SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
Next week, we will have the New Year’s A to Z list. If you have a name/team/etc to add to this year’s list, let me know. I am still looking for a few spots. Email me any ideas to chrisjfee@yahoo.com.
Merry Christmas from all of us at KROX Radio. We hope you enjoy some time off from work and time with family and friends. Enjoy the column.
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The Crookston Pirate Girls Hockey team continues to roll as they dominated East Grand Forks on Tuesday in a 3-0 victory but only gave up two shots in the first period and two shots in the second period. They have won six of their last seven games, with the only loss coming in a 2-1 overtime loss to Bemidji.
They beat Warroad 2-0 earlier this year, and now the two top teams in Section 8A and the in Class A will meet again. This time, they will meet in Warroad on December 27 in the Warroad Holiday Classic. This will likely be for the top seed. Whoever wins should be the top seed.
The Pirates are 9-3-1 and currently ranked #8 in the state.
They have four leading the team in scoring, with Brynley Coleman, Addie Fee, Cassie Solheim, and Reese Swanson all recording eight points. Fee leads the team with six goals (one power play and the only shorty for the team). Coleman is second in goals scored with four. The Field sisters (Jocelyn and Taylor) are next in scoring with seven points apiece.
The Pirates haven’t been scoring at a high rate, but they have been outstanding on the defensive end, and the player leading the way is goalie Kambelle Freije, with a save percentage of .932!!!! She has made 218 saves in 12 games while recording four shutouts, including one against Warroad.
If you haven’t taken in a Pirate Girls Hockey game, make sure you get out and cheer them on the rest of the season. They are fun to watch. If you can’t make it to Warroad for the three holiday classic games, we will have all three on KROX Radio.
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San Diego State is adding Eric Schmidt to the Aztec football coaching staff as its defensive coordinator under head coach Sean Lewis. He will also coach the SDSU linebackers.
Schmidt previously spent two seasons at the University of Washington as its special teams coordinator and coach of the EDGE position on defense.
In 2023, Schmidt helped take the Huskies into the College Football Playoff as the No. 2 seed following a perfect 12-0 regular season and a PAC-12 Championship victory over Oregon. Statistically, they led the Pac-12 in interceptions (5), punt return defense (1.83), ranked third in team passing efficiency defense (122.64), and fifth in turnovers gained (18).
Schmidt was at Fresno State each of the two years prior to joining the Husky staff, serving as defensive line coach and special teams coordinator. He and DeBoer first worked together at Southern Illinois, when DeBoer was offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach (2010-13).
In two seasons at Fresno State, Schmidt was part of a defensive staff that helped coach a unit that made vast statistical improvements in nearly every team defensive category over the 2019 season, the year before his arrival.
Before taking his coaching career to the Mountain West, he had a six-year stint (his second) at North Dakota, where he worked as defensive coordinator. Twice during his tenure at UND, the Fighting Hawks ranked in the top 10 in FCS in rush defense. Schmidt coached 17 all-conference players and four All-Americans, along with two conference players of the year, while at North Dakota.
Prior to his second stint at North Dakota, Schmidt spent six seasons (2008-13) at Southern Illinois. At SIU, Schmidt served as the defensive line coach for two seasons (2010-11) and inside linebackers/special teams coordinator for two seasons (2012-13). By the end of his tenure, Schmidt had coached nine All-Missouri Valley Conference players, including one first-teamer in 2013. He also helped a 2012 defensive unit record a pair of shutouts and rank 10th nationally in rushing yards allowed.
Schmidt’s first collegiate stop was as linebackers coach at North Dakota in 2006-07. He began his football coaching career at Crookston (Minn.) High School, where he was the head coach from 2002-2005.
The Mandan, N.D., native was a key performer as a team captain and senior linebacker on the North Dakota defense that won the NCAA Division II national title in 2001. Schmidt played for UND from 1998 to 2001, was a two-time All-North Central Conference selection, and earned All-America as a senior in 2001.
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Several area football players have made the Minnesota High School Football Coaches All-State team. They are listed below-
NINE-MAN –
Caiden Swenby (Fertile-Beltrami)
Isaiah Wright (Fertile-Beltrami)
Ryan Kangas (Win-E-Mac)
Blake Rychlock (Goodridge-Grygla)
Lewis Jones (Goodridge-Grygla)
Alex Churness (Clearbrook-Gonvick)
Eli Lewis (Nevis)
Honarable Mention –
Morgan Muir (Kittson County Central
Aidan Flaten (Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal
Dawson Gregg (Park Christian)
Ayo Ogundeji (Nevis)
Austin Ahrendt (Nevis)
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Milestones –
MSU-Moorhead Women’s Basketball coach Karla Nelson recorded the 400th win of her career earlier this month. The pride of Erskine and the first 1,000-point scorer in Erskine history has done pretty well at Moorhead.
Ada-Borup-West’s Cadyn Dahl scored the 1,000th point of his career last week.
Roseau’s Jake Borowicz (Freshman) scored the 1,000th point of his career last week.
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Detroit Lakes High School Football had two players sign to play football on signing day on Wednesday.
Mason Carrier signed to play at the University of Minnesota.
Isaac Cariveau signed to play at the University of North Dakota.
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Congratulations to UMC Women’s Basketball’s Emma Miller. The sophomore from St. Michael-Albertville was named the NSIC player of the week this week.
UMC is tied for sixth place out of the 15 teams. The women’s standing are below-
Minnesota State Mankato – 6-1
Northern State – 5-1
Concordia-St. Paul 5-2
UM-Duluth 5-2
Southwest Minnesota State 5-2
St. Cloud State 4-2
UMC 4-2
Mary 4-2
MSU-Moorhead 3-3
Winona State 3-4
Sioux Falls 2-5
Minot State 1-5
Wayne State 1-6
Augustana 1-6
Bemidji State 0-6
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The President’s Award for Academic Excellence is awarded to Division II schools that have achieved an Academic Success Rate of 90% or higher. For the second consecutive year, 44 member schools have earned this honor, including three from the NSIC.
Augustana University (91%), Concordia-St. Paul (93%) and Minnesota Crookston (90%) each earned the honor.
The Division II ASR includes transfers into a school in the calculation and removes those who transferred out of the school while academically eligible. The ASR also includes over 30,000 nonscholarship student-athletes who were enrolled in the four years covered in the most recent data.
Even when using the less-inclusive federal graduation rate, student-athletes are outperforming their peers in the general student population by 7%. For Division II student-athletes, the federal rate is 60%, while the general student body federal rate is 53%.
This is the 13th year the award has been given.
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The latest Minnesota High School sports rankings are available by clicking the link below.
Minnesota High School Rankings – KROX (kroxam.com)
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The 2023 Crookston Hockey Alumni games/scrimmages will be held Saturday, December 23 at the Crookston Sports Center. Johnny Holmes will be back again at the Eagles, and all players in the alumni games get in free.
Alumni from Crookston Central High School, Crookston High School, Cathedral, and the Mount will be back/are invited back to participate in this year’s games. The schedule and info are listed below –
GAME 1 – 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. – 2013 to 2023 alumni……..Odd vs Even
GAME 2 – 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. – 2012 and older alumni………… Odd vs Even
GAME 3 – 5:30-6:45………PIRATE GIRLS vs GIRLS ALUMNI
GAME 4 – 7:00-8:15……….PIRATE BOYS vs PIRATE ALUMNI
Cost – $10.00 (Make checks out to Pirate Hockey)
Social at the Crookston Eagles Club from 9 PM to 1 AM. Johnny Holmes performing and all alumni game players get in free.
Mail registration forms to
Steve Biermaier
PO Box 496
Crookston, MN 56716
or email steve.biermaierchiro@midconetwork.com
For the registration form CLICK HERE.
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The Crookston Pirate Winter Sports Schedules are available on our website. Click on the link below –
CROOKSTON PIRATE WINTER SPORTS SCHEDULES – KROX (kroxam.com)
JOKES
A man comes home from working at a pickle factory and he seems troubled. His wife asks him what’s wrong and the man says, “Oh, nothing. I just… well… recently I’ve had an uncontrollable urge to put my penis in the pickle slicer.”
His wife nearly faints, then she blurts out: “Why? You need to go see someone. I’m going to make an appointment with a therapist or someone tomorrow.”
The man protests, “No, no. It’s fine. Really. I’m not going to do it.”
Everything is fine for a few weeks, but then the man comes home early from work and he’s pale as a ghost. His wife inquires, “What’s the matter? You look terrible!”
The husband tells her, “Well, remember when I said I wanted to put my penis in the pickle slicer?”
The wife gasps, “You did? What happened?”
The man starts to cry. “I got fired!”
“I don’t care about that! Are you okay? What happened with the pickle slicer?”
The man sobs, “She got fired, too.”
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A sailor meets a pirate in a bar and takes turns boasting of their adventures on the high seas. The sailor notes that the pirate has a peg leg, hook, and an eyepatch.
The sailor asks, “So, how did you end up with the peg leg?”
The pirate replies, “We were in a storm at sea, and I was swept overboard into a school of sharks. Just as my men were pulling me out, a shark bit my leg off.”
“Wow!” said the sailor. “What about your hook”?
“Well…” replied the pirate, “While my men and I were plundering in the Middle East, I was caught stealing from a merchant, and the punishment for theft in the Middle East is the loss of the hand that steals”
“Incredible!” remarked the sailor. “How did you get the eyepatch”?
“A seagull dropping fell into my eye.”, replied the pirate.
“You lost your eye to a seagull dropping?” the sailor asked incredulously.
“Well…” said the pirate, “..it was my first day with the hook.”
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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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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
Halle Bruggeman is a freshman on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Tennis team.
Grace Fischer is a freshman on the Concordia College (Moorhead) Women’s Golf team.
Ethan Boll is a Freshman on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Sophomore on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Emma Osborn is a Sophomore playing basketball at Northland Technical and Community College in Thief River Falls.
Jacey Larson is a Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Sophomore playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND..
Kaleb Thingelstad is a junior playing golf at Kansas Wesleyan.
Joslynn Leach is a sophomore playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brady Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is playing football at Bemidji State University.
Aleece Durbin is a Junior on the University of North Dakota Womens Track and Field team.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches
Todd Miner is a Pirate Football assistant coach.
Ben Parkin is the head Pirate Baseball Coach.
Emily Meyer is the Pirate head girls hockey coach and softball assistant coach.
Jeremy Lubinski is a Pirate 8th Grade Football coach.
Amy Boll is the head Pirate Girls Track head coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming coach and assistant girls golf 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/Admin/etc
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.
Katy (Westrom) Horgen is the 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 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
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
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 a grad of West Point and currently 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.
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.
