SPORTS FEEVER by Chris Fee of KROX Radio – chrisjfee@yahoo.com
I have made a tough decision this week. After hearing that 50 D1 college hockey players and over 250 D2 mens basketball players have entered the transfer portal I figured I would do what all the cool kids are doing. I am going to enter the transfer portal and explore any options that might arise. We will see what happens.
All joking aside, we are wrapping up the high school winter sports season with state boy’s basketball this week. When spring sports is a huge question mark, I am guessing baseball won’t be playing until mid-April!!!
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We are sad to report that Roseau Ram legend and Gopher Women’s Basketball player Katie Borowicz has made the difficult decision to retire from basketball after her freshman season due to continued medical issues. When I found out about the news, I was actually sitting courtside at Williams Arena, awaiting the Sacred Heart game.
We wish Katie good health and the best of luck! We will miss watching the “little” bulldog play! Below is the announcement that she posted on social media –
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The only Spring sports practices start date left is –
Boys Tennis – March 27 is first day of practice.
First contest day is March 30 with a maximum of 16 contests.
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Congratulations to Coach Mike Clark and the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Rebels on their exciting win in the State Class AA Boys Basketball tournament with a 63-61 victory over #3 seed Plainview-Elgin-Millville.
Owen Leach scored 50 points in the Section 8AA championship and in the first round at state he scored 28 points, added 12 rebounds, and 4 assists. DGF only led for a little over seven minutes in the game, but they kept battling the entire game and made big plays and made their free throws when they needed them and won the game.
I like DGF’s chances against Albany in the semi-finals at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night from the Target Center. We will have the game on KROX RADIO with a pre-game show around 7:45 p.m. You can listen by clicking on listen live at the top right of the page, or the KROX app, and your smart speaker by saying “Listen to K-R-O-X in Crookston.”
On another note, we saw this from the stat guru Dave Peterson.
Owen Leach has attempted 306 free throws on the season, and he has 2 games left! To put that in perspective, the Mahnomen/Waubun Thunderbirds attempted 285 as a team!!
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The Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association has released the All-Academic awards for the teams and individuals, and Sections 8A and 8AA are well represented. The list is below –
Section 8A –
Red Lake Falls – Brea Desrosier, Paige Schafer, Emma Knott, Gabby Casavan, Savanna Nelson
Red Lake County Central – Shawna Majeres
Fosston – Katelyn Vesledahl, Kinsley Duppong, Genevive Rue
Kittson County Central – Aidra Johnson, Julia Kujava
Win-E-Mac – Kallie Hand
Northern Freeze – Isabel Pearson, Addison Bakke
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo – Annika Magnusson, Kylie Nelson
Fertile-Beltrami – Brooklyn Strem, Isabelle Dahl, Josie Iverson, Kim Hitchen, Maren Sather, Zoe Messick
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River – Cassie Dahl, Keyasha Housker, Jade Reese, Hannah Bergsnev, Tessany Blazek
Section 8AA –
Crookston – Abby Borowicz, Libby Salentine
Roseau – Paige Boyer, Janna Preteau, Kayla Bachleitner
Thief River Falls – Kendal Rantanen
East Grand Forks – Hayli Robertson
Wadena-Deer Creek – Madison Carsten, Ally Pavek
Hawley – Anna Steer, Kylie Manthe
Barnesville – Jaida Bontjes, Emily Smith, Sydney Strand, McKenzie Skogen
Frazee – Kate Vigen
Fergus Falls – Karley Braeger
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton – Kaleigh Peterson
Pelican Rapids – Kia Nelson, Kelsey Isamen
Perham – Mya Morris, Olivia Rosenthal, Olivia Pilgrim, Lily Aakre
TEAM AWARDS – 173 teams had a team GPA of 3.6 or higher!!!!! Barnesville had the top GPA in the state!
GOLD –
Barnesville (3.999)
Fertile-Beltrami (3.943)
Detroit Lakes (3.939)
Warren-Alvarado-Oslo (3.888)
East Grand Forks (3.884)
Crookston (3.846)
Badger/Greenbush-Middle River (3.841)
Kittson County Central (3.84)
Perham (3.829)
Wadena-Deer Creek (3.801)
Red Lake Falls (3.8)
SILVER –
Roseau (3.798)
Fosston (3.79)
Frazee (3.788)
Pelican Rapids (3.752)
Thief River Falls (3.751)
Win-E-Mac (3.738)
Climax-Fisher (3.73)
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (3.689)
Northern Freeze (3.671)
Fergus Falls (3.67)
Northome/Kelliher (3.669)
Goodridge-Grygla (3.657)
Hawley (3.654)
Breckenridge (3.652)
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The Pine to Prairie Conference named the Boys Basketball all-conference teams and they are listed below –
All-Conference –
First team –
Caiden Swenby (Fertile-BeltramI)
Justin Courneya (Win-E-Mac)
Tyson McArthur (Mahnomen-Waubun)
Cameron Spaeth (Ada-Bourp-West)
Zach Theis (Fosston)
Second team –
Aaron Norland (Fosston)
Cullen Norland (Fosston)
Ryan Kangas (Win-E-Mac)
Derek Sorenson (Fertile-Beltrami)
Colby Poegel (Lake Park-Audubon)
Third team –
Cadyn Dahl (Ada-Borup-West)
Aidan Flaten (Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal)
Carsen Boushee (Fosston)
Darren Skala (Fosston)
Dennis Ashley (Mahnomen-Waubun)
Honorable Mention –
Ryan Morris (Climax-Fisher)
Kyler Card (Park Christian)
Cole Bentley (Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal)
Mark Peterson (Lake Park-Audubon)
Teigan Bjerk (Lake Park-Audubon)
Charlie Scholl (Ada-Borup-West)
Austin McCraven (Ada-Borup-West)
Jonas Spry (Win-E-Mac)
Ryan Van Den Einde (Fertile-Beltrami)
Coach of the Year – Ben Hemberger (Fosston)
MVP – Caiden Swenby (Fertile-BeltramI)
Defensive Player of the Year – Cullen Norland (Fosston)
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The Pine to Prairie Conference named the Girl’s Basketball all-conference teams, and they are listed below –
All-Conference –
First team –
Kendra Syverson (Mahnomen-Waubun)
Izzy Klemetson (Norman-County East/Ulen-Hitterdal)
Brynlea Mahlen (Fosston)
Josie Iverson (Fertile-Beltrami)
Avery Aakre (Park Christian)
Second team –
Sophie Lien (Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal)
Katelyn Vesledahl (Fosston)
Kinsley Duppong (Fosston)
Kasia Wilson (Fertile-Beltrami)
Libby Suckert (Park Christian)
Third team –
Payton Hoffman (Climax-Fisher)
Morgan Smart (Ada-Borup-West)
Myah Rosing (Lake Park-Audubon)
Kaycee Endreson (Park Christian)
Tori Erickson (Fertile-Beltrami)
Honorable Mention –
Alaina Bevins (Mahnomen-Waubun)
Alexis Pazdernik (Mahnomen-Waubun)
Jerran Madson(Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal)
Brooklyn Strem (Fertile-Beltrami)
Annika Johnson (Park Christian)
Halle Reitmeier (Climax-Fisher)
Thea Mattson (Lake Park-Audubon)
Lex Mahlen (Fosston)
Coach of the Year – Zach Kakela (Park Christian)
MVP – Josie Iverson(Fertile-BeltramI)
Defensive Player of the Year -Kendra Syverson (Mahnomen-Waubun)
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The North Border Conference has announced the all-conference awards. Members of the conference are Northern Freeze, Goodridge/Grygla, Warroad, Roseau, Badger/Greenbush-Middle River, and Lake of the Woods. The award winners are below.
All Conference:
Ryder Blazejewski – Northern Freeze
Everett Nelson – Northern Freeze
Jaxon Klegstad – Northern Freeze
Lewis Jones – Goodridge/Grygla
Blake Rychlock – Goodridge/Grygla
Gage Thompson – Warroad
Kason Pietruszewski – Warroad
Jordan Borowicz – Roseau
Gunnar Lund – Roseau
Zach Blawat – BGMR
Garret Jenson – Lake of the Woods
Honorable Mention:
Gavin Hockstedler – Northern Freeze
Caleb Bray – Northern Freeze
Liam Grover – Warroad
Ty Christian – BGMR
Max Wilson – Roseau
Conference Champs: Northern Freeze
Co-Senior of the Year:
Zac Blawat – BGMR
Ryder Blazejewski – Northern Freeze
Coach of the Year: Sean Spilde
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I saw this post on nutrition for athletes and what to have ready for student-athletes. I thought it was a pretty good list, so I thought I would share.
Portable Pantry List for Student-Athletes
Fruit
Jerky
Trail mix
Electrolytes
Apple sauce
Greek yogurt
Cheese stick
Protein drinks
Turkey sandwich
Hard-boiled eggs
Protein muffin cups
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The Fosston Greyhound Boys Basketball team broke a state record for field goal percentage in a game against the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons in the Section 8A semi-finals on March 15. Neil Steffes and the Falcon team and fans won’t argue with this information.
Fosston made 29 of 36 shots for 80.56 percent. Fosston was 22 of 25 on two-pointers and 7 of 11 on three-pointers. Fosston broke the record held by Bagley when they were 32 for 42 in 1995.
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“LACE ‘EM UP” BASKETBALL CAMP
Make plans now to attend the 28th annual “Lace ‘em Up” basketball camp to be held in Red Lake Falls high school at the Robert Matzke Gym from June 5-8, 2023.
The camp is open to any boys or girls who are currently in grades K-10. The camp is set up to run from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 for grades 5-10 (grade they were in this past school year) each morning, and from 12:30 until 3:00 p.m. for grades K-4 (grade they were in this past school year). The cost of the camp is $70 with a maximum cost per family of $100. If you register before May 22, you will also receive a camp T-shirt. After May 22, ALL SINGLE REGISTRATION FEES WILL BE $80 AND THE MAXIMUM COST PER FAMILY WILL BE $120, DUE TO CAMP PREPARATION AND AWARD ORDERS.
Cut on the dotted line and return the following to: Steve Philion, 518 Champagne Ave., Red Lake Falls, MN 56750. (cell: 218-686-3608) (home: 218-253-2499). E-mail: sphilion@rlfedu.org
Make checks payable to: Lace ‘em Up Basketball Camp
If anyone needs help with the cost of the camp, let Mr. Philion know as we have people who have offered to cover costs for kids that need financial help.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Name____________________________________
Grade in 2022-2023________________ (GRADE JUST COMPLETED)
T-shirt sizes: Please circle one:
Youth sizes: EXTRA SMALL SMALL MEDIUM LARGE
Adult sizes: SMALL MEDIUM LARGE X-LARGE XX-LARGE
Address:________________________________________________
MALE____________ FEMALE____________
I, the parent of the above student agree to allow my child to participate in the 2023 “Lace ‘em Up” basketball camp in Red Lake Falls. I also understand that the camp director, the City of RLF, and the RLF school district are not responsible for any injuries, accidents, or COVID that my child might incur.
SIGNATURE OF PARENT OR GUARDIAN:______________________________
Emergency cell number of parent or guardian:____________________________
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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
Breanna Kressin is a Freshman on the Hockey Cheer Team for THE University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey team.
Emma Osborn is a freshman playing basketball at Northland Technical and Community College in Thief River Falls.
Jacey Larson is a freshman playing hockey at Dakota College at Bottineau.
Olivia Huck is a freshman playing soccer at Minnesota State Moorhead.
Aleah Bienek is a freshman playing hockey at Trine University in Indiana.
Elise Tangquist is the Assistant Girl’s Volleyball and Assistant Girl’s Golf Coach this year at Heritage Christian Academy in Maple Grove.
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 Women’s Track and Field team.
Nick Garmen is a junior playing tennis at the University of Minnesota Morris.
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.
Lacia Hanson is the Junior High softball 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
Cody Brekken is the Crookston Community Pool Supervisor
Marley Melbye is the Head Girls’ Swimming 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/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 is the Head Girl’s 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 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.
