SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
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The Section 8A Sub-section track meets will be held today at Ada (had to change from Hawley due to some track issues), and Park Rapids.
West teams – Ada-Borup-West, BGMR/Freeze, Climax-Fisher-Sacred Heart, Crookston, DGF, Fertile-Beltrami, Kittson County Central, Mahnomen/Waubun, Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal, Park Christian, Red Lake County, United Clay-Becker, and West Marshall.
East teams – Bagley/Fosston, Cass Lake-Bena, Clearbrook-Gonvick, Goodridge/Grygla, Lake of the Woods, Nevis, Northome/Kelliher/Blackduck, Park Rapids, Roseau, TrekNorth, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley, Warroard, Win-E-Mac.
The top five in each individual event from each Sub-Section and the next best six times/distances from both sub-sections combined advance to the meet. Top 16 individuals advance to the Section 8A meet (plus ties in field events)
The top three relay teams from each Sub-section plus the next two best relay teams from the sub-sections combined advance (top 8 teams) to the section meet.
Each team will be allowed up to three entries per individual event and one entry per relay event.
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The Section 8A Softball tournament continues today (Thursday, May 21) at Red Lake Falls and Greenbush!
Here is a look at the winners and loser’s bracket.
Winners bracket –
4:00 PM – #5 Sacred Heart vs #1 Red Lake Falls at RLF (ON KROX)
4:00 PM – #6 East Polk vs #2 BGMR at Greenbush
Losers Bracket –
4:00 PM – Fertile-Beltrami vs Lake Park-Audubon at RLF
4:00 PM – Bagley vs Mahnomen/Waubun at Greenbush
6:00 PM – FB/LPA winner vs Sacred Heart/RLF loser at RLF (ON KROX)
6:00 PM – Bagley/MW winner vs East Polk/BGMR loser at Greenbush
Tuesday, May 26 at the highest remaining undefeated seed (Either RLF, Greenbush, or EGF)
4:00 PM – RLF/Sacred Heart winner vs BGMR/East Polk winner
4:00 PM – the losers bracket winners from Thursday.
6:00 PM – Semifinal loser vs the Losers bracket winner
Thursday, May 28 – at the undefeated team
CHAMPIONSHIP – 4:00 PM –
True Championship – if needed – 6:00 PM
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The Section 8AA Softball tournament will have its third round of games today (Thursday, May 20).
There are four undefeated teams left, with one surprise.
THURSDAY, May 21 at the high seed
5:00 PM – #4 Wadena-Deer Creek at #1 Roseau
5:00 PM – #6 Breckenridge vs #2 Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
5:00 PM – Warroad at Park Rapids (loser-out)
5:00 PM – Thief River Falls at Hawley (Loser out)
TUESDAY, MAY 26 (at a Neutral Field)
3:00 PM – Warroad/Park Rapids winner vs DGF/Breckenridge loser
3:00 PM – TRF/Hawley winner vs Roseau/WDC loser
5:00 PM – SEMIFINAL – WDC/Roseau winner vs Breckenridge/DGF winner
5:00 PM – Losers bracket – the two 3:00 PM winners
THURSDAY – May 28 (at Neutral Field)
3:00 PM – Losers bracket game (Semi-final loser vs losers bracket winner)
5:00 PM – Championship
FRIDAY – MAY 29 (at Neutral Field)
10:00 AM – True championship if needed
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Fosston High School Activities Director Ryan Hanlon has been selected from a field of five candidates to represent Regions 7A and 8A on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL).
Ryan has served in several capacities at the local, regional, and state levels, supporting the MSHSL’s mission. He will now be a voting member on the Board that governs this organization. “Those of us in Region 8A know that Ryan will do a superb job in this new role,” said Region 8A Executive Secretary Todd Selk.
Hanlon has been the Fosston Activities Director for 16 years, the head baseball coach for 18 years, and the assistant football coach for 11 years. He is currently on the Region 8A committee, the Region 8A Triple A Coordinator, the Region 8A Social Media Director, and the Region 8A Program Director. He is a Minnesota Coaches Association at-large delegate, Pine-to-Prairie Conference President, and was named the 2026 Minnesota Region 8A AD of the Year.
Hanlon is also a part of numerous section and region activity coordinator/host/site manager positions, too.
Ryan received 56% of the total votes cast by th region schools.
Other candidates included:
Rob Nudell, Supt, NCE
Aaron Cook, Supt, WEM and Ada/Borup-West
Jeremy Digiovonni, AD, Walker
Mark Bernstrom, AD, Lancaster
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The Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Association and the Minnesota Twins have announced the 2026 North Baseball All-Star team and several area players have made the team.
Perham – Drew Ellingson, Ty Rooney
Moorhead – Riley Dickhaus, Carson Heinsch
Alexandria – Landon Gess Norling
Paynesville – Esau Nelson
Sebeka – Parker Kiser
New London-Spicer – Brayden Skindelien
Parkers Prairie – Trevor Rounds
Hibbing – Gavin Lamphere
Grand Rapids – Alex Wegwerth
Sartell – Brady Thompson
Cherry – Noah Asuma
Morris – Riley Asmus
St. Cloud Cathedral – Henry Schole
Minnewaska – Conner Erickson
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle – Hagen Bunkhorst
Paynesville – Reed Johnson
Litte Falls – Izaak Kalis
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Bemidji State University Director of Athletics Britt Lauritsen has announced the hiring of Madison McKeever as the 11th head coach of Beaver Women’s Basketball.
McKeever recently finished her fourth season at the University of St. Thomas where she spent the last three seasons as the first assistant and one as Director of Operations in 2022-23. Prior to UST, McKeever spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Concordia University-St. Paul from 2020-22.
The Erskine, Minn., native spent the 2021-22 season as Concordia-St. Paul’s top assistant after joining the Golden Bears in 2020-21. CSP averaged 15 wins per season, including a COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season, while the team finished her two-season stint with a .682 winning percentage. McKeever coached five student-athletes to All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honors.
McKeever attended the University of South Dakota where she helped the Coyotes women’s basketball program to an overall record of 110-24 in her four years. She helped the Coyotes become the first team in Summit League history to go undefeated en route to a conference regular season and tournament championship.
As a freshman, McKeever was named the Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year. Other awards earned in her time at South Dakota include being named All-Summit League Honorable Mention three times and earning Preseason All-Summit League Team honors three times. In her senior season, she averaged 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. She also joined South Dakota’s 1000-point club, finishing her career with 1,094 points.
In her time as a player at Win-E-Mac High School, McKeever finished her career as the state’s 11th all-time scorer with 3298 points. She is also ranked third all-time in steals with 823 and set a state tournament record with 25 free throw attempts in a game and tied the record for free throws made with 20 in a single game, both of which she still holds to this day.
McKeever holds a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies and bachelor’s degree in general studies and elementary education, both from the University of South Dakota. In her free time, McKeever enjoys spending time making memories with family and friends, traveling, being outdoors and spending time with her dog, Koda.
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The NFHS has announced a few rule changes for high school basketball next year. They are pretty boring, but figured I would share.
Guidelines to help game officials manage the game clock at the end of each quarter and other timing errors are among the major rules changes in high school basketball for the 2026-27 season.
The two additions addressing the game clock in Rule 5 (5-9-5 and 5-10-2 Note) were among the five rules changes recommended by the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee at its April 27-29 meeting in Indianapolis. All rules changes were reviewed by the NFHS Rules Review Committee and approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
In the last 59.9 seconds of each quarter and overtime periods, a minimum of three-tenths (0.3) of a second must expire from the game clock when the ball is legally touched by a player inbounds after a throw-in. This addition of Rule 5-9-5 is consistent with the tap-in rule in Rule 5-2-5, however, does not apply if the game clock does not display tenths of a second.
Rule 5-10-2 Note was added to allow officials to utilize a silent count in the event of a clock malfunction. If an official determines the clock was not started or stopped properly, a silent count may be used as definitive knowledge to correct the timing error.
“These changes provide officials with clearer guidance and help provide greater consistency in administering end-of-quarter timing situations, while also ensuring there are practical solutions available when timing errors or clock malfunctions occur,” said Monica Maxwell, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Basketball Rules Committee.
Rule 8-6-4 was added to establish a single dead-ball period at approximately the same time when assessing if technical fouls committed by opposing teams cancel. Specifically, in this instance, all technical fouls are considered to be committed at approximately the same time for the purposes of offsetting their penalties and play would resume at the point of interruption.
Rule 9-2 Penalty clarified that when an infraction occurs on a throw-in, the location of the violation is the original throw-in spot. If the original throw-in spot is not a designated spot, the ensuing throw-in is moved to such a spot.
Lastly, Rule 6-4-4g was removed. With changes last year that modified the procedures when addressing faking being fouled, it was no longer applicable.
A complete listing of the basketball rules changes will be available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Basketball” and then “Rules.” The print version of the 2026-27 Basketball Rules Book will be available for purchase in late July at www.NFHS.com, and the digital version will be available in July via NFHS Digital at www.NFHS.org.
According to the 2024-25 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, basketball is the third-most popular sport for boys with 540,704 participants in 18,690 schools nationwide. For girls, it ranks fourth with 356,240 participants in 18,208 schools.
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JOKES
A woman and a baby were in the doctor’s examining room, waiting for the Doctor to come in for the baby’s first exam. The Doctor arrived, examined the baby, weighed him, and, seeming a little concerned, asked whether the baby was breast- or bottle-fed.
“Breast-fed,” she replied.
“Strip down to your waist,” the Doctor said. She did. He pinched her nipples, then pressed, kneaded, and rubbed both breasts for a while in a detailed examination. Motioning her to get dressed, he said, “No wonder this baby is underweight, you don’t have any milk.”
“I know,” she said, “I’m his Grandma, but I’m glad I came.”
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After receiving a beautiful haircut, a doctor asks the barber, “How much do I owe you?” “Oh, I never charge a doctor,” the barber replies. “You all do such good, important work.” The next morning, the barber arrives at his shop and finds a thank you note and a bottle of wine on his doorstep from the doctor.Later that day, a police officer walks into the same barbershop. After a beautiful haircut, the police office asks the barber, “How much do I owe you?” “Oh, I never charge a police officer,” the barber replies. “You all do such good, important work.” The next morning, the barber arrives at his shop and finds a thank you note and a box of candy on his doorstep from the police officer. Later that day, a priest walks into the same barbershop. After a beautiful haircut, the priest asks the barber, “How much do I owe you?” “Oh, I never charge a priest,” the barber replies. “You all do such good, important work.” The next morning, the barber arrives at his shop and finds twelve priests on his doorstep.
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A woman was at her hairdresser’s getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:
“Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It’s crowded and dirty. You’re crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?”
“We’re taking Continental,” was the reply. “We got a great rate!”
Continental?” exclaimed the hairdresser. “That’s a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they’re always late. So, where are you staying in Rome?”
“We’ll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome’s Tiber River called Teste.”
“Don’t go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks it’s gonna be something special and exclusive, but it’s really a dump, the worst hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly, and they’re overpriced. So, whatcha’ doing when you get there?”
“We’re going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope.”
“That’s rich,” laughed the hairdresser. “You and a million other people are trying to see him. He’ll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You’re going to need it.”
A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome. “It was wonderful,” explained the woman, “not only were we on time in one of Continental’s brand new planes, but it was overbooked and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot. And the hotel was great! They’d just finished a $5 million remodeling job and now it’s a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner’s suite at no extra charge!”
“Well,” muttered the hairdresser, “that’s all well and good, but I know you didn’t get to see the Pope.”
“Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I’d be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me. Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand, I knelt down, and he spoke a few words to me.”
“Oh, really! What did he say?”
“He said: ‘Where did you get the shitty hairdo?'”
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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
Matt Contreras is a freshman playing baseball at Concordia College in Moorhead.
Teagen Lubinski is playing Junior Hockey for the Badlands Sabers in the NA3HL.
Parker Kelly is playing Junior Hockey for the Badlands Sabers in the NA3HL.
Addie Fee is a freshman playing tennis and hockey at Wisconsin-Superior.
Kambelle Freije is a freshman playing hockey at Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Riley Helgeson is a freshman playing football at Northern State.
Emily Bowman is a freshman playing Softball at North Dakota State College of Science.
Halle Winjum is a sophomore playing basketball at Minnesota Crookston.
Blake Melsa is a sophomore playing soccer and baseball at Alexandria Tech
Jackson Reese is a sophomore playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Matt Contreras is a freshman playing baseball at Concordia College.
Naomi Johnson is a freshman playing soccer at Alexandria Tech
Paul Bittner is an assistant coach on the University of Wisconsin-Superior Men’s Hockey team.
Reese Swanson is a sophomore playing hockey at St. Olaf.
Carter Coauette is a sophomore playing football at Minot State.
Isaac Thomforde is a sophomore playing Tennis at Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Halle Bruggeman is a Junior on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Women’s Rugby team.
Ethan Boll is a Sophomore on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Junior on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Jacey Larson is a Junior playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Senior playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Seth Heppner – Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Golf at Jessup University
Brady Heppner – Head Coach of Women’s Golf at UMC and Assistant Hockey Coach
Crookston School District Coaches
Blake Bergeron is the head Pirate Wrestling Coach.
Colton Weiland is an assistant Pirate Wrestling Coach
Jason Cassavant is a Jr. High Baseball Coach and Head American Legion Baseball coach
Sarah Reese is the Pirate Head Girls Soccer coach
Marley Melbye is an assistant girls golf coach
Connor Morgan is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ben Trostad is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Ethan Magsam is the Pirate Boys Hockey assistant coach
Non-Crookston High School coaching/Admin/etc
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND.
Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson is the head Little Falls Volleyball coach.
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.
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 North Dakota.
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
Jaren Bailey is serving our country and is Lance Corporal in the Marines.
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
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..
