Red Oak teen part of bronze medal basketball team

The Midwest Trailblazers seventh grade girls basketball team won the bronze medal in the State Games of America 2009 Tournament.

More than 9500 athletes from 43 states attended this year’s games and participated in competitions in a variety of Olympic sporting events from basketball to judo.

Red Oak’s Blake Bergren and her Trailblazer teammates breezed past Ute Mountain 62-4 in the first round of a 14-team tournament.

The second round proved to be more competitive as the Trailblazers won 42-31 of Spears 7G.

The Trailblazers met their match in the semi-final round as they were beat by Mile Hi Magic from Denver, Colo., 36-31.

The Magic advanced to win the gold medal game over the Colorado Wolfpack and the Trailblazers ended up coming home with the bronze.

With their third-place finish the Trailblazers earned an invitation to the 2011 State Games of America, which will be held in San Diego, Calif.

The State Games have featured many future stars including Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Danny Manning a former University of Kansas star and NBA Hall of Famer.

The seventh grade team is a part of the Midwest Trailblazers Youth Program, a nonprofit organization located in Omaha.

The organization provides an athletic program for kids along with help in academics, providing a full-service education program to help support the students’ academic needs.

The athletes and their parents are also a part of many volunteering projects including “Race for the Cure” 10k race, Omaha Food Bank, and various community service projects.

For more information on how to become a part of the Midwest Trailblazers athletic program, call (402) 991-1570 or sned an e-mail to them at contact@blazerhoops.com.