he started to place kick for the Jordan football team as a junior Lee Gonzales struggled.

Just a year – and many hours of practice – later, Gonzales was named the Minnesota River Conference Special Teams Player of the Year for the 2008 season. He was also named to the Star Tribune’s third team All-Metro team and honorable mention to the Minnesota River Conference.

The Southern Stars adapted soccer team is going back to the state tournament.

The team, a cooperative squad made up of cognitively impaired students from Chaska, Prior Lake and Shakopee High Schools, is the No. 4 seed in the South region. The Stars will have the formidable task of taking on undefeated Park Center, the top seed in the North.

The state quarterfinal game is set for 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov.