Senior Lexi Karlen runs down the court at Forest Lake High School with the ball under her hand. She continues to dribble, the ball rolling off the tips of her fingers as she advances. Space opens and the hoop is in clear vision, she throws the ball up. Come on, go in. Karlen continues to chant as it flies through the air. The ball enters the hoop, the net switches back and forth as the ball falls through, and everyone starts running toward her. She’s in the middle of the pile with her teammates jumping around her in every direction. “Senior Lexi Karlen has hit her 1,000 points,” the Forest Lake announcer screams through the microphone. I have finally done it. Karlen thought as she was in disbelief after she hit a goal she had always dreamed of.

Karlen has always had a dominating presence with being a tall girl since she was young. Her parents put her in basketball when she was in first grade and she has continued playing since. She moved to Stillwater Area High School in ninth grade and continued to play at the high level all four years. While on the team she made it to the state tournament three times and was named captain for her senior year. For her senior season, she helped lead the team to the semifinals for the state where they got defeated by the number one team, Hopkins. She won an all-state honorable mention and averaged a high of 16 points each game.

She has always loved the game because it is a place where she can have fun and not worry about anything. Lexi Karlen described the court as a “safe place where I am never stressed”.

As this was her last year as a Pony, she will continue her athletic and academic career at the University of Minnesota Duluth. When she was younger she always dreamed of furthering her career in college and with all the hard work that she has put on and off the court she made it happen. UMD has always been known as having a strong basketball team, and it is being proven again this year. They are tied for first in the central region with their record being 25-3. Karlen will be another huge asset to their team next year as she will help lead them to another winning season.

“I am going to be playing at a strong program so I need to be on top of my training all the time to make sure I can compete at the level against very skilled, strong, and fast girls,” Karlen explained when asked about how she trains for high levels.

Huge sweaty men surround Karlen as they run sprints. The testosterone radiates from them as they run back and forth from line to line. Karlen’s breathing gets shallow as she gets more tired. Sweat pools in every crack of her body as she makes the final stretch. She hits the end and looks to her side to see how she kept up with the guys. It’s another night in the gym where Karlen is training with men. She likes to do this as it pushes her to go faster and train harder so she can keep up with them. This has been a consistent part of her training to continue improving every day.

Doing this training with the guys Karlen explained how they motivate her to go faster and harder than she does alone. It also gives her the confidence boost that’s needed on the court when she can compete better than them.

During her career, she has always faced the challenge of trying to balance her training schedule, school work and having fun with her friends. However, she says her coach Tim Peper continues to support her with the help she needs and understands if she needs time. She always feels as if she can talk to him about anything and having him as a support system is amazing.

“She’s a great leader on top of being a great player. Her leadership allows and pushes other kids to another level and her play allows us to lift our play to another level,” girls basketball head coach Tim Peper explained.

As a captain you need to be compassionate, a leader, supportive and willing to do anything for her team. Karlen has continued to do that in her career on the team. As the only senior on the team, she had a major role on the team of being a role model to the younger underclassmen and helping form them into leaders .

“As the oldest on the team, and everybody looks up to her and she works really hard, which pushes everyone else to work hard too,” junior girls basketball co-captain Amy Thompson explained.