Happy Independence Day! We didn’t expect to have much in this weeks column, but I lied. There has been some sports news over the last week that I thought I better pass along.
I thank you for reading the column and I hope you and your friends and family have a great Independence Day Holiday break and stay safe!
I am fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the holiday in the Cross Lake area at my sister and brother in-law’s house on the lake just outside of Cross Lake and I think I say this every year, but the Cross Lake/Pequot Lakes area is truly the nicest place in the state. The lakes, the shops, and the best part is most of the places aren’t franchised. They are mom and pop, locally owned or operated stores, restaurants, etc. and I love it.
So as I put the final touches on this column I am relaxed after having a Summer Shandy, some Rafferty’s Pizza, a slice of Key Lime Pie from Manhattan Beach Lodge, picked up some groceries from Reeds and will likely be spending some more money at other businesses including the ice cream shop.
Have a great week!
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The Crookston School District Athletic Department needs to know how many 7-12th grade girls plan on going out for swimming by July 25. If they don’t have at least eight girls out this school year, the program will be cut. It sounds like there are four or five girls planning on going out this fall, so they need a few more to make the cut. The families of the swimmers had a meeting with the administration and they were told they would need to get more kids out if they wanted to have the sport offered in the fall. We will find out how good they are at recruiting girls to come out. Below is the official release from Crookston High School Activities Director Greg Garmen –
Pirate girls grades 7-12:
Due to projected low numbers in our Pirate girls swim program we are trying to determine if we will have enough swimmers to have a team this fall.
If you plan to join the Pirate Girls swim team this fall we need you to sign up by July 25. Please call the Crookston High School office at 281-2144 to sign up.
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I told you last week that Luke Johnson of the Chicago Blackhawks was at my cousin’s wedding reception. On Tuesday Luke signed a contract with the Minnesota Wild!! If he plays for the Wild he will be paid $700,000 a year, if he plays for the Iowa Wild he will make $175,000 a year. Needless to say, he has a few reasons to try to make the Wild roster on opening day in the fall!
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The Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association has announced several awards including the All-State teams, All-Section teams, All-State Academic and players of the year.
East Grand Forks Sacred Heart’s Brenden Bethke was named the Minnesota state Class A Player of the Year last week.
Five Section 8A players were named to the Class A All-State Baseball team – Brett Fetting of Ada-Borup/West, Brenden Bethke of Sacred Heart, Sunny Resnick of NCE-UH, Hunter Yutrzenka of West Marshall (Stephen-Argyle), and Jayden Heisler of Mahnomen-Waubun.
One area player earned Class A All-State Academic team honors – Mason Spry of Win-E-Mac.
The Roseau Rams of Section 8AA received the Class AA Academic Bronze award and Jordan Moser of Roseau and Perham’s Max Tostenson and Bensen Nyhus were named to the Class AA All-State Academic team.
Only two players from Section 8AA made the Class AA All-State Baseball team – Jake Hjelle of East Grand Forks and Dawson Stevens of Perham.
For the Section 8AA Baseball team – click here.
The Section 8A All-Section team includes the following –
Sacred Heart – Brenden Bethke, Oscar Ortiz, Cullen Rohrich, and Evan Sczepanski
Red Lake County – Ben Cardinal, Brandon Wiskow, and Adrien Verbout
West Marshall – Dawson Feuillerat and Hunter Yutrzenka
Ada-Borup/West – Braiden Fetting
BGMR – Dylan Heggedal
Blackduck – Ian Frenzel
Fosston – Treydon Boushee, Noah Mahlen, Austin Schmidt, Kyle Jacobson
Mahnomen/Waubun – Chase Dorman and Jayden Heisler
NCE/UH – Tate Hoseth, Sunny Resnick, Conner Nelson, Riley Resnick
Win-E-Mac – Dustin Osland and Remy Goodwin
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Congratulations to Thief River Falls’ Evan Bushy on making team USA for the Under-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament to be played in the Czech Republic in Slovakia. The soon to be senior defenseman played high school hockey for the Thief River Falls Prowlers and junior hockey for the Sioux Falls Stampede.
Bushy verbally committed to play hockey at St. Cloud State last year and will join his brother. Bushy will start the hockey season with Sioux Falls this late fall/early winter and hasn’t decided if he will come back to Thief River Falls to play his senior year for the Prowlers yet.
Bushy was one of five Minnesotans to make the team and all five played high school this past season. Blake Biondi of Hermantown and a UMD commit, Louden Hogg of Edina, Wyatt Kaiser of Andover and a UMD commit, and Jacob Ratzlaff of Rosemount and a Gopher commit.
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The University of Minnesota Crookston men’s basketball program announced the signing of Destiny Chikwem-Stanley (F, 6-6 205, Missouri City, Texas/Frank Phillips College).
“I am very excited to welcome Destiny to the Golden Eagle basketball family,” said Head Coach Dan Weisse. “Destiny is a high character, high energy young man. He brings some experience and athleticism to the table. He is a very versatile player that will mesh well with our current players. One thing I noticed in getting to know Destiny is that he is willing to work, and willing to do anything necessary to help our program win. He will be able to guard multiple positions, rebound out of his area, and will fit right in with what we like to do offensively. He helps complete our team. I’m looking forward to coaching him and watching him get his software engineering degree from the University of Minnesota Crookston.”
Chikwem-Stanley comes to UMC from Frank Phillips College, a junior college in Borger, Texas. He played on year for the Plainsmen, who competed in NJCAA Division I. As a sophomore, Chikwem-Stanley averaged 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Chikwem-Stanley played his first year at Lincoln University, a NCAA Division II school in Jefferson City, Mo. He helped the Blue Tigers to a 15-14 mark as a freshman. Chikwem-Stanley played in 11 games during his inaugural season at Lincoln University, averaging 1.3 points and 0.8 rebounds per game.
His full name is Destiny Glorious Chikwem-Stanley. He was born July 5, 1999. He is the son of Stanley Chikwem and Lizzy Chikwem-Stanley. Chikwem-Stanley plans to major in software engineering. He was a member of the National Honor Society, English Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta in high school. Chikwem-Stanley was an all-academic pick, and a DECA state winner. His family moved to United States in 2002.
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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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The 17th annual Crookston High School Pirate Pride Golf Scramble will be held Friday, July 12 at Minakwa Golf Course.
9:00 Registration
10:00 Shotgun Start
Lunch will be served starting at 11:00
Cost – $60 per person and includes, T-Shirt, 18 holes of golf, sandwich, salad, and chips.
The teams will be made up of four people and call the clubhouse to reserve a cart (not included) at 218-281-1774.
All golfers must be 18 years of age or have graduated High School. All proceeds will help support Crookston High School Pirate Athletics. We are doing a raffle again this year. Talk to any coach or the staff at Minakwa about buying tickets.
PRE-REGISTRATION APPRECIATED
Please contact Steve Kofoed at 320-290-9904 or stevenkofoed@isd593.org.
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Warroad will be hosting the Warwick Workout Advanced Skills Basketball camp July 15-16.
The Warwick Workout Advanced Offensive Skills Camp is designed for players looking to enhance and expand their skill set. Warwick Workout trainers will work with players to excel in their respective positions through progression based teaching and repetition.
Camp Features
· Perimeter moves currently used in college & NBA
· Shooting instruction and development
· Footwork and shot preparation
· Creating space to score
· Finishing at the rim
· Advanced ball handling concepts
Session 1 – 3-7th Grade Boys/Girls
Session 2 – 8-12th Grade Boys/Girls
For more information on the camp and the registration form, CLICK HERE.
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JOKES
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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
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