For a lot of us Twins fans we were disappointed with the lack of signing in the bullpen. It has hurt them in the first five games (and not getting hits with runners in scoring position)
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Due to Covid restrictions, protocol, and risk for large groups, it has been decided to cancel Lace ’em Up Basketball Camp in Red Lake Falls for 2021. Hopefully, things are back to normal in 2022 as we plan to have Lace ’em Up Basketball Camp continue once again from June 6-10th of the summer of 2022 for all age groups. Please mark June 6-10, 2022 on your calendars for Lace ’em Up Basketball Camp in Red Lake Falls.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Baseball team can’t get a break. They are off to the best start in program history, they lost games with Wayne State because they had COVID, now they lose two games against a fellow top 25 ranked team Minnesota State Mankato because UMC has a couple positive COVID tests. We have had reports of some cases on campus, so it isn’t a big surprise, but when the team found out makes it even tougher.
UMC made the trip to Mankato and they were there and received an email that they had two positive test results. The next part of the story is not only maddening, but unbelievable (but when dealing with UMC it is believable). The NCAA/NSIC require testing before games, which they did throughout the winter sports season and now into the spring. UMC paid for and conducted the rapid testing for the basketball teams, officials, media, etc. throughout the hoops season. In the spring season, UMC is NOT paying for or conducting the testing, even though it is required to participate. So the baseball players and coaches have to go to the National Guard Armory to get tested and the players insurance has to cover it. They no longer get the instant test like the basketball teams did and now it takes longer to get the results. So the team gets tested and they make the trip to Mankato. They got the results after they get to Mankato and the entire traveling team was on the bus and now they are all considered close contacts after sitting on a bus for 7 hours. That means the entire team is out until next Thursday.
I am going to tell you what I think of this –
UMC not paying for and conducting the COVID-19 testing like they did for the basketball teams this winter is 100 percent unacceptable.
The baseball team is the only team that is any good this year and the only team that has been good in the past several years. Yet they get treated like the NCAA treats D-1 Women’s basketball. They have over 40 student-athletes which is close to 10 percent of the students on campus. They are the MOST important team on campus and could actually help the fundraising department make some money and they should be striking the iron while the baseball team is winning.
Those that follow this column know I have been a big fan of Steve Gust. What he has done along with the help of the great coaching staff he puts together, the great players, and the outstanding Crookston Baseball Association has built it into one of the top programs in the nation. He has proven you can win at UMC, especially with local and regional talent if you get the right kids. When the season is over I will be starting a push to get him a significant raise. We will have more on that this summer.
I received an email from UMC Chancellor Mary Holz-Claus responding to the above comments. I had a few things wrong, and her email explaining what UMC is doing is below.
Dear Chris,
I am responding to provide clarity to the Sports Feever article today someone forwarded to me. Your piece contained several errors.
You referenced testing for basketball. It is different from baseball. For basketball we had to test on a specific cadence and all of the tests had to be submitted to the conference office prior to the start of the game. Since we had to test the day before the game due to the cadence, we had no other choice but to use the rapid antigen tests.
The rapid antigen tests are at times unreliable and have a lower sensitivity than the PCR tests. We used the Crookston Armory for basketball tests too, but they were typically only open two days per week and frequently, their open times did not fall on our cadence testing day.
Regarding baseball, the MDH requirement is only two times per week, and with the midweek game we sometimes do not have results back prior to leaving. An option would have been to wait before leaving, but as you know it is a long drive and this is the first time this has happened all year. The coaches made the decision based upon prior experience to travel.
Your statements concerning our testing of student-athletes are incorrect. We are still doing PCR testing on-campus in the Wellness Center every Thursday with the baseball team. This testing is being conducted by our Sports Medicine staff. We are only using the Crookston Armory once per week (same as basketball) and not for ALL their tests. In regards to insurance, students are asked to provide insurance at the armory testing site, but the cost is still free.
In regard to our other spring sports, testing protocols are determined based on risk and are in accordance with MDH and the NCAA Policies. I would be happy to provide details if you want them.
UMN Crookston athletic administration and Sports Medicine staff have gone above and beyond to do everything they could to ensure our student-athletes could play this year.
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The Crookston and Fertile-Beltrami coop in boys hockey is official.
The Fertile-Beltrami School Board voted earlier this week to co-op with the Crookston School District in boy’s hockey, becoming the second school to join Crookston this spring following Sacred Heart. The addition of the two schools will help add depth to the lineup as just 21 players went out for varsity and junior varsity hockey this past season.
Fertile-Beltrami Superintendent Brian Clarke said the school board had a choice to co-op with either Crookston or Red Lake Falls. “Couple of months here of gathering information from both Red Lake Falls and the Crookston program the board took action last night and approved the co-op for the next couple of years for boy’s hockey,” said Clarke. “I think everybody is pretty excited about that and looking forward to the opportunity for our kids to continue to play hockey up in the Crookston program.”
Crookston Activities Director Greg Garmen said the co-ops should help with numbers in boy’s hockey. “That should help,” said Garmen. “When looking at hockey numbers on the boy’s side, it’s been going down, and we need bodies. It’s a numbers game, as with pretty much everything we have going on right now. We approached Fertile, and Sacred Heart approached us initially. We got thinking about it and decided let’s do it. Sacred Heart was first to jump on board, and then, we were waiting on Fertile to have their information out to their people and have their board meeting. They did that last night, and it sounds like they approved it. I know they were thinking Red Lake Falls or Crookston, and they had to sort that out over at Fertile. It sounds like they did, and they’re coming our way. So, that will certainly help to get a couple of kids from each school to help our numbers, and that’s what we were hoping to achieve with it.”
Crookston Boys Hockey Coach Josh Hardy said he’s looking forward to working with students from both schools who joined the co-op. “We’re excited,” said Hardy. “Fertile has a longstanding relationship with our youth program, so most of these kids have been playing with our kids all the way up. We’re excited they’ll be able to do that. Sacred Heart, we’re excited to hopefully get some new players from over there, expanding our relationships with the area communities. I think it’s only going to benefit our program and hopefully make us a little bit more competitive here in the next couple of years. I’m looking forward to working with both schools and continuing our already established relationships with them.”
Garmen said the number of new players in the program for next year likely wouldn’t be known until the season begins. “I don’t think we do at this point,” said Garmen. “Really until you get to day one, you’re not really going to know. I would imagine a handful we’re hoping. One thing, even though our board, Sacred Heart, and Fertile approved it, the High School League has to approve it yet, so it’s not a done deal. It’s just a matter of getting some paperwork from Fertile, I have Sacred Heart’s, and once we get that all together, we’ll send it down to the High School League, and they’ll make a ruling on it. I would think they would approve it. It’s not totally official yet other than the school board’s involved have decided to enter into a co-op with Crookston, Sacred Heart, and Fertile for boys hockey.”
Garmen said all three schools are further ahead of the game with co-oping than many schools, so he anticipates having an official approval well before the season begins. “Usually, people are waiting right to the last minute to do these,” said Garmen. “You have to have it in at least 30 days before the season begins. We have months yet, so we’re in good shape in terms of a timeframe. Once I get the Fertile paperwork, we’ll send it down to the High School League and wait for the official response, then start planning.”
Clarke said there are at least three athletes in Fertile hoping to continue playing hockey at the high school level. “Right now, we have three athletes that have been part of the Crookston youth program,” said Clarke. “They are in age from 7th-8th grade and looking forward to the next steps in their hockey careers. So, yeah, we’ve got the three athletes that are primed and ready to roll and excited about the opportunity.”
Clark thanked Superintendent Olson, Coach Hardy, and the Crookston School Board for providing information that helped Fertile decide where to co-op. “I really want to send thanks to Superintendent Jeremy Olson,” said Clarke. “I know the board too. I think they were very good about providing information down to our school board members. Actually, Coach (Hardy) and Superintendent Olson came down to one of our informational meetings and provided an opportunity to answer questions. I thought that was very appreciative. So, again, we’re looking forward to the partnership, and a big thanks goes out to the Crookston district.”
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The Minnesota State High School League will hold their April Board of Directors meeting on Thursday morning. There are a couple of items on the agenda that will be of interest to many people.
Some items of interest –
1.Future Tournament Dates
2.Administrative Region Placement
3.Competitive Section Placement
4.Spring Seasons (Calendar and Guidance Documents)
5.Representative Assembly Amendments (Boys Volleyball, Girls Wrestling)
6.Membership Dues Discussion
NEXT MEETING: Monday, Tuesday, June 1, 2021
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The Minnesota Hockey Ted Brill Great 8 is being held this weekend and several area players have made the Section 7/8 team –
HP Seniors (Section 7/8) team –
Bemidji – Tate Hammitt
Moorhead – Maxwell Dronen
Warroad – Anthony Foster
Roseau – Judd Ginther, Paul Huglen, Andrew Tuttle
Red Lake Falls – Zak Kennett
East Grand Forks – Landon Parker
HP 18 Section 7/8 team –
Roseau – Max Strand, Carter Christianson, Gavin Gunderson, Isaac Wensloff
Thief River Falls – Brendan Bottom
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The Minnesota Hockey Girls HP teams have been announced.
The HP 17 Section 8 team (area players) is listed below –
Warroad – Abigail Chamernick, Madison Lavergne, Abby Reule
East Grand Forks – Cassidy Mack, Kendra Emery
Thief River Falls – Daniella Niebuhr
Roseau – Memphis Mertens
The HP 16 teams have been announced and the Section 8 team with area players is listed below –
Warroad – Mikayla Curtis, Lila Lanctot, Cahlilah Lindquist, Katierie Sandy, Tayla Hendrickson, Kate Johnson, Sophie Johnson
Thief River Falls – Jayden Breiland
Bagley-Fosston – Kasandra Fontaine
Roseau – Jada Pelowski
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The Minnesota Girls Hockey Coaches Association has released the Class A and AA Girls Hockey All-State team. The Section 8 players are listed below –
CLASS A ALL-STATE –
Warroad – Karlie Meeker (Sr.), Genevieve Hendrickson (Sr), Kendra Nordick (Jr.)
CLASS A HONORABLE MENTION –
Thief River Falls – Shelby Breiland (Sr.)
Warroad – Talya Hendrickson (Soph)
CLASS AA ALL-STATE –
Roseau – Sophie Helgeson (Sr), Kate Helgeson (Sr)
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A couple of weeks ago, Thief River Falls’ Blake Biermaier announced he was going to play football at Jamestown University and this week the Prowlers’ Brevyn Lingen announced he has signed to play basketball for the Jimmies. Congratulations to both kids. They are great young men from great families.
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The North Star Boys Basketball Conference announced the 2021 season awards on Monday, April 12. The award winners are below –
CONFERENCE TEAM CO-CHAMPIONS
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River and Stephen-Argyle
ALL-CONFERENCE –
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River – Adam Benke, Kasen Swenson, Kobey Dallager
Stephen-Argyle – Brandon Kroll, Jason Lindgren
Sacred Heart – Kobe Tomkinson
Red Lake County – Eric Gieseke
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo – Gavin Gullikson
Northern Freeze – Keaton Klegstad
Clearbrook-Gonvick – Alex Dawson
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTION
Stephen-Argyle – Zach McGlynn
Red Lake County – Isiah Olson
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo – Jackson Woinarowicz
Northern Freeze – Jaacks Spilde
Goodridge-Grgyla – Lewis Jones
MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER-
Adam Benke – BGMR
COACH OF THE YEAR
Kent Christian – BGME
JAY SORENSON MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARD –
Keaton Klegstad – Northern Freeze
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JOKES
My friend thinks he is smart. He told me an onion is the only food that makes you cry, so I threw a coconut at his face.
— —
Teacher: “If I gave you 2 cats and another 2 cats and another 2, how many would you have?”
Johnny: “Seven.”
Teacher: “No, listen carefully… If I gave you two cats, and another two cats and another two, how many would you have?”
Johnny: “Seven.”
Teacher: “Let me put it to you differently. If I gave you two apples, and another two apples and another two, how many would you have?”
Johnny: “Six.”
Teacher: “Good. Now if I gave you two cats, and another two cats and another two, how many would you have?”
Johnny: “Seven!”
Teacher: “Johnny, where in the heck do you get seven from?!”
Johnny: “Because I’ve already got a freaking cat!”
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Q: What did the duck say when he bought lipstick?
A: “Put it on my bill.”
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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
Paul Bittner is playing professional hockey in Sweden for Vasby IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan league.
Aleece Durbin, is a Junior on the University of North Dakota Women’s Track and Field team.
Ben Trostad is playing Club Hockey at UMC.
Ty Hamre is playing Club Hockey at UMC.
Brandon Boetcher is playing Club Hockey at UMC.
Brady Butt is a freshman playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Brita Fagerlund, is a Senior on the University of Jamestown Jimmy Women’s Track team.
Rachel Hefta, a Sophomore, is playing volleyball at Hastings College in Nebraska.
Nick Garmen is a sophomore playing tennis at the University of Minnesota Morris.
Thea Oman, a sophomore, is swimming at St. Ben’s.
Crookston School District Coaches –
Emily Meyer is a girls hockey and softball assistant coach.
Lacia Hanson is the Junior High softball coach.
Carrie Clauson is a Junior High girls tennis coach.
Jeremy Lubinski is a Pirate 8th Grade Football coach.
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach and assistant volleyball coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Cody Brekken is the Head Pirate Girls and Boys Tennis coach and Crookston Community Pool Supervisor
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming coach
Mitch Bakken is the head Pirate Baseball coach.
Brock Hanson is a Pirate Baseball volunteer assistant coach.
Ben Halos is a Pirate Baseball assistant coach.
Alex LaFrance is a Pirate Baseball volunteer assistant coach.
Jeff Perreault is the Pirate Girls Golf head coach
Wes Hanson is the Pirate Wrestling Head Coach and assistant boys golf coach
Kevin Weber is a Pirate Boys Basketball volunteer assistant coach
Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Sam Melbye is the Pirate Boys J.V. Hockey coach
Chris Dufault is a youth wrestling Coach
Colton Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching –
Cody Weiland is an assistant wrestling coach at Proctor/Hermantown
Kaylee Desrosier is a softball coach for Fargo Davies Middle School.
Josh Edlund is an assistant football coach and phy ed teacher at Flandreau, South Dakota.
Allison Lindsey Axness is Assistant Varsity Volleyball Coach in Champlin Park
Jeff Olson is Head Wrestling coach and Head Baseball coach at Delano.
Jake Olson is an Assistant Football Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Delano.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson, is Head Volleyball coach at Little Falls High School.
Katy Westrom, is Head Girls Tennis Coach and Head Boys Tennis coach at Monticello High School.
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 Wyoming
Mike Hastings is the Minnesota State Mankato Men’s head Hockey coach
Mike Biermaier is the Athletic Director at Thief River Falls High School
Stephanie (Lindsay) Perreault works with the North Dakota State stats crew for Bison football and volleyball and basketball in the winter. Stephanie’s husband, Ryan, is the assistant director for the Bison media relations
Jason Bushie is the hockey athletic trainer at Colorado College
Chris Myrold is a Tennis Pro on Nevis Island in the West Indies
Kyle Buchmeier is a Tennis Pro at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis
Jarrett Butenhoff is serving our country with the U.S. Navy
Joshua Butenhoff is serving our country on a Submarine with the Pacific Fleet with the US Navy.
Peter Cournia is a 2002 Crookston High School Graduate and also a grad of West Point and is currently is serving in the U.S. Army.
Erik Ellingson is serving our country with the U.S. Air Force at Minot.
Philip Kujawa class of 2004 from Crookston High School. He is an Army recruiter in Rochester.
Scott Riopelle is head of Crookston Parks and Recreation
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
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