The MSHSL has informed Edina High School that it will forfeit six football victories from last season (and one track meet this spring) due to an ineligible player participating.

As we reported here a few weeks ago, the administration was not aware the athlete was ineligible. The Hornets finished 6–4 with victories over Fargo South, Minneapolis Washburn, Armstrong, Mahtomedi, Stillwater and Minneapolis Southwest.

Long after the football season ended (in April, to be exact), Edina officials learned that an ineligible athlete had played in all the football games and a track meet. The situation appears similar to what happened at Mahtomedi in the midst of last season, when administrators learned that a transfer student should have been ruled ineligible before the season began and the Zephyrs had to forfeit five victories (they were 6-1 at the time). Edina beat Mahtomedi 29-26, so that game should now go down as a win for Mahtomedi; the Zephyrs’ ineligible player participated in all games before that one.

According to the school district, the error involved the athletic department not identifying a transfer student as being ineligible to compete in varsity competition.  The student disclosed everything correctly during the registration process, and activities director Jenny Johnson said it was the department’s oversight.

“The district regrets making the error and the impact our mistake had on the individual student and involved teams,” Johnson said. “We have enhanced our athletic-registration process to ensure such a situation does not occur again for our program.”

John Millea is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/stribjohn�

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