'He Makes High Schoolers Feel Like Pro Athletes'

Meet the man behind f/Go, the insanely popular Minneapolis sports photo site.

If you've been to more than a couple Minneapolis high school sporting events, you've probably seen Steve Kotvis before. You just wouldn't recognize him on the street, unless he held a giant camera lens in front of his face. You can usually find him belly-down in the mud at a football or soccer game, or ducking and running around a hockey or gymnastics arena as he tries to get the perfect shot, regardless of a team's athletic record. This dogged, enthusiastic approach to covering an ordinarily unglamorous subject has won Kotvis a legion of fans among players and parents alike. "He makes kids look like Adrian Peterson," said Jodi Wishart Anderson, the head of the Southwest High School Alumni Foundation and a Lakers booster parent. That …

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Kim Melin

9:46 am on Saturday, November 17, 2012

I had no idea who the name and face was behind the great photos. Thank you for sharing!   more ›

Southwest High Nearly Breaks Record Friday

Washburn and Southwest faced off at Washburn's homecoming game.

Friday night, Washburn High School narrowly squeaked out a win over Southwest High School in a game that left some in tears. The evening started out well for Southwest, who were trying to break a decades-long loosing streak against their arch-rivals. By the end of the first half, Southwest was up 6-0. Washburn's players pulled ahead in the next quarter, but by the start of the fourth, Southwest was up 18-7, and victory was in sight. Then, following hard on the heels of a Washburn touchdown, with barely a minute to go, Washburn's quarterback nailed a pass into the end zone for a final score of 19-18, and Southwest's chance of victory slipped away. Want to see the highlights? Check out photos from f/go and footage from WCCO.

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GALLERY: Hornets Upset by Southwest in Baseball Sectionals

The Lakers upset the hosting Hornets Friday night with a 7-5 win.

The Minneapolis Southwest baseball team upset homefield Edina with a 7-5 win Friday evening at Braemar Field in Edina in the Section 6AAA tournament. The Lakers advanced to face Bloomington Kennedy on Thursday at Alimagnet Park in Burnsville. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. Southwest got their seven runs on nine hits. They had four errors. Edina had six hits and four errors.

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Southwest Sports Roundup

Millers, Lakers Dive Into The Playoffs

Several Minneapolis Southwest, Washburn teams have either completed, are participating in, or preparing for, postseason.

Several Minneapolis Southwest and Washburn teams have either completed, were participating in or preparing for postseason play last week as the spring sports season marched on. Southwest Golf: Lakers Sweep City Conference Championships Both the Southwest boys and girls golf teams swept their Minneapolis City Conference title matchups on May 16 at Minikahda Country Club. Joel VanHazinga's card of 82 earned him medalist honors and led the Lakers boys to a championship score of 382. Cecelia Brody fired a 53 to lead the Southwest girls to a first-place score of 233. Minneapolis Boys Lacrosse: Warriors Begin Playoffs On Wednesday After finishing off a 6-6 regular season, the Minneapolis boys lacrosse team earned a No. 9 seed for the Section 5 …

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College Careers Await Several Southwest Athletes

Southwest High School volleyball, soccer and football players will test their skills at the next level after graduation.

For all of the hype surrounding the five-star high school football player and the six-foot nine-inch forward, the vast majority of kids who go on to participate in athletics at the collegiate level are a lot like Southwest High School’s Allison Adams and John Pitsenbarger—good athletes and good students. They will compete away from the limelight, rarely playing in sold-out arenas. Adams and Pitsenbarger are classic examples of the NCAA slogan: “Most of us go pro in something other than sports.” Adams will continue as a volleyball player at the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND and Pitsenbarger will go from a very good Southwest Lakers boys soccer team to play at Dominican University in River Falls, IL, a northwest suburb of Chicago. Adams…

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Lakers Walloped By Hopkins in Girls Basketball

Minneapolis Southwest girls basketball team defeated, 90-28, by second-ranked Royals.

There was very little in the way of positives to be found for the Minneapolis Southwest girls basketball team after a 90-28 thumping on its home court by second-ranked Hopkins on Monday night. "We were mentally scared," Lakers head coach Robert Grace said. "That's how it was and that's tough." Southwest, playing without leading scorer Vinishia Jackson, who was out of town for three days and was not ready to play by the start of the game, were entirely out-played by the defending state Class AAAA champions from start to finish. "When you lose a players who gives you 13 points and seven rebounds a game going up against a top team like Hopkins, that hurts," Grace said. The Royals never trailed, amassing a 12-0 lead by the time that the Lakers…

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Southwest Lakers Struggle Against Defending State Champs Benilde in Girls Basketball

Now at 7-4, the Lakers are behind only undefeated South High School in the Minneapolis conference.

In a dispiriting loss, the Lakers were creamed 26-71 by defending state champs, Benilde-St. Margaret's at the Red Knight’s court Saturday. “We haven’t played too many Saturday night games,” said Laker’s head coach Robert Grace. “I guess they are used to being out at the mall on Saturday nights.”  While it was a tough game, the Lakers have been having a pretty successful season, coming into the game they were 7-3. The team looked forward to testing their mettle against the defending state champs.  “We just didn’t show up tonight, we just didn’t,” said Grace.  That wasn’t the only problem. “Normally we play a lot of man-to-man defense, and we know [the Lakers] are so athletic and quick so we decided to play mostly zone and it worked pretty …

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