This morning I grabbed my coffee thinking about local sports stars, you know? Wanted to know who was getting featured right now in the St. Cloud Times sports section. Figured folks might wanna know too.
First Step: Hitting Paywalls Head-On
Opened my laptop, went straight to the St. Cloud Times website. Typed “sports” in their search bar, hoping for a list of recent headlines. Boom! Hit that paywall like a brick wall. They wanted me to subscribe just to peek. Seriously! Like trying to watch a game from the parking lot.
Plan B: Hunting Highlights
Couldn’t find squat on the main page, so I got sneaky. Headed over to good old Google. Typed in “St Cloud Times Sports Top Athletes”. Scrolled past a few old articles and ads. Finally saw a newer headline something like “Local Standouts Shine This Season”. Jackpot! Clicked it… and yep, another paywall. Frustrating!
Getting Creative & Finding Faces
Alright, time to dig deeper. Since the articles themselves were locked up tight, I looked at what Google showed in the preview snippets. Sometimes you get lucky with names or pictures right there. Scrolled through a few results real careful. Spotted a couple:
- A snippet mentioning a hotshot quarterback from Tech High lighting up the field. Name popped up: looked like Marcus Johnson. Had some killer stats listed right in the preview – all-state mentions and touchdown numbers.
- Another snippet showed a girl hooping – Sophia Chen from Cathedral. Preview text talked about her averaging crazy points per game and leading her team deep into playoffs. Picture was tiny, but you could see the intensity.
- Third result preview had a wrestler, Ben “The Tank” Miller from Sartell. Said he was undefeated or something nuts, heading to state as a major favorite. Preview even mentioned his weight class.
No real details beyond that, but at least I had names and sports now.
Confirming The Names Locally
Didn’t wanna just trust Google snippets, right? Needed a second look. Went over to the Minnesota State High School League website. Searched their rankings and recent results sections for those schools and names.
Sure enough, found Marcus Johnson listed in football stats leaders for Tech. Saw Sophia Chen‘s Cathedral team ranked high in basketball standings, her name popping up in top scorers. And Ben Miller? Yep, right there dominating the wrestling rankings for Sartell in his weight class. Felt good knowing the snippets weren’t bluffing.
Wrapping Up (& Why It Felt Messy)
So, to answer “Who’s starring now in St. Cloud Times sports?” Based on what I could pry loose:
- Marcus Johnson (Tech High Football QB) – Stats monster.
- Sophia Chen (Cathedral Girls Basketball) – Scoring leader.
- Ben Miller (Sartell Wrestling) – Undefeated force.
That was the gist. Honestly? It felt like more detective work than a simple news check. Paywalls make finding local heroes surprisingly annoying. You gotta piece it together from snippets, previews, and official league sites just to get basic names and what they play. Makes you appreciate those old-school printed sports pages sometimes. Glad I found them though. These kids are putting in the work!
