Sports

Ex-Osseo Hoops Standout Jennie Sunnarborg Rintala Now a Pro in Australia

She is the second player to rise from the Osseo Oriole girls basketball squad to a professional team, according to the Sun Press & News.

She is 10,000 miles away from the basketball court at Osseo High School, but Jennie Sunnarborg Rintala is still playing hoops—now as a pro in Perth, Australia, with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns women's team, according to the Sun Press & News.

After playing at South Dakota State University, the 2008 Osseo graduate arrived in Perth in February 2013 with husband Ryan Rintala, the newspaper reported, for a job that only one other woman from the Oriole girls basketball program has reached: professional basketball player.

The Sun Press & News detailed that achievement:

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According to former longtime Osseo Hall of Fame coach Dave Thorpe, Rintala is only the second female Oriole to play professional basketball. Hana Peljto, who led Osseo to the 2000 state championship and later starred at Harvard, played professionally in Europe. ...

“It wasn’t easy to just pick up and move around the world,” she said. ... "To continue my basketball career and to live in a whole new country is an amazing experience. We knew it would be well worth it.”

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