There are a number of talented senior athletes leaving the sports programs in the Star Herald coverage area this spring, but few have accomplished more than Luverne’s Dusty Antoine.A three-sport athlete at LHS, Antoine has experienced a dream high school career that’s worth noting.For many athletes, receiving the chance to compete at a state tournament, or a state event, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.For Antoine, participating at the state level has become commonplace.In the last three years alone, Antoine has advanced to state a total of five times in three different sports (one in every season of the year).If things fall into place at the end of the tennis season, Antoine will make his sixth appearance at a Minnesota State High School League-sponsored state event in June.Antoine received his first taste of state competition as a sophomore in the spring of 2003, when he and Patrick Bennett advanced to the Minnesota State Class A Tennis Tournament. They got there by placing second in doubles play at the Section 3A Individual Tournament. Antoine and Bennett lost their first-round match to the eventual state champions that year.Antoine and Bennett won the section doubles title last spring, and they went on to win their first match at state before bowing out of the event.That tournament appearance came after the Luverne boys cross country team, a squad Antoine was a member of, qualified for the state meet for the first time in the fall of 2003. The Cardinals placed 15th as a team at the state meet in Northfield.With Antoine being a member of the seven-runner team, Luverne boys repeated as the Section 3A runners-up in cross country last fall and went on to place eighth as a squad at the state meet in Northfield.Antoine added a winter state competition last March when he helped the Luverne High School basketball team snap a 22-year drought of not appearing in the state classic. The Cards won the section title and finished third in the State Class 2A field.Based on his solid start this spring, it wouldn’t be wise to bet against Antoine qualifying for the state tournament in tennis this season. He will be one of the favorites to potentially win the Section 3A singles title individually, and the Cardinals could make a run at the section title as a team.Over the years, I’ve had many coaches tell me that getting to state is the ultimate accomplishment, and competing at state is the gravy that covers the potatoes.If there’s any truth in that belief, it might be time for Antoine to get his blood pressure checked. He’s already digested a lot of gravy during a stellar high school career.
