We are less than a month to the first official MSHSL fall sports practice! BOOO! I don’t want summer to be done. When it is time, we will be ready for the fall sports season and that first serve in the 90 degree gym, or the first kickoff of the football season on a beautiful evening in Northwest Minnesota.
Enjoy this weeks column and enjoy the rest of the summer! Thanks for reading!
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I am going to be doing something on the Minnesota High School League district football scheduling in the next week. I will be emailing the state district “guru” with some questions. Do you have any questions that you would like answered? Email them to me at chrisjfee@yahoo.com. Thanks!
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We are less than a month away from the first Minnesota State High School League fall sports practice! August 12 is the first day of practice and with that,
The Crookston High School Fall sports PAC (Parent-Athlete-Coach) meeting will be Monday, August 5 at 6:00 pm in the Crookston High School Auditorium.
This meeting is for all participants/parents who plan on being involved in the following sports this fall: for girls we offer tennis, soccer, volleyball and swimming. For boys we offer football and soccer.
Athletes and parents will meet with Mr. Garmen and then with the coach of their sport.
There will also be information on how to register for your sport.
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The Crookston Pirate Girls Basketball team dominated the Breakdown Girls Basketball tournament in Fergus Falls on Wednesday, outscoring their competition 125 to 55 to win the championship. While the stat is impressive, the tournament has to be a bummer for the Pirates. They go to a tournament hoping to play some equal or better competition and that obviously didn’t happen. One of the brackets had Fergus Falls (the team to beat in Section 8AA Girls Basketball this winter) Brainard, Moorhead, Minot, West Fargo Sheyenne, and Morris Area. Another bracket had DGF, Breckenridge, Pelican Rapids, Perham, Hawley, and other quality teams. I told Pirate Girls Basketball Coach Darin Zimmerman I wouldn’t go back to another breakdown tournament and he said they are signed up for another one in Perham. I hope Breakdown has taken note.
Anyway, give credit to the girls, they kicked butt and took names –
Crookston beat Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 35-18 in the first round.
The Pirates beat Wadena-Deer Creek 43-18 in the semifinals.
In the championship, Crookston beat Pierz 47-19.
Other teams in the eight-team bracket were – Red Lake Falls, Goodridge/Grygla, Fosston, and Park Rapids.
Coach Darin Zimmerman said the girls played well, “We were good defensively and had good transition offense. We need to be more patient on offense.”
Members of the team are Emma Borowicz, Gretchen Theis, Kasey Cwikla, Dani Boyle, Halle Winjum, Emma Osborn, Allie Perreault, Madison Hoiland, Emma Boll, Hayden Winjum, Abbi Borowicz, and Jenna Coauette.
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The North Sub-District 9 American Legion Baseball tournament bracket has been released. The tournament will be played Friday, July 19 through Sunday, July 21 at Gilbertson Field in Roseau. The top four teams will advance to districts the following weekend in Red Lake Falls. KROX will be broadcasting all the Red Lake Falls and Stephen-Argyle games on the radio and online.
The tournament schedule is below –
Friday – July 19 North Division pod-
Game 1 – #2 Warroad vs #3 Win-E-Mac – Noon
Game 2 – #1 Stephen-Argyle vs #4 Kennedy – 2:30 PM ON KROX
Game 3 – Loser of game 1 vs Loser of game 2 – 5:00 PM
Game 4 – Winner of game 1 vs Winner of game 2 – 7:30 PM
Saturday – July 20 – South Division pod
Game 5 – #2 Red Lake Falls vs #3 Greenbush – Noon – ON KROX
Game 6 – #1 Roseau vs Fosston – 2:30 PM
Game 7 – Loser of game 5 vs Loser of game 6 – 5:00 PM
Game 8 – Winner of game 5 vs Winner of game 6 – 7:30 PM
Sunday – July 21
Game 9 – Loser of game 8 vs Winner of game 3 – 11:00 AM
Game 10 – Loser of game 4 vs Winner of game 7 – 1:30 PM
Game 11 – 3rd Place – Winner game 9 vs Winner of game 10 – 4:00 PM (Both teams advance to districts)
Game 12 – Championship – Winner of game 4 vs Winner of game 8 (Both teams advance to districts)
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My wife is a hairdresser in Crookston said a new UMC coach (in the football program) stopped in and asked if he could get a haircut. My wife (who is booked a month-plus out most of the time) said they didn’t have any openings on that day, but could get him in in the near future. He said he is new and was asking people at UMC where to go and they all told him to go to Grand Forks. He said I work in this town and I am going to do business in this town and he wasn’t a fan of everybody telling him to go to Grand Forks.
Kudos to the new coach on the football staff for “getting it” and trying to support the town and its businesses.
UMC talks about trying to improve community engagement. They should try living in Crookston, shopping in Crookston, and supporting Crookston first before they expect Crookston to return the favor.
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The Crookston Pirate Volleyball team schedule is solidified and the Pirates will be in Section 8A this year and while dropping down is good, it isn’t great because you have Sacred Heart, Ada-Borup and many other great programs.
Schedule –
August 12 – First day of practice
Monday, August 19 – Scrimmage at Fertile-Beltrami – 8:45 AM
Thursday, August 22 – host Bagley (Parents night) 7:15 PM
Saturday, August 24 – Scrimmage at Concordia-Moorhead 8:00 AM
Thursday, August 29 – at Ada-Borup – 3:30 PM
Tuesday, September 3 – host Red Lake Falls – 7:15 PM
Thursday, September 5 – at Sacred Heart – 7:15 PM
Tuesday, September 10 – at Thief River Falls – 7:15 PM
Thursday, September 12 – host Norman County East – 7:15 PM
Monday, September 16 – host Fertile-Beltrami – 7:15 PM
Thursday, September 19 – host Red Lake County Central – 7:15 PM
Saturday, September 21 – host Crookston Tournament – 9:00 AM
Tuesday, September 24 – at Hawley – 7:30 PM
Thursday, September 26 – host Barnesville – 7:15 PM
Saturday, September 28 – at Barnesville Tournament – 9:00 AM
Tuesday, October 1 – at Warroad – 7:30 PM
Thursday, October 3 – host East Grand Forks – 7:15 PM
Tuesday, October 8 – host Warren-Alvarado-Oslo – 7:15 PM
Thursday, October 10 – host Roseau – 7:15 PM
Monday, October 14 – at Climax-Fisher – 7:15 PM
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The Crookston Pirate Girls Soccer team will also start practice less than a month away and lost some pretty good players from last years team. It will be a tough year, but they have a lot of experience coming back which will help.
Schedule –
Monday, August 12 – First day of practice
Thursday, August 22 – at Grand Rapids – 5:00 PM
Saturday, August 24 – at Fergus Falls – 11:00 AM
Tuesday, August 27 – host Hillcrest Academy – 4:00 PM
Thursday, August 29 – at St. John’s Prep – 3:00 PM
Thursday, September 5 – host Detroit Lakes – 4:00 PM
Saturday, September 7 – at Walker-Hackensack-Akeley – 11:00 AM
Monday, September 9 – at Bemidji – 5:00 PM
Tuesday, September 10 – host East Grand Forks – 4:00 PM
Saturday, September 14 – at Rocori – 10:00 AM
Thursday, September 19 – at Hillcrest Academy – 6:00 PM
Tuesday, September 24 – host Pelican Rapids – 4:00 PM
Friday, September 27 – host Hibbing – 3:30 PM
Saturday, September 28 – host Mesabi East – 1:00 PM
Monday, September 30 – at East Grand Forks – 5:00 PM
Thursday, October 3 – host Walker-Hackensack-Akeley – 5:00 PM
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The Crookston Pirate Boys Soccer team will also start practice less than a month away and have a good core of strong players coming back and some pretty good kids too.
Schedule –
Monday, August 12 – First day of practice
Thursday, August 22 – host Detroit Lakes – 4:00 PM
Saturday, August 24 – host Fergus Falls – 11:00 AM
Tuesday, August 27 – at Pelican Rapids – 4:00 PM
Thursday, September 5 – host Hillcrest Academy – 4:00 PM
Saturday, September 7 – at Walker-Hackensack-Akeley – 1:00 PM
Tuesday, September 10 – host Pelican Rapids – 4:00 PM
Thursday, September 12 – host Jamestown – 4:00 PM
Saturday, September 14 – at Bemidji – Noon
Tuesday, September 17 – at Detroit Lakes – 7:00 PM
Thursday, September 19 – host East Grand Forks – 4:00 PM
Friday, September 20 – at Grand Forks Central – 4:00 PM
Tuesday, September 24 – at Hillcrest Lutheran – 4:00 PM
Friday, September 27 – host Hibbing – 3:30 PM
Saturday, September 28 – host Mesabi East – 11:00 AM
Tuesday, October 1 – at East Grand Forks – 7:00 PM
Thursday, October 3 – host Walker-Hackensack-Akeley – 3:30 PM
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I forgot to pass this along earlier this year, but longtime Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Boys Basketball Coach Todd Mortimer has stepped down after taking the Activities Director position. Last I heard, they are still looking for a head boys basketball coach.
Other basketball coaching changes –
Barnesville has hired Chad Suter as the boys basketball coach
Mountain Iron-Buhl (or as I like to call it Mount Iron) has hired Jeff Buffetta as the boys basketball coach. The kicker – Buffetta is also going to be coaching the girls program too! It will take some creative scheduling and he is going to be one busy guy this winter.
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The Crookston Blue Line Club will hold the 15th Annual Golf Scramble on Friday, August 16 at Minakwa Golf Course in Crookston.
The scramble is five-person teams with lunch, prizes, and a t-shirt.
To register yourself or a team, contact Kristy Swanson at 218-470-0423 or email crookstonhockey@gmail.com.
Team sponsorship is $350 and Individual entry is $70. All the proceeds go to Crookston youth hockey.
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Former UMC Baseball player, Zach Seipel, pitched one game for the Danville Braves in the rookie league and now he is pitching for the Braves in the Gulf Coast League. He has pitched two games now. The first game he struggled, going three innings, giving up six hits, five runs (all earned), he walked two and struck out five. He had an ERA of 15.
In his second outing, Seipel earned his first professional win as a starter for the Braves in a one-hit five-inning performance with five strikeouts and just one walk!!!
That is a pretty impressive bounce back for Seipel.
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The Roseau Ram Trapshooting team won the 2019 USA High School Clay Target League National Championship this past weekend. Members that competed in Mason, Michigan are Tyler Dirks, Nolan Hanson, Jon Hosaluk, Beau Keagle, Owen Moser, Ruthie Finney, and Dalton Hanson.
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The 95th annual Birchmont Golf Tournament at the Bemidji Town and Country Club will be held July 22-27.
Several area golfers will be participating, including Nick Bergan (Crookston High School Grad) of Grand Forks, Nate Deziel of East Grand Forks and current NDSU golfer, Adam Vatnsdal of Roseau, and many others.
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Roseau’s Gus Vatnsdal has signed to play golf at Bemidji State University. The Section 8AA individual champ keeps the long streak of talented Roseau golfers playing at Bemidji State.
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The 2019 Under-17 Five Nations Hockey Tournament United States roster has been announced and seven Minnesotan’s have been named to the team.
Jackson Blake of Eden Prairie (Shattuck-St. Marys and Eden Prairie Bantam AA) and UND commit.
Tyler Haskins of Rochester (Chicago Mission 16U) and Michigan Wolverine commit
Hobie Headquist of Heron Lake (Sioux Falls Power 16U) and Colorado College commit
Luke Mittelstadt of Eden Prairie (Eden Prairie HS/Team Southeast) and Gopher commit
Joe Palodichuk of Cottage Grove (Hill Murray HS/Team Southeast) and Wisconsin commit
Jack Peart of Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids HS and Team North) and St. Cloud State commit
Bennett Schimek of Mendota Heights (Gentry Academy) and Miami University commit
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Minnesota had several girls participated in the USA Hockey National Development Camps at St. Cloud State University. Only one girl from northwest Minnesota made the cut and it was Roseau’s Memphis Mertens on the HP 15 team and
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University of Minnesota Crookston Head Volleyball Coach Sarah Rauen was one of three Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) coaches chosen to represent the conference at the 2019 NCAA Division II Identity Workshop, held at the NCAA Headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind., held June 26-28.
“It was a phenomenal experience,” Rauen said. “I was able to attend with two other NSIC head coaches, and there were also representatives from all of the other NCAA Division II conferences. It was amazing to learn a lot about the NCAA and to get to work on ourselves as coaches. It was also great to meet other coaches in Division II from other sports and be able to exchange ideas and talk about the different challenges we all face and things that we have done that have worked well. It was an unbelievable honor. I am definitely happy that the Northern Sun reached out to me and asked if I wanted to go. I was able to take a lot away from the conference.”
The NCAA Division II Identity Workshop is a professional development opportunity that features leadership training, best practices for community engagement opportunities, and training in social media, fundraising, and risk management. The 2019 workshop was the fourth year of the NCAA Division II Identity Workshop. Rauen was joined as a representative of the NSIC by the University of Minnesota Duluth men’s basketball coach Justin Wieck, and Minnesota State University track and field coach Mike Turgeon.
“It was nice to be able to talk to Justin (Wieck) and Mike (Turgeon),” Rauen said. “They are in different schools than we are, but we all have similar experiences and it is always great to hear from coaches in other sports that have been successful at the places they have been. It was really nice to talk to them and get some ideas on what they are doing and some things we can bring back to Minnesota Crookston.”
The three-day event was jam-packed with the coaches doing sessions with Justin Patton, an executive leadership coach. He worked with the coaches on leadership, and personal values.
“He is a phenomenal speaker and a phenomenal guy,” Rauen said. “He had a lot of resources for us. We spent time with him working on ourselves.”
In addition, the attendees were exposed to topics ranging from what the NCAA provides, marketing, fundraising, and more.
Rauen had several big takeaways from the experience as she looks to bring the knowledge she gained to her team beginning with the 2019 season.
“I think one of the biggest takeaways I will have is the personal value information we learned at the conference,” Rauen said. “I want to use the work we did with Justin (Patton) and bring it back to my team individually. We have previously talked about some similar ideas, but I am looking to bring some new and fresh ideas from Justin (Patton) that I will implement. In general, I want to utilize the resources that have been provided by the NCAA not only in the volleyball program, but across the Minnesota Crookston athletic department.”
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The University of Minnesota Crookston football team will host a prospect camp at the Jim LeClair Practice Fields Sun., July 21. Check-in for the camp will take place beginning at 12:30 p.m. The camp is available for athletes entering grades 9-12. The prospect camp will run from 1-4:30 p.m. An optional tour of the beautiful University of Minnesota Crookston campus will be available commencing at 4:35 p.m.
The cost of the camp is $40 per person with a camp t-shirt included. This is an individual skills camp where athletes will be able to receive instruction from and be evaluated by the Minnesota Crookston football coaching staff. It is a padded camp for linemen and a non-padded camp for skill position players. Skill position campers should bring; cleats, gloves, and a mouthpiece. Linemen campers should bring; a helmet, shoulder pads, cleats, gloves, and a mouthpiece.
If you are interested in registering, visit https://register.ryzer.com/camp.cfm?sport=1&id=144512. Please register no later than Sat., July 20 at 11:59 p.m. C.T. If interested in more information, please contact Assistant Coach Michael Hepp at 218-281-8448 or mhepp@umn.edu.
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JOKES –
An older gentleman was on the operating table awaiting surgery and he insisted that his son, a renowned surgeon, perform the operation.
As he was about to get the anesthesia, he asked to speak to his son.
“Yes, Dad , what is it?”
“Don’t be nervous, son; do your best, and just remember, if it doesn’t go well, if something happens to me, your mother is going to come and live with you and your wife….”
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Two guys, one old, one young, are pushing their carts around Wal-Mart when they collide. The old guy says to the young guy, “Sorry about that. I’m looking for my wife, and I guess I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”
The young guy says, “That’s OK, it’s a coincidence. I’m looking for my wife, too… I can’t find her and I’m getting a little desperate.”
The old guy says, “Well, maybe I can help you find her… what does she look like?”
The young guy says, “Well, she is 27 yrs. old, tall, with red hair, blue eyes, is buxom…wearing no bra, long legs, and is wearing short shorts. What does your wife look like?’
To which the old guy says, “Doesn’t matter, — let’s look for yours.”
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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 for the Cleveland Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Columbus Bluejacket.
Aaron Hollcraft, is a Senior playing baseball for the UMC Golden Eagles.
Aleece Durbin, is a freshman on the University of North Dakota Women’s Track and Field team.
Brita Fagerlund, is a Sophomore on the University of Jamestown Jimmy Women’s Track team.
Isaac Westlake, a Junior playing golf for the Winona State Warriors.
Ben Trostad, a Freshman playing golf at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
Ethan Magsam, a Freshman playing golf at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
Elise Tangquist, is a Sophomore golfer for the University of Northwestern in St. Paul.
Brady Heppner, is a Junior, playing hockey at St. Johns University in Collegeville.
Bailey Folkers, is a freshman on the University of Wisconsin-Superior women’s basketball team.
Cade Salentine, is a redshirt Freshman playing football at the University of North Dakota.
Kate MacGregor, a Freshman swimming at Minnesota State Moorhead.
Ally Tiedemann, a Freshman playing tennis at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Ben Trostad, a Freshman playing golf at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
Ethan Magsam, a Freshman playing golf at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
Crookston School District Coaches –
Brody Davidson is an Assistant Pirate Football coach.
Tyler Brekken is a Pirate C team football coach and junior high Pirate Softball 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 Assistant Pirate Girls Tennis coach, Pirate 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 the 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
Wade Hanson is the 8th grade boys basketball coach
Travis Ross is the 7th grade boys basketball 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 an Assistant Wrestling Coach
Nate Merten is an Assistant Wrestling Coach
Tori Demarais is the Pirate Girls Hockey assistant coach.
Non-Crookston High School coaching –
Kaylee Desrosier is a softball coach for Fargo Davies Middle School.
Justin Johnson is an assistant softball coach at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
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 a Director of Athletics at the British International School of Houston.
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
