I guess I forgot a Sports Feever column last week! I apologize, but things have been crazy lately. I didn’t forget this week and it could possibly be the best column I have ever written. If you think that, you will be very disappointed, just like my wife. All joking aside, except for the wife part, I take a look at winter sports schedules and cancelations. I also take a look at Section 8AA and 8A girls basketball, and 8A girls hockey QRF standings.
It is hard to believe we only have a few weeks before the girls hockey playoffs. Folks the light is at the end of the tunnel and we are approaching the most wonderful time of the year. Winter high school playoffs. It doesn’t get any better than that.
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We have had several weather cancelation days in the past week in Northwest Minnesota. That has caused some consternation for some. The first question offered was why they were canceling the girls hockey game vs. Jamestown. Number one, Crookston didn’t cancel, Jamestown canceled because they were in a winter Storm warming which dumped up to eight inches of snow on Jamestown. The cancelation came early, which frustrated people, but when a Winter Storm Warning is issued, you don’t screw around with other people’s children. Pretty simple to figure out.
The second gripe was that some parents were trying to get Crookston to play Warroad and wanted to play the next day (the same day the boys were playing in Crookston). The first problem was having to find officials. The second issue is room to play at the arena without kicking out the youth games or practices. Crookston Coach Emily Meyer approached Activities Greg Garmen about the prospect, and he said if they had a couple of days to get things worked out, it might have happened, but playing the next day wasn’t possible for obvious reasons.
Scheduling winter sports, especially girl’s hockey, is challenging.
Girls hockey, for instance – There aren’t many teams in the area. There are only six teams in Section 8A, one of them is International Falls! The only AA schools in the area are Moorhead, Bemidji, and Roseau. You have some North Dakota Schools, but with a 25 game schedule, it is tough to find games. According to most activity directors, many teams don’t have J.V., which is the hardest thing to schedule (J.V. girls hockey and C squad basketball). Plus a shortage of refs and finding dates that work for both teams, refs, and the arena schedule. Besides that, scheduling is extremely easy;)
Delano and Orono don’t want to play Crookston girls hockey next year, so now Mr. Garmen is scrambling to find somebody to replace them. Yes, he is already working on next winter’s schedule. East Grand Forks didn’t want to play Crookston in boys hockey next year, but Mr. Garmen was able to get them to play once since they are only 25 miles away.
If there are any more storm days for Crookston Girls Hockey they will lose a few more games.
The remaining schedule looks like this – 10 games and five practices (could be more practices with Saturday practices). So the “fired up” moms worried about games, here you go!!! The final two weeks are for you!
Friday – January 21 – game
Saturday – Jan. 22 – game
Monday – Jan. 24 – game
Tuesday, Jan. 25 – game
Wednesday – Jan. 26 – practice
Thursday – Jan. 27 – game
Friday – Jan. 28 – game
Monday – Jan. 31 – game
Tuesday – Feb. 1 – practice
Wednesday – Feb. 2 – practice
Thursday – Feb. 3 – game
Friday – Feb. 4 – practice
Saturday – Feb. 5 – game
Monday – Feb. 7 – practice
Tuesday – Feb. 8 last game
Basketball isn’t very easy to schedule either and there are hundreds more basketball teams than hockey in the so-called state of hockey. Look at how many teams are in each sport this year in Minnesota.
Boys Basketball – 414 team
Girls Basketball – 402 teams
Wrestling – 243 teams
Boys Hockey – 148 teams
Girls Hockey – 114 teams
So back to boys basketball scheduling. You have to find dates that work for both teams, dates that work for officials, and dates that work where you don’t have wrestling in the gym, and you don’t have girls basketball playing in the gym. The same goes for wrestling and girls basketball.
As somebody who works with Activity Directors and coaches every day, it is difficult, and then add rescheduled dates on top of it and it is a mess.
There is a shortage of officials across the state and there are several examples this year alone –
Pirate Football had to play a game on Thursday this year because they couldn’t get officials on Friday.
Pirate basketball had to play on a Friday instead of a Thursday because of a lack of officials.
Scheduling isn’t easy these days and for people to think they have the answers when they have never done anything like it is laughable.
Again this is high school sports. Losing one game won’t make or break a season and if you think so, you are one of the crazy parents that have ruined high school sports.
And remember it is just high school sports!!! How many games they played, how many wins they had, how many awards they won, will all mean nothing after they graduate from high school.
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Time to take a look at the Section 8AA Girls Basketball and how things are looking as of Wednesday morning, according to the QRF.
Seed – Team – Record – QRF
1. Fergus Falls – 9-4 – 94.0
2. Crookston – 10-2 – 81.3
3. Hawley – 10-2 – 76.1
4. Menahga – 12-1 – 74.8
5. Perham – 9-4 – 70.1
6. Barnesville – 7-4 – 70.7
7. Roseau – 11-2 – 62.8
8. Pelican Rapids – 9-4 – 57.0
9. Wadena-Deer Creek -7-5 – 51.7
10. Thief River Falls – 7-7 – 46.0
11. Park Rapids – 5-8 – 41.1
12. East Grand Forks – 5-5 – 34.5
13. Frazee – 3-10 – 25.1
14. Red Lake – 1-6 – 23.3
15. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton – 1-10 – 22.1
16. Warroad – 2-11 – 18.8
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The Section 8A Girls basketball standings, according to the QRF look like this as of Wednesday morning –
WEST SUBSECTION –
Seed – Team – Record – QRF
1. Stephen-Argyle – 10-1 – 71.5
2. BGMR – 7-3 – 65.2
3. Goodridge/Grygla – 9-3 – 53.6
4. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo – 8-4 – 46.2
5. Kittson County Central – 6-5 – 40.6
6. Red Lake Falls – 4-9 – 28.0
7. Northern Freeze – 3-10 – 25.8
8. Climax-Fisher – 3-11 – 20.7
9. Lake of the Woods – 0-9 – 15.6
10. Sacred Heart – 1-11 – 14.8
EAST SUBSECTION
Seed – Team – Record – QRF
1. Cass Lake-Bena – 9-1 – 76.2
2. Fosston – 9-1 – 59.3
3. Fertile-Beltrami – 12-3 – 53.2
4. Kelliher/Northome – 6-3 – 50.9
5. Mahnomen/Waubun – 10-3 – 50.8
6. Clearbrook-Gonvick – 6-5 – 35.5
7. Red Lake County Central – 4-8 – 29.4
8. Blackduck – 4-7 – 28.5
9. Win-E-Mac – 2-10 – 20.7
10. Bagley – 3-13 – 20.1
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We take a look at Section 8A Girls Hockey as of Wednesday morning according to the QRF. The section coaches seed, but we are going by the QRF today –
Seed – Team – Record – QRF –
1. Warroad – 15-2-1 – 94.8 (#2 QRF in state)
2. East Grand Forks – 3-9 – 47.4
3. Crookston – 7-6-1 – 44.3
4. Thief River Falls – 4-10-2 – 32.4
5. Detroit Lakes – 3-13 – 24.2
6. International Falls – 0-15 – 12.6
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There isn’t a better high school basketball player at taking charges than Crookston High School Boys Basketball player, Jack Garmen. On Monday, he broke the season record for charges taken with 26 on the year. He had 25 last year, and 25 as a sophomore. He also took seven charges in his freshman year. He holds the career charges taken record with 83. Every charge he takes the rest of the season he will add to the single-season and career record.
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Crookston High School Senior, Brooks Butt, signed to play football at the University of Jamestown for the Jimmies. Brooks will join his brother, Brady, as a Jimmy football player. The two boys have followed in their dad’s footsteps. Scott played and coached at the University of Jamestown.
Brooks played varsity football for five years and was named to the All-District team and All-District co-specialist of the year, and he was also named to the All-Section 8AA team.
In 2020, he was named to the All-District team.
In 2019, Brooks was named to the All-District and All-Section 8AA team.
In 2018, Brooks was named All-Section 8AA honorable mention and All-district honorable mention. He was also awarded the Most Inspirational and Hardest Worker.
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The annual Knights of Columbus Free Throw Contest will be held in Red Lake Falls at the high school on Sunday, January 23rd at 1:00. This is the local contest with winners advancing to the District contest in February. The contest is open to any girls or boys with age groups from 9-14 years. For registration forms, ask at the school office at the RLF high school, RLF elementary school, Plummer school, or the Oklee school or contact Steve Philion at 218-686-3608. The high school gym will be open in RLF at 12:30 on the 23rd for practice.
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Save the date as the UMC Teambackers will host the Mark Olsonawski Endowed Scholarship Golf Tournament, June 9 at Two Rivers Golf Course in Hallock and the UMC Teambacker Golf Classic presented by Altru on Friday, June 17.
Proceeds from the tournaments will benefit scholarships at the University of Minnesota Crookston. The events are 18 holes of four-man Texas Scramble Tournament in Hallock and a five-player scramble in Crookston at Minakwa Country Club.
The Mark Olsonawski Scholarship is awarded to a UMC student participating in ACHA hockey from the northwest Minnesota or northeast North Dakota region. To date, more than $24,000 has been awarded from the endowment. Mark Olsonawski is a 1999 graduate of UMN Crookston in plant industries management. He was named All-American in football in 1998 and held career records for rushing yards, career receptions, and touchdowns. Olsonawski was also a standout on the UMC Hockey team from 1995-1999. He currently works and lives in Moorhead.
To sign up for both or either tournament, click on the following links: Olsonawski Tournament or the UMC Teambacker Golf Classic, or contact Michelle Christopherson, Director of Outreach & Engagement for more information regarding either golf tournament mchristo@umn.edu or 218.281.8369.
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JOKES
Why did Novak Djokovic pay for his flight to Australia with a Mastercard?
Because his Visa didn’t work.
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On their way to get married, a young Catholic couple is involved in a fatal car accident. The couple find themselves sitting outside the Pearly Gates waiting for St. Peter to process them into Heaven.
While waiting, they begin to wonder: Could they possibly get married in Heaven?
When St. Peter showed up, they asked him. St. Peter said, ‘I don’t know. This is the first time anyone has asked. Let me go find out,’ and he leaves.
The couple sat and waited, and waited. Two months passed and the couple are still waiting. While waiting, they began to wonder what would happen if it didn’t work out; could you get a divorce in heaven.
After yet another month, St. Peter finally returns, looking somewhat bedraggled. ‘Yes,’ he informs the couple, ‘you can get married in Heaven.’
‘Great!’ said the couple, ‘But we were just wondering, what if things don’t work out? Could we also get a divorce in Heaven?’
St. Peter, red-faced with anger, slammed his clipboard onto the ground.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked the frightened couple.
‘OH, COME ON!’, St. Peter shouted, ‘It took me three months to find a priest up here! Do you have any idea how long it’ll take me to find a lawyer?
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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
Ben Trostad is a senior playing Men’s Golf at UMC.
Kaleb Thingelstad is a freshman playing golf at Kansas Wesleyan University. KWU is done for the fall season.
Joslynn Leach is a freshman playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brady Butt is a sophomore playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Rachel Hefta, is a junior playing volleyball at Hastings College in Nebraska.
Ty Hamre is playing football at Bemidji State University.
Paul Bittner is playing professional hockey in Sweden. He is the only American playing for Mora IK of the Allsvenskan league.
Gretchen Theis is a sophomore at NDSU on the Equestrian team.
Kate MacGregor is a senior swimming at Minnesota State Moorhead.
Aleece Durbin, is a Junior on the University of North Dakota Women’s Track and Field team.
Nick Garmen is a junior playing tennis at the University of Minnesota Morris.
Crookston School District Coaches –
Emily Meyer is the Pirate head girls hockey coach and softball assistant coach.
Lacia Hanson is the Junior High softball 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
Cody Brekken is the Crookston Community Pool Supervisor
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming 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 –
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
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.
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 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 with the Army in New York.
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.
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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