Welcome to another Sports Feever column. We are less than a month away from the first Fall sport practice on August, 16! It is hard to believe. We will be looking at the fall sports season over the next month. Stay tuned.
We have a lot of info in this weeks column.
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It sounds like the Crookston Pirate Girls Tennis team has their coaches for the upcoming season. Pat Janorshke and Sue Tiedemann will be coaching the girls this fall.
It also sounds like we will have some more news on the coaching front at CHS sometime on Thursday. Stay tuned to KROX.
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The bracket for the 2021 Northwest Sub-state American Legion Baseball tournament has been released. The tournament will be played at Red Lake Falls Thursday, July 22 through Sunday, July 25. The seeds and bracket are listed below –
North seeds –
1. Roseau
2. Warroad
3. Fosston
4. Crookston
South seeds –
1. Breckenridge
2. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
3. New York Mills
4. Twin Valley-Ulen/Hitterdal
Thursday, July 22
Game 1 – 11:00 AM – Roseau vs Twin Valley-Ulen/Hitterdal
Game 2 – 1:30 PM – Fosston vs DGF
Game 3 – 4:00 PM – Warroad vs New York Mills
Game 4 – 6:30 PM – Crookston vs Breckenridge ON KROX
Friday, July 23
Game 5 – 11:00 AM – Winner of game 1 vs Winner of game 2
Game 6 – 1:30 PM – Winner of game 3 vs Winner of game 4
Game 7 – 4:00 PM – Loser of game 5 vs Loser of game 6
Game 8 – 6:30 PM – Winner of game 5 vs Winner of game 6
Saturday, July 24
Game 9 – NOON – Winner of game 7 vs Loser of game 8
Game 10 – 2:30 PM – Winner of game 8 vs Winner of game 9 (Championship)
Sunday, July 25
Game 11 – NOON – If needed
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The 17th Annual Crookston Blue Line Club Golf Scramble will be held on Friday, August 20 at Minakwa Golf Course in Crookston.
It will be a five-person scramble with registration at 8:00 a.m. and a 9:00 a.m. shotgun start.
Team sponsorship is $350 or $70 per person. There will be lunch, games, and prizes. For more information and to register, call Kristy Swanson at 218-289-0576, or email crookstonhockey@gmail.com, or visit the Crookston Blue Line Club website at www.crookstonbluelinehockey.com.
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The Knights of Columbus Chapter of Red Lake County will sponsor a Junior Golf Tournament on Monday, July 26 with a 9:00 a.m. shotgun start at the Oak Knolls Golf Course in Red Lake Falls.
Entry fee is $10, while nine-hole groups will be $5. Entry fee includes all-you-can-eat lunch.
There will be four age groups for boys. Ages 15-17, 13-14, and 11-12 will play 18 holes. 10 and under will play nine holes. For the girls, the number of entrants will determine age brackets. There will be medal play in all age groups. Prizes and trophies will be awarded, with numerous door prizes, a putting contest, and other contests throughout the course.
Entry deadline is preferred by noon Sunday, June 25, but you may still register the morning of the 26th before 8:45 a.m.
Send entry to:
Steve Philion
518 Champagne Ave.
Red Lake Falls, MN. 56750.
For more information, call 218-253-2499 or email sphilion@rlfedu.org.
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The Crookston Pirate Girls Hockey team competed in the Grand Forks Summer Invitational at the ICON Sports Center this weekend. Crookston, Grand Forks, Mandan, East Grand Forks, Fargo Davies, Minot, Bismarck, and a combination of Thief River Falls and Bemidji competed in the tournament.
The tournament started with pool play and teams received three points for a win, two points for a shoot-out win, and a shootout loss was worth one point.
Crookston beat Grand Forks 2-1 in a shootout in the first game.
Crookston beat Mandan 4-3 in a shootout.
In the third and final game of pool play, Crookston beat Thief River Falls/Bemidji 3-2 in a shootout.
Crookston won all three of their games in a shootout so they had six points. Mandan won two games in regulation and lost to Crookston in a shootout for seven points, so Mandan was first in the pool and Crookston was second with six points.
In the third-place game, Bismarck beat Crookston 6-1, and the Pirates finished fourth out of the eight teams.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball team is the recipient of the United States Marine Corps (USMC)/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2020-21 season.
The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade point average of 3.30 or higher on a 4.0 scale or 4.10 on a 5.0 scale.
UMC volleyball had the 2020 fall season canceled due to COVID-19, and played one match in the spring of 2021 against the University of Mary while also playing in several scrimmages.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston volleyball program announced the signing of Bojana Stekovic (OH, 5-11, Gornji Milanovac, Serbia/Marshalltown Community College). Stekovic is the third signee for the Golden Eagles joining Bailey Schaefer (OH, 5-9, Brandon, Minn./Brandon-Evansville H.S.) and Layne Whaley (DS/Lib., 5-8, Ashland, Neb./Ashland-Greenwood H.S.).
Stekovic was a First Team Academic All-Region selection in 2019, 2020, and 2021. She was named to the dean’s list in 2020 and 2021. Stekovic competed in eight matches during the 2020 season. She led the team with 1.48 kills per set. Stekovic also led the team with 1.85 digs per set. She had a season-high nine kills against Southwestern Community College Feb. 28 and March 4 versus Ellsworth Community College. Stekovic hit .208 against Southwestern. She notched eight digs three times during the 2020 season. As a freshman in 2019, she played in 28 matches. Stekovic averaged 0.95 kills per set. She notched 0.64 digs per set and 0.37 blocks per set. She had a season-high eight kills against North Iowa Area Community College and the Grand View University junior varsity squad.
Stekovic is the daughter of Radivoje and Rada Stekovic. She plans to major in biology at UMC. Stekovic was born March 14, 2000. Her sister Jovana Stekovic plays Division I volleyball for Long Island University.
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Valley City State announced they are starting a $25 million fundraising campaign for an indoor practice facility, an addition to W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse, and upgrades to academic buildings and scholarships.
Phase I of the project is tied directly to athletes and includes an indoor turf practice facility with a 200-meter track, updated strength and conditioning and athletic training facilities, new and expanded locker rooms, updated and expanded public areas, classroom, and meeting rooms along with a Vikings’ Hall of Fame.
Phase I is estimated at $18 million for the fieldhouse addition, as well as an additional $1 million in scholarship enhancements that could help hundreds of students pay for their education.
Additional parts of the project will focus on repurposing McCarthy Hall into a school for education and graduate studies and a student center renovation. The student center previously housed a swimming pool that is now closed. That building will be converted into banquet and meeting spaces for a variety of activities.
Valley City State has 14 sports teams and more than 270 athletes that use the Osmon Fieldhouse in some capacity. The Vikings are an NAIA program and a North Star Athletic Association member.
The Vikings football team plays on Shelly Ellig Field at Lokken Stadium, but has its locker rooms at Osmon Fieldhouse. The team, which has a roster of around 100 players, has to split its squad into two locker rooms.
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Charlie Campbell, a longtime Minnesota high school educator and administrator, will become the 14th Associate Director in the 105-year history of the Minnesota State High School League. Campbell, 48, will begin his service with the League on August 2.
Since 2011, Campbell has served as the Activities Director at Brainerd High School where he led and directed nearly 40 athletic and fine arts programs. During his tenure, growth in co-curricular opportunities for students was the hallmark of his leadership. Prior to his arrival at Brainerd, Campbell was the principal at Greenway High School from July 2009 through July 2011. He began his administrative career at Nashwauk-Keewatin High School where he was the principal and head football coach from Aug. 2000 through July 2009. His first teaching position was in 1997 where he taught social studies and coached a variety of sports at Virginia High School.
After graduating from Brooklyn Center High School in 1991, Campbell earned degrees from Hamline University in 1995. He also played football for the Pipers and later served as an assistant coach.
During his professional career, Campbell has been active in leadership positions with the Minnesota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and served on the League’s Education Advisory Committee, which included assisting in the development of the “Why We Play” curriculum. He has also served on the teaching staff of the InSideOut Coaching initiative.
Campbell’s wife, Amy, is a middle school physical education teacher and leads adapted athletics. They have three children: Katie (20), R.J. (18) and George (15). In his spare time, he enjoys the outdoors, family time, cooking and physical fitness training.
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JOKES
A Congressman was once asked about his attitude toward whiskey. “If you mean the demon drink that poisons the mind, pollutes the body, desecrates family life, and inflames sinners, then I’m against it.
But if you mean the elixir of Christmas cheer, the shield against winter chill, the taxable potion that puts needed funds into public coffers to comfort little crippled children, then I’m for it. This is my position, and I will not compromise.”
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Saturday morning I got up early, put on my long johns, dressed quietly, made my lunch, grabbed my shotgun and the dog, slipped quietly into the garage to load the truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour.
There was snow mixed with the rain, and the wind was blowing 50 mph. I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad throughout the day.
I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. There I cuddled up to my wife’s back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, “The weather out there is terrible.”
She sleepily replied, “Can you believe my stupid husband is out hunting in that crap?”
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A man meets a woman at a bar and asks her – “Would you have sex with me for 10 million dollars?”
Without skipping a beat she screams “Yes!”
The man then asks “What about for $20?”
She looks at him sideways and says “What do you think I am, a whore?”
The man says “We’ve already established that you are, now we’re just negotiating.”
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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. He will be returning to Sweden in the fall.
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.
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
