SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
My wife Tiffany and I moved our third (of four) children into college over the weekend. Macy Fee (AKA Miss Crookston 2022) is taking in her first year of college at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She is majoring in Marketing/Communications with a Social Media emphasis. Crookston High School has given all of our kids a great education and I always tell people you get what you put into it. We spent the weekend in the cities, and here are some takeaways.
- What the heck is going on in the cities with the kids these days? The hoodlums were in full force at the state fair on Saturday night. I guess on Sunday night, they quit selling tickets because kids were causing problems, so 20-plus kids tried to scale the fences. The Twin Cities is so vital to our state, but the lawlessness they have allowed is killing both cities.
- If you are looking for something fun to do and away from the hoodlums in downtown Minneapolis, I suggest the Puttery. It is a 21-and-over miniature golf place with a restaurant and bar. The food was good, the drinks were good, and the mini-golf was a lot of fun. A must-do with friends, spouse, or whoever. We had a blast and highly recommend it. Puttery is across the street from the Four Seasons Hotel on Hennepin Avenue. A block or so down the street from the Gay 90’s.
- Only having one kid at home is strange. And he is never home.
- My wife is a pretty awesome mom, and while we are sad to see the kids leaving us, we are excited for our kids in their next venture in life. I know they are going to do well because of the parenting, love, kindness, and teaching my wife has done with them.
- Murray’s in downtown Minneapolis is soooo good. Period.
— — —
Week 1 is in the books for Minnesota High School football, and here are some things I noticed/realized.
-This is year #27 of covering high school football! Yep, 27 years now. I have only missed one Crookston Pirate game in that span, and that was because of the DAMN COVID.
-I can’t pronounce Wheaton-Herman-Norcross-Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (Border West) for the life of me. Maybe it was my brain saying there is no way a coop could include SIX towns, or I was stroking out and for the life of me couldn’t pronounce or say Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley. Honestly, as soon as I got in the car I said it as clear as day. Oh well. Life goes on. I am still trying to pronounce Gieseke the right way every time!!!
-Fertile-Beltrami football is going to be tough again this year and only with two seniors on the team! Section 6 9-man has some work to do this year and the Falcons looked stellar in week one.
-Crookston was a tail of two teams against East Grand Forks (who will be tough again this year). Crookston struggled in the first half and looked much better in the second half. This Friday will be a better test of seeing where Crookston and EGF stand.
-Barnesville beat Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 14-7 in a battle of two heavy weights. Both teams are going to be tough to beat.
-Red Lake County had a great start as they beat Walker-Hackensack-Akeley. Mahnomen/Waubun beat up on Benson. Polk County West was edged by a solid West Central Area team even with a bunch of turnovers. Needless to say Section 8A is going to be a battle again this year.
-High School football is fun. Nothing is better than Friday nights. NOTHING!
— — —
More than 272,000 students participated in Minnesota State High School League-sponsored education-based activities during the 2022-2023 school year, according to data jointly released by the League and the National Federation of State High School Associations. In data collected by the NFHS, 219,094 students from the League’s more than 500 member schools participated in League-sponsored athletic programs in 2021-2022, ranking 10th nationally. This number is an increase over 2021-2022 school year when 209,560 participated. The remainder of the League’s participation totals for 2022-2023 include data from the Fine Arts, Clay Target and Robotics.
“The increase in student participation demonstrates the value of education-based activities in our schools,” League Executive Director Erich Martens said. “The League exists to provide these opportunities for students. A doubling of the number of girls participating in wrestling and large gains in track and field participation are great examples of the strength of our programs. Because of the outstanding work of Member school administrators, coaches and others, Minnesota remains a leader in student participation.”
The greatest increase in student participation was in track and field. Boys track and field grew by 1,917 to 16,173 and girls track and field grew by 1,200 to 14,956. These sports ranked second and third behind only football for the most student participants. Football, played across seven enrollment classes, had 22,534 participants. Music had the most participants in the Fine Arts activities with 24,538. The League’s newest sport, girls wrestling, more than doubled, going from 275 to 537 participants.
Boys volleyball will become a sanctioned League activity in 2024-2025, providing an additional opportunity for student participation.
Nationally, participation surpassed 7.8 million during the 2022-2023 school year, an increase of more than 240,000 from the previous school year. This is the second year since the global pandemic that the NFHS has compiled the national data from the 51-member state associations, which includes the District of Columbia.
Eleven-player football remained the most popular sport nationally with more than 1 million participants. The 1,028,761 football participants mark an increase of 54,969 participants from 2021-2022. It is the first increase since 2013 and just the second increase since the all-time mark of 1,112,303 in 2008-2009.
One of the sharpest increases nationally came in boys and girls wrestling. Boys wrestling jumped 10 percent to more than 256,000, the largest total since 2014-2015. Girls wrestling added 17,473 participants, a 55 percent increase from 2021-2022, to reach a record 49,127.
MINNESOTA TOP ACTIVITIES BY PARTICIPATION (2022-23 school year)
BOYS- (Top 13 activities by participation)
1. Football – 22,365
2. Track – 16,173
3. Basketball – 13,524
4. Baseball – 12,129
5. Music – 10,691
6. Soccer – 9,881
7. Clay Target – 7,097
8. Wrestling – 6,792
9. Cross Country – 6,108
10. Golf – 5,332
11. Hockey – 4,925
12. Tennis – 4,282
13. Lacrosse – 3,654
GIRLS (Top 13 activities by participation)
1. Track – 14,956
2. Volleyball – 14,803
3. Music – 13,847
4. Softball – 9,655
5. Basketball – 9,579
6. Soccer – 8,041
7. Tennis – 6,206
8. Swimming – 4,882
9. Cross Country – 4,667
10. Golf – 3,721
11. Lacrosse – 3,533
12. Dance High Kick – 3,507
13. Hockey – 3,328
All the activity participation numbers are below-
[embeddoc url=”https://kroxam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2022_2023-Participation-Numbers-Final-Information-1.pdf”]
NATIONAL BOYS PARTICIPATION LEADERS
NATIONAL GIRLS PARTICIPATION LEADERS
— — —
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River’s Cade Knutsen has committed to play baseball at Valley City State University. The tall, lanky left-hander, who will be a senior this year, is the first commit for the Vikings in 2024.
Roseau’s Payton Remick has committed to play hockey for the St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey team. Remick will have a few years as she will graduate in 2025.
– – –
The Minnesota High School League released its Section alignments for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years with several changes for section teams in northwest Minnesota. We have a list of all the sports and who is in and who is out next year. The Fall sports sections are listed below –
FOOTBALL –
Section 6 9-Man (Fosston in, Nevis out)
Blackduck
Cass Lake-Bena
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Fertile-Beltrami
Fosston
Laporte
Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal
Park Christian
8 9-MAN (No Change)
BGMR
Goodridge-Grygla
Kittson County Central
Lake of the Woods
Northern Freeze
Stephen-Argyle
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
Win-E-Mac
Section 8A Football – (Fosston out)
Ada-Borup-West
Bagley
Mahnomen-Waubun
Polk County West
Red Lake County
Red Lake
Section 8AA Football (Park Rapids and Roseau drop from 8AAA)
Barnesville
Crookston
Frazee
Hawley
Park Rapids
Pelican Rapids
Roseau
Warroad
Section 8AAA (Park Rapids and Roseau out, Morris in)
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Fergus Falls
Morris/Chokio-Alberta
Perham
Thief River Falls
VOLLEYBALL –
8A Volleyball – (added Red Lake)
Ada-Borup-West
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River
Bagley
Blackduck
Climax-Fisher
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Fertile-Beltrami
Goodridge/Grygla
Indus
Kittson County Central
Lake of the Woods
Mahnomen/Waubun
Northern Freeze
Northome/Kelliher
Red Lake County Central
Red Lake Falls
Red Lake
Sacred Heart
Stephen-Argyle
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo
Win-E-Mac
Section 8AA (Red Lake moved down to 8A)
Barnesville
Crookston
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
East Grand Forks
Frazee
Hawley
Menahga
Park Rapids
Pelican Rapids
Perham
Roseau
Thief River Falls
Wadena-Deer Creek
Warroad
BOYS SOCCER –
Section 8A (Added East Grand Forks)
Central Minnesota Christian
Crookston
East Grand Forks
Fergus Falls
Fergus Falls Hillcrest
Melrose
Minnewaska Area
Pelican Rapids
St. Cloud Cathedral
St. John’s Prep
GIRLS SOCCER –
Section 8A (Added East Grand Forks, lost Fergus Falls)
Albany
Crookston
East Grand Forks
Fergus Falls Hillcrest
Melrose
Pelican Rapids
St. Cloud Cathedral
St. John’s Prep
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley
GIRLS TENNIS –
Section 8A (added East Grand Forks, Perham, and Thief River Falls, lost Long Prairie-Grey Eagle)
Crookston
East Grand Forks
Park Rapids
Parkers Prairie
Perham/NYM
Roseau
Staples-Motley
Thief River Falls
Wadena-Deer Creek
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY –
Section 8A (Perham is out)
Ada-Borup-West
Bagley/Fosston
Cass Lake-Bena
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
DNA Homeschool
Frazee
Hawley
Lake of the Woods
Lake Park-Audubon
Nevis
New York Mills
Park Rapids
Pelican Rapids
Red Lake County
Riverside Christian School
Roseau
United North Central
Warroad
West Marshall
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY –
Section 8A (Perham is out)
Ada-Borup-West
Bagley/Fosston
Cass Lake-Bena
Clearbrook-Gonvick
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
DNA Homeschool
Frazee
Hawley
Lake of the Woods
Lake Park-Audubon
Nevis
New York Mills
Park Rapids
Pelican Rapids
Red Lake County
Riverside Christian School
Roseau
United North Central
Warroad
West Marshall
— — —
JOKES
— — —
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
Ethan Boll is a Freshman on the University of North Dakota Football team.
Breanna Kressin is a Sophomore on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Emma Osborn is a Sophomore playing basketball at Northland Technical and Community College in Thief River Falls.
Jacey Larson is a Sophomore playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Aleah Bienek is a Sophomore playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Elise Tangquist is the Head Girls Golf Coach at Horace High School in Fargo, ND..
Kaleb Thingelstad is a sophomore playing golf at Dakota Wesleyan.
Joslynn Leach is a sophomore playing golf at Concordia College in Moorhead. The Cobbers wrapped up the Fall season.
Brady Butt is a Junior playing football at the University of Jamestown.
Ty Hamre is playing football at Bemidji State University.
Paul Bittner is playing professional hockey in Norway.
Kate MacGregor is senior swimming at Minnesota State Moorhead.
Aleece Durbin is a Junior on the University of North Dakota Womens Track and Field team.
Elizabeth Erdman is a coach for the Moorhead Red Dragon swim team.
Crookston School District Coaches
Ben Parkin is the head Pirate Baseball Coach.
Emily Meyer is the Pirate head girls hockey coach and softball assistant 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
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls Swimming coach and assistant girls golf 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/Admin/etc
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.
Katy (Westrom) Horgen is the 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 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
Ben Andringa is serving our country in the Army and is now a Ranger.
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 a grad of West Point and currently 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.
Tags:
