They’re grainy, weathered; Father Time has eroded the finer details of their young faces. To some they sit only as fillers in smudged glass cases, overlooked by generation after generation, but to the keen eye, those old photographs can serve as a key in unlocking Centennial’s athletics of yesteryear.
They have names like Dick Menne, who in 1968 went 16-0 for Centennial’s blossoming wrestling program, helping to etch the Menne Boy’s legacy into our sweat-stained wrestling mats.
“Dick who?” says Senior Tanner Pap in an indifferent tone, with a facial expression to match; indeed others seem only to shrug their shoulders at their very own history.
Jeff Bollmeier, a math teacher, offers his prognosis of the situation, “Kids these days don’t really care about others, they’re selfish, they forget that they’re only part of a bigger picture.” A picture that stretches back to the sixties, a grievous time for centennial athletics as fans had to endure consecutive losing seasons within their Skyline Conference (consisting of such local high schools as Forest Lake and Fridley.) Those football games alone were more numbing then the chilly October gusts as the 1963 team had managed to only put up a mere 14 points throughout their 1-8 season. Basketball too faired no better, tallying a 1-13 overall record inside the gymnasium that same year. But it was hockey that was the weakest link amidst a rusted chain, earning 0-16 milestone in 1969. Still, the faithful poured into the bleachers donning their Chief gear and that renowned Centennial perseverance.
“Football was very popular, basketball to some extent to some extent too, I suppose. Hockey wasn’t, it was too cold and they used to play outdoors (where the tennis courts are today,) wrestling wasn’t either,” explains Mr. Buhner, a graduate of Centennial’s 1970 class, himself having had a standout baseball and basketball career within the school’s confines. He also points out that the enrollment in sports today dwarf that of 3 decades ago, but students back then were more well-rounded, some having had as many as three sports under their belt.
Even before Jimmy Carter had taken over Washington, a new era of change was well under way on Centennial’s fields and courts. A year earlier, in 1975, the football team had done the unthinkable by achieving a perfect season as the basketball team too finished first in their new conference, the Tri-Metro Conference, at 15-1. The 70’s also ushered in a new radical sentiment, the idea of women’s athletics. Female students, once restricted to the cheer squad and sidelines, now had the chance to don Centennial’s red and black in the courts themselves.
Hockey though, still faced hardships, finally reaching above the .500 mark in ’79 with an 8-6 ending.
“I think the problem is that there is nothing really out there to show our history. You know, there’s like plaques and what not, but there are no books on us like Bloomington Jefferson (Who was subject of the 2003 memoir Blades of Glory, based on their 2000-2001 hockey team,) we’re kind of boring” Senior Chris LaScotte says, indicating the fact that Centennial, buried deep within the desolate northern suburbs, lacks the name recognition of such fellow suburban schools as Hopkins or Edina.
And it was recognition that Centennial hunted, ’85 was the year in which it nearly caught its prey, as the football team clawed through the state tournament only to succumb to defeat in the championship against Hutchinson. It would be the closest Centennial would ever get to the number one spot. Hockey acted like the the pendulum of a clock, swinging from some of their finest seasons yet in ’81 and ’89, to losing seasons likewise. The basketball program found a decent amount of comfort in their new North Suburban Conference, putting up impressive numbers at a time, though they seemed to lack consistency, a common theme for Centennial athletics it seemed.
Today, the programs bear little resemblance to their roots, planted in ’60, up heaved throughout the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, until by the ‘90’s they had been reclassified, no longer as the Chiefs but now the Cougars. To an old-timer the prospect of women’s basketball and hockey, both men and women’s, being the dominant driving force would be nothing more than an ironic twist of the past. But as leaves fall onto the fields, bringing with them the changing of seasons, so do the eras in which dwell in. But as for photographs, faded and all but forgotten, they sit like the guards of Buckingham palace, disciplined and immune to change.