SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.co— — —
It is March Madness, and I don’t remember a more exciting first two rounds of the Men’s Basketball tournament than this year’s games. It seemed like most game came down to the wire and it was a ton of fun to take in the games. Some exciting stuff.
We have a few days left of the winter sports season, and spring sports are underway with several track meets already held in NW Minnesota.
KROX will have all Red Lake County Rebel Boys Basketball games on the radio starting with the first round game at 5:00 p.m. Thursday.
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Here are some interesting State Boys Basketball tournament tidbits.
Northfield boys basketball is making its first state tournament appearance in 94 years!!
Liberty Classical is making its first state tournament appearance and has the smallest court in the state. The Liberty Classical home court is 74 feet long by 47 feet wide, the smallest dimensions allowed by the MSHSL. The normal varsity length is 84 feet, and the NBA court they will play on Thursday is 94 feet long.
State Boys Basketball officials from the area –
Supervisors-
Brad Sylliaasen (Dilworth)
Jim Weinzierl (Park Rapids)
Officials –
Mason Askegaard (Barnesville)
Zach Benson (Grand Forks – formally RLF)
Noah Glad (Hawley)
Eric Guler (Pelican Rapids)
Mike Gullingsrud (Red Lake Falls)
Rick Kehoe (Bemidji)
Aaron Lenes (Fosston)
Nathan Mertens (Bemidji)
Chris Nelson (Red Lake Falls)
Rob Nudell (Twin Valley)
Jonathan Pearson (Karlstad)
Glenn Roll (Glyndon)
Dylan Savary (Detroit Lakes)
Brad Sylliaasen (Dilworth)
Nicolas Thompson (Argyle)
Ryan Weiser (Dilworth)
QUARTERFINALS – Thursday, March 26 at Target Center
11:00 AM – #1 Henning vs #8 Upsala
1:00 PM – #4 Southland vs #5 Hills-Beaver Creek
3:00 PM – #2 Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton vs #7 Cherry
5:00 PM – #3 Red Lake County vs #6 Liberty Classical Academy
SEMI-FINALS – Friday, March 27 at Williams Arena
Noon – Henning/Upsala winner vs Southland/HBC winner
2:00 PM – JWP/Cherry winner vs Red Lake County/LCA winner
CONSOLATION SEMI-FINALS – Friday, March 27 at Concordia-St. Paul
10:00 AM – Henning/Upsala loser vs Southland/HBC loser
NOON – JWP/Cherry loser vs Red Lake County/LCA loser
CHAMPIONSHIP – Saturday, March 28 at Williams Arena
11:00 AM –
THIRD PLACE – Saturday, March 28 at Concordia-St. Paul
10:00 AM
CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP – Saturday, March 28 at Williams Arena
8:00 AM
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The Boys Basketball Section Academic Champions have been announced.
Section 8A – Fertile-Beltrami
Section 6A – Pelican Rapids
Section 8AA – Hawley
Section 7AA – Pequot Lakes
Section 8AAA – Sartell
Section 8AAAA – Bemidji State Champions –
A – Fertile-Beltrami
AA – St. Peter
AAA – Montevideo
AAAA – Shakopee
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The Crookston High School Triple A Academics, Arts, and Athletics Senior Recognition Banquet will be 6:00 p.m. on Monday April 27 in the CHS Commons. Cost of tickets is $20, no tickets will be sold at the event. Tickets can be purchased at KROX and the high school office. CHS Seniors can pick up their free tickets at the CHS office. Deadline to purchase tickets is Monday, April 20.
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The Crookston Pirate Spring Sports team coaches have been approved.
Boys Tennis
HC – Pat Janorshcke
Assistant – Tanner Janorshcke, Robert Janorshcke
Softball
HC – Sara Bowman
Assistant – Kris Nelson
JH – Jennifer Ehlen
Volunteer – Katelynn Nordine
Baseball
HC – Tyson Siegle
Assistant – Cesar Espinoza, Jason Casavant
JH – Dan Halland, Kory Baril
Track and Field
HC – Lon Boike, Lisa Conzemius
Assistant – Jasmine Brennan, Kris MacGregor, Anna Berwanger
Volunteer – Shannon Dillabough, Tatianna Bannert, Garret Kolin
Boys Golf
HC – Steve Kofoed
Assistant – James Mathews
Girls Golf
HC – TBD
Assistant – Marley Melbye, Jaclyn Tiedemann, Evan Pederson
3 Act Play
HC -Andrianna Winger
Assistant – Allison Reinhart-Richards
Clay Targets
Volunteer HC – Randy Prudhomme
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Speaking of Pirate Spring Sports, the numbers are historically low. The lowest I have ever seen for Pirate spring sports. It is really sad that all the supposed “athletes” that aren’t doing anything this spring, or doing hockey and basketball instead. Going out for track or any other spring sport is important. Unfortunately, I have a son who can’t play baseball due to a torn labrum, which he suffered last year, and didn’t want to miss soccer and basketball, so he elected the non-surgical route for that reason.
The Crookston Pirate Girls Golf team has 13 girls in grades 6-12.
Seniors – Emelia Hoerner, Ava Martin, Halle Nicholas, Taylor Wieland
Juniors – none
Sophomores – none
Freshman – Lillianna Bridgeford, Anna Heldstab, Makenna Peterson
8th graders – Haddie Halland, Harper Hann, Elsie Mathews, Lainee Wagner
7th graders – Ruby Martin
6th graders – Monroe Shockman
Crookston Pirate Boys Track is hurting for numbers this year. They only have 8 kids out 9-12! In Junior High, they only have three eighth graders out for a total 11!
Seniors – Miles Corneillie, Lennon Purdhomme
Juniors – Aaron Gosse, Makoti Weber, Cade Wisk
Sophomores – Chris Goodrich, Gavin Reitmeier
Freshman – Masen Lessard
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Stephen-Argyle Central grad Zach McGlynn, a senior trackster at NDSU, has had an amazing past week or two.
He was named the Summit League Field Athlete of the Year!!!!!!
used a strong final day to place seventh in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday. He finished with 5,995 points, breaking his own school record.
With the top-eight finish, McGlynn earns first-team All-America honors, becoming NDSU’s first indoor All-American since Trevor Otterdahl in 2022.
He established his previous school record of 5,975 points at Missouri’s Dr. Rick McGuire Invitational on Jan. 30-31 this year.
McGlynn was in 11th place after the four events on Friday. On Saturday, he clocked a lifetime-best 8.12 in the 60m hurdles, cleared 17-03.50 (5.27m) in the pole vault for the second-best mark in the field, and closed with a personal-best time of 2:44.54 in the 1000m to move him into seventh place.
McGlynn was also honored with the NCAA Elite Scholar-Athlete Award on Friday as the owner of the highest cumulative grade point average at the NCAA Championships. He earned a bachelor’s degree with a 4.0 GPA in agricultural economics and owns a 4.0 GPA toward a Master of Business Administration.
McGlynn is the first Bison to earn All-America honors in the men’s multi-events since Andy Lillejord took seventh in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2013.
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The North Border Conference has announced the Boys Basketball 2025-26 All-Conference award winners. The award winners are below –
All Conference
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River – Adrian Nelson
Goodridge/Grygal – Sawyer Jacobson, Owen Larson
Lake of the Woods – John Forrest
Northern Freeze – Avynn Ryba, Alex Bray, Sawyer Torgerson
Roseau – Jordan Borowicz, Aiden Evitts
Warroad – Brady Fast, Doot Boucha
Honorable Mention
BGMR – Will Foss
Goodridge/Grygla – Shay Jacobson, Gus Jones
Warroad – Luke Billingsly, Andrew Mayfield
Coach of the Year – Sean Spilde (Northern Freeze)
Conference MVP – Jordan Borowicz (Roseau)
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The Pine to Prairie Conference announced its Boys Basketball all-conference team. Teams in the conference are Ada-Borup-West, Bagley, Climax-Fisher, Fertile-Beltrami, Fosston, Lake Park-Audubon, Mahnomen-Waubun, NCE-UH, Park Christian, and Win-E-Mac. The award winners are below-
FIRST TEAM
Fertile-Beltrami – Drew Gullickson, Bryer Strem
Park Christian – Gavin Giese, Tyler Loeb
Norman County East/UH – Jace Braseth
SECOND TEAM –
Ada-Borup-West – Anders Tinjum
Mahnomen-Waubun – Brody Lhotka
NCE/UH – Bryce Braseth
Park Christian – Isaac Jacobson
Win-E-Mac – Joe Courneya
THIRD TEAM –
Ada-Borup-West – Brody Menge
Fertile-Beltrami – Gage Henrickson
Lake Park-Audubon – Luca Beske
Mahnomen-Waubun – Ethan Jackson
Park Christian – Logan Giese
HONORABLE MENTION –
Bagley – Ethan Rud
Climax-Fisher – Tyler Evitts
Fosston – Jake Howard
Lake Park-Audubon – Mac Voth
Mahnomen-Waubun – Anthony Thompson
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER – Tyler Loeb (Park Christian)
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Bryer Strem (Fertile-Beltrami)
CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR – Neil Steffes (Fertile-Beltrami) and Brendan Giese (Park Christian)
CO-ASSISTANT COACHES OF THE YEAR – Jeff Gullickson (Fertile-Beltrami) and Les Viken (Fosston)
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The Pine to Prairie Girls Basketball All-Conference teams have been announced. Teams in the conference are Ada-Borup-West, Bagley, Climax-Fisher, Fertile-Beltrami, Fosston, Lake Park-Audubon, Mahnomen-Waubun, NCE-UH, Park Christian, and Win-E-Mac. The award winners are below-
FIRST TEAM –
Ada-Borup-West – Morgan Engel
Climax-Fisher – Peyton Hoffman
Lake Park-Audubon – Kendra Nelson
Park Christian – Ashlynn Forde, Libby Suckert
SECOND TEAM –
Lucy Paulsrud – Climax-Fisher
Bailey Iverson – Fertile-Beltrami
Brielle Duppong – Fosston
Ellen Schauer – Lake Park-Audubon
Annika Johnson – Park Christian
THIRD TEAM
Brianna Meyers – Ada-Borup-West
Madison Stueness – Fertile-Beltrami
Gracie Olson – Lake Park-Audubon
Kenley Syverson – Mahnomen-Waubun
Cierra Carlson – Park Christian
HONORABLE MENTION –
Natalie Hoie – Bagley
Brooklyn Hoffman – Climax-Fisher
Mya Erickson – Fertile-Beltrami
Jordyn Rasch – Fertile-Beltrami
Miley Hove – Fosston
Olivia Theis – NCE-UH
Lauren Kaupang – Win-E-Mac
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER – Morgan Engel
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Ellen Schauer – Lake Park-Audubon
COACH OF THE YEAR – Zach Kakela (Park Christian)
ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR – Doug Rogness (Park Christian)
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The University of Minnesota Crookston announced the addition of men’s and women’s track and field as NCAA Division II sports competing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Golden Eagles will officially commence the program during the 2026-27 season with Steve Krouse as the head coach. They are currently in the process of hiring an assistant coach to work with track and field and cross country.
“We are very excited to add men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field to our sport offerings at the University of Minnesota Crookston,” said Director of Athletics Stephanie Helgeson. “We have seen tremendous growth and success in our cross country program in the last seven years, and we believe we can see the same type of trajectory in men’s and women’s track and field. It also allows us to offer the most competitive environment we can for our cross country and track and field student-athletes.”
The programs build off the men’s and women’s cross country teams which were started in the fall of 2019 at the University of Minnesota Crookston and have grown in success each season since the program commenced. The Golden Eagle men’s and women’s teams are each coming off their best season in program history in 2025, as the Minnesota Crookston men’s squad placed top five at the NSIC meet for the first time ever. The women’s team also had their best-ever finish at the NSIC Championship, placing seventh of 16 teams.
The Golden Eagle men’s and women’s cross country runners have been competing at indoor and outdoor track and field meets as unattached runners in recent years. This will allow those runners to officially represent their school at meets, and run as a part of NSIC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Minnesota Crookston will become the 13th school in the NSIC in men’s track and field, and the 16th in women’s track and field.
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After his second tournament win of the season, defeating Peyton Coahran of Winona State in a playoff hole to secure the NSIC Conference Preview win, Marc Bofarull Balleste (Sr., Barcelona, Spain) notched his second NSIC Golfer of the Week award, as announced by the conference office on Wednesday.
Bofarull Balleste won the award in the fall after winning the Newman Invitational.
Bofarull Balleste had rounds of 71 and 70 on the final day to tie with Coahran, before defeating the Winona State golfer in a playoff. Bofarull Balleste also finished with eight birdies during the tournament.
The junior has also paced the red-hot Golden Eagles, as the maroon and gold have placed in the top-three in four consecutive tournaments.
Bofarull Balleste becomes the first Golden Eagle, dating back to 2012 to win two different weekly conference awards.
The Golden Eagles are currently ranked 11th in the region as a team and Bofarull Balleste sits 25th in the individual regional rankings.
The Golden Eagles are back at it this Monday and Tuesday at the Silverback Invitational, hosted by Pittsburg State.
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JOKES
I got really angry with my car navigation today. I even yelled at it and told it to “go to hell.”
Twenty minutes later, it brought me in front of my mother-in-law’s house.
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A man and his wife are dining at a table in a plush restaurant, and the husband keeps staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sits alone at a nearby table.
The wife asks, “Do you know her?”
“Yes,” sighs the husband, “she’s my ex-girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up seven years ago, and I hear she hasn’t been sober since.”
“My God!” says the wife. “Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?”
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My boss made me go into the office on Labor Day. Halfway through the day, he came in to check up on me and caught me having a beer.
He said to me, “You can’t drink while you’re working.”
I said, “Oh, don’t worry – I’m not working-
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How are former Crookston Pirates athletes doing in college or elsewhere?
****LET ME KNOW OF OTHERS TO ADD TO THE LIST. Email me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com
Teagen Lubinski is playing Junior Hockey for the Badlands Sabers in the NA3HL.
Parker Kelly is playing Junior Hockey for the Badlands Sabers in the NA3HL.
Addie Fee is a freshman playing tennis and hockey at Wisconsin-Superior.
Kambelle Freije is a freshman playing hockey at Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Riley Helgeson is a freshman playing football at Northern State.
Emily Bowman is a freshman playing Softball at North Dakota State College of Science.
Halle Winjum is a sophomore playing basketball at Minnesota Crookston.
Blake Melsa is a sophomore playing soccer and baseball at Alexandria Tech
Jackson Reese is a sophomore playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Matt Contreras is a freshman playing baseball at Concordia College.
Naomi Johnson is a freshman playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Paul Bittner is an assistant coach on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Men’s Hockey team.
Reese Swanson is a sophomore playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a sophomore playing football at Minot State.
Isaac Thomforde is a sophomore playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Halle Bruggeman is a Junior on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Sophomore on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Junior on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Jacey Larson is a Junior playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Senior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Seth Heppner – Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Golf at Jessup University
Brady Heppner – Head Coach of Women’s Golf at UMC and Assistant Hockey Coach
Crookston School District Coaches
Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach.
Colton Weiland is an assistant Pirate Wrestling Coach
Jason Cassavant is a Jr. High Baseball Coach and Head American Legion Baseball coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Marley Melbye is an assistant girls golf coach
Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ben Trostad is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ethan Magsam is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson is the head Little Falls Volleyball coach.
Tim Desrosier is an Assistant Coach for Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Pony Boys Basketball
Pat Wolfe is the head wrestling coach for Fosston/Bagley.
Austin Sommerfeld is an Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communication at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.
Collin Reynolds is the head baseball coach for the University of Colorado Buffalo Club Baseball team.
Trent Stahlecker is a School Security Specialist & he works for the Brevard Public Schools, Florida.
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown.
Josh Edlund is the head football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach at Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is the Head Wrestling Coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Matt Harris is an Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Marty Bratrud is the Superintendent and High School Principal at Westhope High School.
Gordie Haug is an assistant football coach at the University of North Dakota.
Mike Hastings is the Wisconsin Badgers Men’s head Hockey coach.
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Grand Forks Schools.
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football, volleyball, and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for Bison media relations.
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College.
Chris Myrold is the Director and Fitness at Mission Ranch and Fitness in Camel, California.
Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
Jaren Bailey is serving our country and is currently in the Marines’ Boot Camp.
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
Philip Kujawa class of 2004, from Crookston High School. He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.
Rob Sobolik is the General Manager of the Fargodome
That’s it for this week. Thanks for the comments, and if you have anything to add or share, please e-mail chrisjfee@yahoo.com or call. Thanks for reading and listening to KROX RADIO and kroxam.com..
