Emily Slama, Olivia Skaare and Annika Johnson, pictured above, were named to the SCC All-Conference tennis team recently.

Three members of the Blue Earth Area girls tennis team were named to the South Central Conference All-Conference list.

Emily Slama, Annika Johnson and Olivia Skaare were the three Bucs honored.

In past years, the top players at the SCC Conference Meet made the All-Conference list.

This year, because the conference meet was rained out, the coaches used a season point system to determine the All-Conference honorees.

The Bucs’ Slama, a junior, was the top point winner with 40, and was at the top of the Gold list. Slama was the No. 1 singles player for BEA this past season. She was 18-5 for the year, and was 5-0 in the conference.

In second place on the Gold list was Waseca’s Danni Collins who had 37 points. Waseca had four players on the Gold list and St. James had three. Waseca also had four players on the Bronze list.BEA’s Johnson and Skaare each received 21 points and were named to the Bronze list. Johnson played at the No. 2 singles position, and Skaare was on the No. 1 doubles team for the Bucs.

Johnson, a senior, was 10-11 on the year. Skaare, also a senior, was 10-6 overall for the year.

“I am pleased for Emily and what she accomplished this season,” Buc Head Coach Terry Barnes says. “She was willing to put in the time and reap the benefits of it.”

“Annika is endurance at its best,” the coach says about his No. 2 singles player. “She played some of the longest matches we had all year.”

The coach says Skaare has a real liking for the game of tennis, and it shows.

“Olivia has been a very good doubles player for us,” he says.

In addition to the conference honors, the Bucs as a team were honored with a silver medal in academic excellence by the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association. In order to receive the honor, the top ten of the 13 players on the team need to have better than a 3.6 grade point average.

Also, Johnson was named to the All-State Academic Team by the same coaches group. Players need to have better than a 3.7 grade point average, and be a senior.