TITLE:        UNKNOWN
DATE:         1995
DESCRIPTORS:  WOMAN; PREP; MINNESOTA; FIRST; HOCKEY

Copyright (c) 1995, St. Paul Pioneer Press

   As a youngster growing up in the 1970s, Lori Gustafson was a dedicated 
rink rat.

   ``I  loved  ice  sports,'' she said. ``I really enjoyed playing ringette
until  10th  or  11th  grade.  But  then senior year, I focused on the high
school sports.''

   For  Gustafson  and other girls in 1980 at Henry Sibley High, that meant
volleyball, basketball and softball.
   But  things  have  changed.  Gustafson and co-coach Dan Wilson will lead
Sibley  into  the  first  girls  hockey tournament in Minnesota high school
history  this  weekend  at  Maplewood's  Aldrich  Arena, where they will be
joined  by  teams  from  South  St.  Paul, Apple Valley and Stillwater. The
Minnesota  State  High School League is the only high school association in
the nation that sponsors girls hockey.

   ``This is such a great opportunity,'' said Gustafson, who played women's
hockey  at  the  club  level,  as  well  as  softball  at the University of
Minnesota-Duluth.  ``It's  an  honor  and  a privilege to be part of a team
taking part in the first girls high school hockey tournament. It has been a
fantastic  year  for  everybody  involved,  and I would say the players are
definitely  excited  to  be part of history in the making. They realize all
that  it  has  taken  for the whole state tournament to evolve, and they're
honored to be part of it.''

   For Sibley senior captain Liz Becker, things have come full circle. As a
freshman,  she  played  in  the  first  ringette  state  tournament.  As  a
sophomore,  she watched her school rally around the boys hockey team in its
trip to the state tournament. Now it's her turn.

   ``Everybody's  so  gung-ho,'' she said. ``It's great to be a part of it.
The  thing  I remember the most about the boys state tournament was how the
school  came  together.  The students and the staff were really pulling for
our team. Now they're doing the same thing for us.''

   They're  doing  the  same  thing at South St. Paul, Stillwater and Apple
Valley.

   ``We  have  such a rich hockey tradition here, and everybody has been so
supportive,''  South  St.  Paul  coach Dave Palmquist said. ``We've been on
cloud  nine  since  we  qualified  last Saturday. The girls are just loving
it.''

   Palmquist,  a  former  boys  coach  who  played at Minnehaha Academy and
Bethel  College, admitted he didn't know what to expect at the start of the
season.

   ``I  remember  our  first  practice, with some of our administrators and
board  members in attendance,'' he recalled. ``Putting together some of the
drills was pretty eventful.

   ``But  to see how far they've come is pretty amazing. They've passed all
expectations.''
   Like  all  athletes  and  coaches  who  have taken part in this historic
inaugural  season,  the  Packers  have been pioneers. They took part in the
first  girls hockey game sanctioned by the state high school league Nov. 14
against  Holy  Angels, and eighth-grader Kelly Kegley scored the first goal
in a girls game, earning South St. Paul a spot on the CBS evening news.

   ``It  has  just  been  a storybook season for all the girls,'' Palmquist
said.

   Of  course,  come  Saturday  night,  there will be only one really happy
ending. Only one team will walk away as champion. The rest, though, will be
winners.

   SCHEDULE

   In today's semifinals at Aldrich Arena, Apple Valley plays Stillwater at
12:30 p.m. and Henry Sibley plays South St. Paul at 2:30 p.m.

CAPTION:
Photo: John Doman/Pioneer Press
Sibley's  girls hockey coach Lori Gustafson and team captain Liz Becker are
ready for the first girls state tournament this weekend at Aldrich Arena.