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Name: Alex Erickson
 
School: Darlington
 
Grade: Senior
 
Football Honors: A varsity letter winner for the Redbirds in each of the past four years under coach Scott Zywicki … First-team all-conference pick in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League (SWAL) at quarterback the past two seasons and first-team all-league at defensive back in each of the past three seasons … First-team all-state by the Associated Press as a defensive back as a senior after earning honorable mention all-state laurels as a junior … Passed for 1,240 yards and 13 touchdowns and ran for another 1,114 and 22 touchdowns as a senior while leading Darlington to a 7-0 league mark and 12-1 record in all games.
 
Basketball Honors: Four-year varsity letter winner for coach Mike Hopkins … Three-time first-team all-league pick in the SWAL … Honorable mention all-conference choice as a freshman … Averaged a team-best 21.2 points per game as a senior while leading Darlington to a 22-3 record and a share of the SWAL championship … Scored more than 1,600 points during his prep career … Fourth-team all-state pick as a senior by the Associated Press … First-team all-state pick among Division 4 schools by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association as a senior … Ranked No. 33 among players in the state in the class of 2011 by WisSports.net.
 
Track & Field Honors: Four-year varsity letter winner for coach Todd Bastian … Competes in the 200- and 400-meter runs … Advanced to state as a freshman, sophomore and junior … Finished third at the WIAA Division 3 State Meet in the 400 dash as a sophomore and junior … Personal best time of 50.11 seconds was achieved at the state meet as a junior.  
 
Favorite Sport: “I would say basketball. The atmosphere is so great in basketball with the fans sitting so close to the court. I’ve been playing basketball since second grade. When you put that much time and effort into one thing, you really learn to love it.”
 
Best Part of High School Sports: “Playing with the guys you grew up. The four classes of high school come together as one. The community support and everybody coming together as one makes for a great time.”
 
Most Memorable Moment in High School Sports: “In football as a senior, we played Arcadia in the third round. We were down 19-7 at halftime, but we made a heck of a second-half rally to win the game.”
 
Best Advice Received from High School Coach: “Coach Andy Palzkill is our quarterback coach and offensive coordinator in football. I’ve spent a lot of time with him over the years. He always said I reminded him of himself in high school, getting the accolades, but staying humble and working hard. He always told me to work hard and never let anybody outwork me. That has always stayed with me.”
 
Best Part of Playing Three Sports: “You get a good variety. In a small town, most of the kids go out for the same things. But it’s nice having that variety of different sports and always staying busy.”
 
Toughest Part of Playing Three Sports: “I play AAU basketball in the spring and summer in addition to high school sports. It’s hard to find time for all of the sports. You just don’t get much down time to work on a specific thing.”
 
Favorite Opponents: “Cuba City. Darlington and Cuba City are two good programs in the SWAL. Both teams are usually at the top in all three sports that I participate in. You know they will always have good kids and good coaching so it will always be a good matchup.”
 
Favorite College Team: Wisconsin Badgers.
 
Favorite Professional Teams: Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Lakers.
 
Cumulative GPA: 3.70.
 
Toughest Individual You’ve Competed Against: “Evan Richard of Cuba City. I liked him demeanor on the court. I had a lot of respect for him. Seeing him get a scholarship made me work all that much harder. I wanted to do things the right way like he did.”
 
College Plans: “I’m not sure where I’ll be going to college yet, but I am going to study physical therapy and play either basketball or football. It’s still pretty wide open at this point.”
 
Activities Outside of Sports: Member of the National Honor Society, member of the Student Council, coach youth basketball and football while also officiating youth games in Darlington.  
 
I Find it Relaxing to: “Hang out with friends and family. Just spend time outside.”
 
Favorite TV show: SportsCenter.
 
Favorite Movie: The Hangover.
 
Favorite Subject: “Math.”  
 
Favorite Websites: www.wissports.net, www.espn.com.
 
What’s On Your Ipod: “I listen to classic rock and Hip Hop.”
 
Other Family Members: Father, Mike; mother, Linda; older brother, Mitchell; younger brother, Brett.
 
If you would like to nominate a senior, three-sport athlete for Triple Play Triple Threat, contact Mark Miller at mark (at) wissports.net