Hulu’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ drops new trailer for Season 4

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The fourth season of Hulu’s drama series The Handmaid’s Tale is set to premiere to Hulu this April, and the network just released a sneak peak trailer. The final scene of the two-minute trailer features the show’s lead, June played by Elisabeth Moss asking for “justice.”

A press release read: “In the upcoming fourth season of The Handmaid’s Tale, June (Elisabeth Moss) strikes back against Gilead as a fierce rebel leader, but the risks she takes bring unexpected and dangerous new challenges. Her quest for justice and revenge threatens to consume her and destroy her most cherished relationships.”

Season 4 is set to premiere on Hulu on April 28.  Check out the trailer for the new season – here.

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 4 Trailer Revealed

Via popculture.com
 

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

SPORTS FEEVER – April 1, 2020

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First of all, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter!!

The Minnesota Twins Season Opener is on Thursday, spring sports are a week away from having their first events.  What an exciting time considering they didn’t have a season last year and there are so many unknowns going into this season.

It is official.  I know nothing.  I picked every section championship game wrong last week!  That is why I don’t bet sports when in Vegas!

Congratulations to the Badger/Greenbush-Middle River Gators on their first-round state boys basketball victory.  The Gators advance to the Target Center for the state semi-finals.  Coach Kent Christian and his team had a great year and are playing some great basketball.  They beat Stephen-Argyle in the section semi-finals on a last-second shot and shut down Cass Lake-Bena in the championship to advance to state.
I am not positive, but this might have been the first Section 8A boys basketball first-round win in a while!

— — —

The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team has cracked the top 25 rankings for the first time in program history. UMC is off to the best start in program history with a 13-1 record and they are 9-1 in the Northern Sun Conference.

The Golden Eagles are ranked 25th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II poll released Wednesday, March 25. They just missed the top 25, coming in at 26th in the Collegiate Baseball Division II poll.

The Golden Eagles will have their home opener on Friday, April 2 when they host Wayne State College in a doubleheader. Game one will start at 1:00 p.m. and the game will be on KROX Radio. KROX will also carry Saturday’s game at Noon.

— — —

The Crookston High School Football/Track complex committee held their second meeting on Wednesday night and the consensus is to build the proposed facility just north of the high school.  One discussion was if they should have grass or turf.

The Crookston facility NEEDS turf.  If you don’t put turf down, don’t even bother doing it.  You have football (Varsity, J.V. C-squad, and Junior High that could all use it), Boys and Girls Soccer could play on the field and under the lights.  Softball could host games on the turf if it is too wet or if the softball field is covered in snow!  Gym classes can use it, the community can use it, you can host big concerts without worrying about tearing up the grass. Graduation could be held, and so many other things.  Turf is a MUST.
Did I mention Turf is a MUST.

Anyway…I know most on the committee agrees with me, and I am getting fired up for no reason, but I have lived in Crookston long enough to get concerned anytime we work on something like this.

On another note, I found out about a meeting between the U of M and the Crookston School District this week.  I guess I wasn’t supposed to know about it according to School Board Chair Frank Fee when I asked him about it.   The meeting was just the U of M wondering why the school district didn’t want to do the football field/track lease.  While I don’t have any information other than that.  I know the school district has no interest in putting any money into somebody else’s property and having the second track/football field complex committee meeting tells you everything you need to know.  And the fact they have picked the location right behind the high school.

Stay tuned.

— — —

The Frozen Four has three Minnesota teams, the Men’s Final Four has a Minnesotan (Jalen Suggs on Gonzaga) that could be the #1 draft pick in the NBA draft, and the Women’s Final Four has UCONN with Minnesota’s Paige Bueckers (Hopkins) who was just named the All-American Women’s Basketball player of the year as a FRESHMAN.  Bueckers will be a #1 draft pick in the WNBA when she decides to enter the draft.   Those of us in the media can do the local connection to big events better than anybody and we are going to do that to start off the column this week.  Thanks for reading and enjoy the beautiful weather we will have over Easter weekend!

— — —

The NCAA Men’s Hockey Frozen Four will have three of the four teams from Minnesota, with St. Cloud State, Minnesota-Duluth, and Minnesota State-Mankato punching their ticket to the semi-finals in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

There will be four coaches in the Frozen Four with Crookston area ties. Crookston High School graduate, Mike Hastings is the head coach of Minnesota State-Mankato.  Mike is assisted by Todd Knott, a Red Lake Falls Lafayette High School grad; and Darren Blue, an East Grand Forks Senior High School graduate. Another local tie-in is St. Cloud State Husky assistant coach Nick Oliver, who grew up in Crookston and graduated from Roseau High School.

Mankato beat Quinnipiac 4-3 in OT in the first round.  In the second round, Mankato beat Minnesota 4-0.   St. Cloud State beat Boston University 6-2 in the first round and beat Boston College 4-1 in the second round.
Mankato will play St. Cloud State in the semi-finals on April 8.

Mike Hastings’ MSU-Mankato Mavericks won their first two NCAA playoff games to get to the Frozen Four. Hastings is in his ninth year as head coach of the Mavericks, and he has a winning percentage of over 70 percent as head coach.
Under his guidance, the Mavericks have won at least 21 games every year, won five MacNaughton Cups as WCHA regular-season champions, two Broadmoor Trophies, and a Jeff Sauer Trophy as WCHA post-season tournament champions, and made five NCAA postseason tournament appearances.

Hastings is assisted by Todd Knott, a Red Lake Falls High School graduate. Knott was a standout multi-sport athlete at Red Lake Falls and played Bemidji State from 1999-2002, where he tallied 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points in 72 games for the Beavers. Knott earned a degree in physical education from BSU in 2002.

Hastings is also assisted by Darren Blue, a native of East Grand Forks. He was a member of the Maverick men’s hockey team from 1991-95 and coached at Chisago Lakes from 96-99, and he has been on the Maverick Staff since 2000.

Nick Oliver joined the St. Cloud State Men’s hockey staff in 2018 as an assistant coach. A former team captain and forward for the Huskies, Oliver most recently served for three seasons as an assistant coach for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL.
Nick grew up in Crookston and is a graduate of Roseau High School. Nick’s parents are Denice and Scott Oliver, who reside in Crookston. Denice is the principal of Washington Elementary School in Crookston, and Scott was a football and hockey coach at the University of Minnesota Crookston for many years, and he is currently an Assistant Coach for the state-bound East Grand Forks Green Wave Boys hockey team.

— — —

Now we look at the local angle in the Minnesota State High School Boys Hockey tournament –

Paul and Carmen (Kreibich) Johnson are Crookston High School graduates where they were both outstanding students and athletes.
They currently have two sons that play on the Little Falls Flyers boys hockey team that won the Section 6A Championship and the first-round State Tournament game on Tuesday.
Hayden Johnson is a junior forward who is a center/wing and second in scoring for the Flyers with 7 goals and 23 assists in 18 games.  Coltin Johnson is a sophomore and one of the top four defensemen with 1 goal and 6 assists in 18 games.
All the grandparents were in St. Paul on Tuesday. Joan Johnson of Crookston is Paul’s mom and Mary Jo and Denny Kreibich of Little Falls and formerly of Crookston are Carmen’s parents.
The Flyers are coached by Tony Couture who played goalie at International Falls and eventually went to the University of North Dakota and played goalie for the Sioux in late 80’s, early 90’s where his coach was Gino Gasparini, and assistants were Jim Scanlan and Cary Eades! Teammates like Greg Johnson, Dixon Ward, Dane Jackson, Dave Marvin of Warroad (the current girl’s hockey coach at Warroad, who is also in the State Girl’s Hockey Tournament). Couture’s son, Dane is a senior goalie and has been brilliant this year for Little Falls (13-4-1 record, 2.03 goals against and a save percentage of .922). Dane Couture had 47 saves in the 2-1, 2 OT victory over Fergus Falls for the Section 6A title, the first since 2012. The coach, Tony Couture announced he’s retiring after this year after 28 years of coaching!!
East Grand Forks assistant boy’s hockey coach under Tyler Palmiscno (all he does is win Section and state championships) is Scott Oliver, a Crookston resident who teaches and coaches at East Grand Forks. Scott is a former UMC football and men’s hockey coach and lives in Crookston with his wife Denice who is Principal at Washington School in Crookston and their son Nick is an assistant coach at St. Cloud State who made it to the Frozen Four next week in Pittsburgh.

I always cheer for the Green Wave at state, especially with Coach Palmiscino at the helm.  I think I write this every year when EGF makes it to state, but our grandma’s worked together running the concessions at UND sporting events back at the old Ralph Englestad Arena, Memorial Stadium, and Hsylop Sports Center days.   I knew his grandma (Betty) very well and hung out with her while “helping” my grandma at the concessions.  Betty was one of the nicest and kindest people I have ever met.  The Palmiscno family is a great family, so it is easy to cheer for a team led by a great person and coach.

— — —

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team had one of the best seasons in program history.  They won the second-ever section championship and sent 10 to the state-prelims and two wrestlers to the state semi-finals.

The Pirates had five seniors –

Nolan Dans finished a tremendous career.  He was one of the most improved wrestlers over the last three years.  He was one that would have made it to state this year if it was a normal year without the combined sections.  He was fun to watch and loved the Cobra move and used it to perfection for some big wins.  He is a great kid and always worked hard.

Zach Brown finished his career at his fourth straight state individual wrestling tournament.  A big-time accomplishment.  Zach lost his first match at state in four overtimes!  The longest match of his career.  He had a history writing career.  Every match he wrestled, the Pirates knew they had a great chance at getting a win and a pretty good chance at getting some bonus points.  I don’t know what to add that hasn’t already been said about Zac, other than he left his mark on the program and will be missed.

Cameron Weiland also had a fantastic career.  He is one of the all-time best Pirate pinners.  He knew how to pin and won over 100 matches by pin in his career.  He gave the Pirates a chance at six points every team match he wrestled.  He was a wrestler that you never quit watching a match of his because he could be down 5-1 and all of a sudden win by a pin a few seconds later.  He provided Pirate fans a lot of excitement and he will be missed.

Cade Coauette had a solid year and he really improved over the past couple of years. He “grew” into a solid young man and gave the Pirates a lot of big wins in important matches.  Unfortunately for Cade, he tore his meniscus and wasn’t able to finish out his senior year.  One thing that was pretty cool was when he came out to get a win by forfeit against Frazee in the Section 8A semi-finals.  Cade worked hard and was a great teammate and most importantly, he is a pretty good kid.   How he has handled everything over the past couple of years is amazing and because of that, he was always an easy kid to cheer for.

Greg Gonzalez moved to Crookston a few years ago and boy did he fit into the lineup.  He wrestled heavyweight and filled a big hole in the lineup for the Pirates.  Greg was big, strong, and worked hard.  His matches were exciting and he picked up a lot of important wins for Crookston in his career.

Crookston will have the rest of the wrestlers back next year.  They will have some big shoes to fill, but next year should be another exciting year of wrestling with the likes of Evin Trudeau, Ethan Bowman, Carter Coauette, Braxton Volker, Hunter Knutson, Cade DeLeon, Layten Fuentes, Hunter Kresl, and Ethan Boll along with Spencer Ness, Casey Weiland.  It is a great core of wrestlers coming back and hopefully they can get a couple more guys out to make sure they can fill the line up again!

— — —

The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team wrapped up the season with a loss to Thief River Falls in the first round of the Section 8A playoffs.
We knew going into the season, like the boys basketball team, it was going to be a tough season as far as wins and losses.  Most of the guys played a B Schedule in peewees and bantams, and that killed any chance of them being successful (individually and team-wise) when they got to varsity, at no fault of their own.
With that said, the boys played hard and still offered some excitement throughout the year.  You saw some kids that played better as the season progressed and you saw some improvement too.  The biggest problem for the Pirates was lack of numbers and that hurt them in EVERY game they played, even the two wins.  So give the boys credit, they battled and gave it their all every night and that is something to respect!  And to be honest, they were playing their best hockey at the end of the year.  They just didn’t have the depth to compete for three periods.

There were five seniors on the team –

Kaleb Thingelstad – Kaleb is a kid that gives it 110 percent every time he was out on the ice.  He worked hard.  He wasn’t the biggest kid on the ice, but he wasn’t afraid to mix it up with bigger players.  He was willing to do whatever it took to try to win and he will be missed next year.

Noah Kiel – Noah is a big, strong, athletic kid that was a threat for a big check in every game.  Players had to make sure they knew were Kiel was because he was always ready to lay a big hit on the opponents.  He was a scoring threat from the blue line and always played hard.

Gabe Montieth – Gabe was belted Mr. CHS earlier this month and showed off his many talents.  Not only is he a musician and an athlete, but he is also a pretty intelligent young man.  He played hard, was a great teammate and would do anything to make his team and teammates better.  He had a great career and really developed into a pretty good hockey player.

Gavin Anderson – He was one that would fly up and down the ice, mix it up in the corner and look to score whenever he had the opportunity.  He really improved over the past year or two and turned himself into a decent hockey player.

Carter Nelson – He shared time in net early in the season and became the go-to guy in the second half of the season.  He saw a ton of shots and made saves left and right.  It was a pretty cool way to end his career, with a beautiful pad-stacking kick save late in the game against TRF.  He did whatever it took for his team to win and never caused any problems when the goalies were being rotated and was always a good teammate.

The good news, everybody else will come back to play next year.  This year’s Bantams played a B schedule and struggled so it could be another tough year next year for the Pirates, especially with East Grand Forks and Warroad playing in the Bantam state championship game.  So the Crookston boys will HAVE to hit the weight room.  They will have to hit the weight room.  They will have to hit the weight room.  And they will have to hit the weight room.  You get the idea.  Like every high school athlete- they need to get bigger, faster, stronger, tougher, and flat out better if they want to improve next year.

— — —

Crookston High School spring sports have kicked off with the first practice on Monday.  We have the rosters of the teams below –

GIRLS TRACK (54 girls out 7-12 and 5 managers for a total of 59)
Seniors (2) – Emma Borowicz, Anke Wiersma
Juniors (13) – Mckayla Brown, Olivia Huck, Breanna Kressin, Jacey Larson, Hannah Loraas, Ava Lopez, Clara Meyer, Claire Oman, Amelia Overgaard, Angelica Perala, Ally Perreault, Amanda Schultz, Hayden Winjum
Sophomores (8) – Abby Borowicz, Megan Haugen, Hannah Leckie, Kailee Magsam, Libby Salentine, Katelynn Schulz, Carly Thode, Brinna Wardner
Freshmen (11) – Amelia Cardova, Kristine Bernd, Emma Gunderson, Marissa Haugen, Makayla McCollum, Jayden Newquist, Jasmine Perala, Isabelle Smith, Cassie Solheim, Bailey Turnwall, Halle Winjum
8th graders (11) – Masyn Arguelles, Ellyn Adams, Miryah Epema, Maddie Harbott, Joey Nesseth, Naomi Olson, Mariah Overgaard, Leanna Sanchez, Grace Smith, Linda Torres, Tessa Weber
7th graders (10) – Ashlyn Bailey, Jasmine Blow, Chloe Boll, Jorja Hebert, Mady Knutson, Hayley Leckie, Rhianna Moore, Makayla Tahran, Avery Trudeau, Adelia Weiland
Managers (5) – Jayden Hulst (Sr), Bailey Cameron (Jr), Ellie Nesseth (Jr), Natalie Longoria (7th), Ella Lerum (7th)


BASEBALL
(42 boys out 7-12)
Seniors (3) – Jacob Miller, Carter Bruggeman, Cade Coauette
Juniors (6) – Brooks Butt, Cade DeLeon, Gunnar Gunderson, Jacob Hesby, Ashton Larson, Justin Lindgren
Sophomores (10) – Braxton Volker, George Widman, Cayden Ames, Jaren Bailey, Ethan Boll, Jackson Demarais, Jack Doda, Hunter Knutson, Hunter Kresl, Alex Longoria
Freshmen (5) – Blake Melsa, Lucas Miller, Spencer Ness, Evin Trudeau, Aaron Dhoyos
8th graders (5) – Brandon Colborn, Matthew Contreras, Conner Hanson, Parker Kelly, Teagen Lubinski
7th graders (14)  – Jose Arriaga, Nolan Cassavant, Brady Chandler, Isaiah Donarski, Greyson Ecker, Anton Elbinger, Joshua Hesby, Dexter Janek, Wyatt Marsyla, Lucas Perala, Jay Reese, Tarek Siegle, Cody Demarais


SOFTBALL
(27 girls out 7-12)
Seniors (3) – Emma Boll, Kenze Epema, Amber Cymbaluk
Juniors (6) – Jenna Coauette, Kendall Bergquist, Brianna Kelly, Quinn Seigle, Lizzy Sanchez, Aleah Bienek
Sophomores (5) – Emily Tate, Alexis Reinhart, Julia Lallier, Alex Luna, Katelyn Ringstad
Freshmen (1) – Reese Swanson
8th graders (9) – Emily Bowman, Carley Knutson, Chase Larson, Danielle Kresl, Kalea Luckow, Dukessa Ramirez, Leanna Sanchez, Addie Fee, Ella Meyer
7th graders (3) – Janessa Kunstleben, Tatiana Sanchez, Mya Bower


BOYS TRACK
– (25 boys out 7-12 and three managers)
Seniors (7) – Greg Gonzalez, Karsten Isaacson, Noah Kiel, Andrew MacGregor, Gabe Montieth, Easton Tangquist, Cameron Weiland
Juniors (3) – Eli Pruneda, Sam Stewart, Brady Wisk
Sophomores (2) – Thor Harbott, Omar Petithomme
Freshmen (9) – Caden Boike, Carter Coauette, Jackson Dauksavage, Angel Gutierrez, Nathan Johanneck, Dalen Korynta, Javen Lund, Antonio Romero, Jackson Reese, Carter Trudeau
8th graders (1) – Jack Everett
7th graders (3) – Caden Sanders, Makoti Weber, Peter Wiersma
Managers (3) – Sam Sanders, Rylee Solheim, Emma Sherman


GIRLS GOLF –
(22 girls out 7-12)
Seniors (4) – Jasmine Haglund, Joslynn Leach, Savannah Meine, Sophia Rezac
Juniors – none
Sophomores (6) – Mackenzie Aamoth, Abigail Borowicz, Hannah Brouse, Grace Fischer, Samantha Rezac, Jenna Seaver
Freshmen (3) – Coral Brekken, Mogan Nelson, Brekken Tull
8th graders (1) – Georgia Sanders
7th graders (8) – Madelyn Anderson, Emelia Hoerner, Ava Martin, Halle Nicholas, Autumn Rowan, Taylor Schulz, Lucy Smith, Taylor Wieland


BOYS GOLF
– (18 boys out 7-12)
Seniors (4) – Gavin Anderson, Jaxon Wang, Lucas Winger, Kaleb Thingelstad
Juniors (1) – Blaine Andringa
Sophomores (1) – Gavin Winger
Freshmen (3) – Ashton Shockman, Brannon Tangquist, Wyatt Wilkens
8th graders (4) – Jack Buhler, Daniel Jones, Hunter Nicholas, Lincoln Waldal
7th graders (5) – Ethan Bubna, Wyatt Cordts, Garrett Fischer, Tate Hamre, Evan Shockman

— — —

Crookston Pirate Varsity Basketball coaches Darin Zimmerman and Greg Garmen will be hosting a jump shot academy for boys and girls in grades 2-6 starting on April 14.
The camp will be held every Wednesday evening through May 12 at the Crookston High School gymnasium. Players will get the opportunity to improve their shot and expand their knowledge of the game.

Grades 2-4 will run from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Grades 5 and 6 will run from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.

CLICK HERE FOR THE REGISTRATION INFO

— — —

There are 43 Minnesota men’s hockey players playing in the Frozen Four next week in Pittsburgh!!

UM-Duluth – 18
St. Cloud State – 14
Minnesota State-Mankato -10
Massachusetts – 1

Section 8A players in Frozen Four
St. Cloud State
Brendan Bushy – TRF
Chase Brand – Park Rapids
Luke Jaycox – Warroad

Minnesota-Duluth
Kobe Roth – Warroad

— — —

JOKES

John and Jessica were on their way home from the bar one night and John got pulled over by the police. The officer told John that he was stopped because his tail light was burned out. John said, “I’m very sorry officer, I didn’t realize it was out, I’ll get it fixed right away.”
Just then Jessica said, “I knew this would happen when I told you two days ago to get that light fixed.”
So the officer asked for John’s license and after looking at it said, “Sir your license has expired.”
And again John apologized and mentioned that he didn’t realize that it had expired and would take care of it first thing in the morning.
Jessica said, “I told you a week ago that the state sent you a letter telling you that your license had expired.”
Well by this time, John is a bit upset with his wife contradicting him in front of the officer, and he said in a rather loud voice, “Jessica, shut your mouth!”
The officer then leaned over toward Jessica and asked. “Does your husband always talk to you like that?”
Jessica replied, “only when he’s drunk.”

— —

A terrific explosion occurs in a gunpowder factory, and once all the mess has been cleared up, an inquiry begins.
One of the few survivors is pulled up to make a statement. “Okay Simpson,” says the investigator, “you were near the scene, what happened?”
“Well, it’s like this. Old Charley Higgins was in the mixing room, and I saw him take a cigarette out of his pocket and light up.”
“He was smoking in the mixing room?” the investigator said in stunned horror, “How long had he been with the company?”
“About 20 years, sir”
“20 years in the company, then he goes and strikes a match in the mixing room, I’d have thought it would have been the last thing he’d have done.”
“It was, sir.”

— —

One day, Mom was cleaning junior’s room, and in the closet, she found a bondage S+M magazine. This was highly upsetting for her. She hid the magazine until his father got home and showed it to him. He looked at it and handed it back to her without a word.
She finally asked him, ” Well…. what should we do about this?”

The Dad looked at her and said, “Well I don’t think you should spank him.”

— — —

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.

Aleece Durbin, is a Junior on the University of North Dakota Women’s Track and Field team.

Ben Trostad is playing Club Hockey and Men’s Golf 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.

Brita Fagerlund, is a Senior on the University of Jamestown Jimmy Women’s Track team.

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.

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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POLK COUNTY INCLUDED IN RED FLAG WARNING FOR NW & WEST-CENTRAL MINNESOTA THURSDAY

red-flag-warning-2

With extreme fire risk conditions expected across northwest Minnesota, the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for Thursday, April 1, in the following counties: 

Becker, Clay, Clearwater, Kittson, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, Roseau and Wilkin.

A Red Flag Warning means the area is experiencing critical weather conditions that are ideal for wildfire, including strong winds and low humidity. Do not burn while the Red Flag Warning remains in effect and check any burning done recently to ensure the fire is out. Any spark could become a wildfire under Red Flag conditions.

The Red Flag Warning expires at 10 p.m. on Thursday.

Stay connected, stay safe:

The post POLK COUNTY INCLUDED IN RED FLAG WARNING FOR NW & WEST-CENTRAL MINNESOTA THURSDAY appeared first on KROX.

UMC BASEBALL RANKED #25 AFTER 13-1 START

The University of Minnesota Crookston baseball team has cracked the top 25 rankings for the first time in program history. UMC is off to the best start in program history with a 13-1 record and they are 9-1 in the Northern Sun Conference.  

The Golden Eagles are ranked 25th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II poll released Wednesday, March 25. They just missed the top 25, coming in at 26th in the Collegiate Baseball Division II poll.

The Golden Eagles will have their home opener on Friday, April 2 when they host Wayne State College in a doubleheader. Game one will start at 1:00 p.m. and the game will be on KROX Radio. KROX will also carry Saturday’s game at Noon.

1 NCBWA DIVISION II POLL (MARCH 31)
Rk. School Record Pts. Pvs.
1. Lindenwood [4] 12-0 441 3
2. Colorado Mesa [2] 16-2 433 4
3. Tampa [8] 7-1 431 2
4. Lee [4] 21-2 418 6
5. Central Missouri 18-4 392 5
6. West Texas A&M 21-3 358 10
7. Mount Olive [1] 19-6 356 8
8. Azusa Pacific 14-3 350 7
9. Seton Hill 12-0 311 11
10. Missouri Southern 18-3 298 9
11. Angelo State 17-3 295 1
12. North Greenville 20-6 260 12
13. West Florida 20-5 246 13
14. Illinois-Springfield 14-2 222 14
15. Northwest Nazarene 17-3 201 15
16. Southern New Hampshire 4-0 198 20
17. MSU Denver 18-2 178 18
18. UNC Pembroke 19-5 155 RV
19. Minnesota State 11-1 112 RV
20. Tusculum 18-5 94 17
21. Northwood 8-2 91 t21
22. St. Thomas Aquinas 6-0 71 RV
23. Millersville 9-4 62 RV
24. UT Tyler 16-7 40 25
25. Minnesota-Crookston 11-0 36 NR
Also receiving votes: Shorter (16-8) 26; Franklin Pierce (4-1) 17; North Georgia (18-7) 15; Augustana (S.D.) (9-3) 10; Mercyhurst (11-5) 10; Point Loma (6-6) 9; Quincy (10-6) 5; Rollins (5-3) 1.
Dropped out: Franklin Pierce (16); Augustana (S.D.) (19); Catawba (t21); Mercyhurst (23); Florida Southern (24).

Collegiate Baseball NCAA Div. 2 Poll
(As Of March 29, 2021)

Team (2021 Record) Points
1. Tampa (7-1) 240
2. Colorado Mesa (16-2) 232
3. Angelo St. (17-3) 224
4. Central Missouri (18-4) 216
5. Lee (21-2) 208
6. West Texas A&M (21-3) 200
7. Tusculum (18-5) 190
8. North Greenville (20-6) 185
9. Missouri Southern (18-3) 177
10. Lindenwood (12-0) 167
11. West Florida (20-5) 161
12. Augustana (9-3) 148
13. Azusa Pacific (14-3) 147
14. Mount Olive (19-6) 137
15. Seton Hill (12-0) 128
16. UNC-Pembroke (19-5) 120
17. Illinois-Springfield (14-2) 105
18. Metro State-Denver (18-2) 98
19. Charleston, WV (9-3) 96
20. Southern New Hampshire (4-0) 90
21. Northwest Nazarene (17-3) 79
22. North Georgia (18-7) 71
23. Minnesota St.-Mankato (11-1) 67
24. Columbus St. (12-7) 49
25. Southern Arkansas (15-5) 47
26. UM-Crookston (11-0) 38
27. Northwood (8-2) 36
28. Wingate (18-7) 23
29. Millersville (9-4) 18
30. Catawba (15-6) 9
Also Receiving Votes: Slippery Rock (12-3), Trevecca Nazarene (10-3), Texas-Tyler (16-7), Franklin Pierce (4-1).
 
Source: NCAA Division II Poll Committee

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CROOKSTON HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL/TRACK COMPLEX COMMITTEE HOLDS SECOND MEETING

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The Crookston School District Track and Football Field Complex Committee held its second meeting Wednesday night and reviewed estimated costs on the suggested options during the first meeting earlier in March. The group narrowed down the scope of the project and the consensus is to have the facility north of the high school.

One of the first steps was narrowing the scope to focus on an outdoor athletic complex rather than incorporate other needs. “We went through a discussion of trying to narrow the focus of looking at what it is we’re trying to do here at Crookston while wanting to make sure it’s a good community project,” said Olson. “As we started to look at the projects that came up from the last meeting, there were some projects that we decided weren’t going to fit into this project. Some of that was narrowing the focus down to a track, looking at a football field.”

The first item removed from consideration was a practice gym which several committee members had expressed as a need during the first meeting. Olson also expressed that the numbers were merely estimates. Using an 8-lane track as an example, he said the estimates he received were all in the $500,000-570,000 range except for one contractor who said he thought it could be done for $300,000. Both Andy Oman and Brent Epema among others expressed that the value of the facility was the most important thing and if they came up with something that was the right value for the district and valuable for the community that was more important than the individual costs. 

Below are the estimates for the areas the committee identified as being fitting within their desire scope – 

Item  Low Estimate High Estimate
8-lane track  $300,000 $570,000
Football Field (Turf) $750,000 $1,100,000
Lighting $125,000 $400,000
Fencing $128,000 $128,000
Grand Stand $267,000 $500,000
Ticket Booth possibly built by  construction trades
Bathrooms and concession stand $400,000 $800,000
Mechanical/Electric $105,000 $105,000
Scoreboard $25,000 $50,000+
Total cost  $2,100,000 $3,653,000

 

“We did some looking at what are we going to do with the press box, restrooms, and location,” said Superintendent Olson. “There was a pretty large consensus to keep the location just north of the high school. We thought that was really important. There was a lot of discussion of turf versus grass field. We’re still walking and working through that process. We’ll be gathering some information on the cost to benefit ratio, the value of turf and the field, of course, and what the value proposition is.”

Choosing the location by the high school potentially limits some other needs for the facility, such as training rooms, locker rooms, and meeting rooms. “We’re always looking at not duplicating,” said Olson. “When we’re talking about being efficient, that’s where the location just north of the high school comes up. To utilize some of the current facilities, we have to alleviate having to build any additional facilities by using the training rooms in the high school, using the locker rooms in the high school, to be more efficient.”

Much of the discussion focused on the playing surface for a football field. During the last meeting, there was a lot of positive discussion about having a turf surface to be attractive as a host for postseason competition throughout the region because of the positive economic impact those events can have on the community. Olson had received turf estimates from a contractor, a school that just put in a new turf field, and the architect from the bus garage who gave him an estimated range of $750,000 to $1.1 million.

Jason Klinnert asked what a grass field cost would be, and Olson said at his last score they had recrowned and seeded a field for approximately $60,000. The high school location would likely need to have significant earthwork to build a base because the current green spaces north of the school retain a substantial amount of water as they are low-lying areas. Olson said there are still many aspects of a playing surface that need to be explored and presented to the committee. “We did not get into all the changes in elevation, the soil sampling; those are things that are going to have to happen down the road,” said Olson. “Our focus was really on looking at the value proposition grass versus turf, looking at a standard grade turf versus premium-grade fall protection. There are a lot of things that still need to be explored if we want to do this right. That was a comment that came up over and over and over again – that we want to do this right, and we want to have strong value.”

Lukas Biermaier asked if a part of that research could be looking at the cost of maintaining a grass field over the life expectancy of a turf field. Additionally, Olson plans to narrow the range on the estimates before the next meeting to provide a more accurate cost estimate. “Our next steps are to look at the difference between a standard and premium surface turf field,” said Olson. “Then, to compare a turf field versus a grass field to bring back some estimates on the long-term to look at a 15-year comparison between a grass field and a turf field. That’s job number one. Job number two is to fine-tune and look at the costs now that we made a scope reduction to get a little bit more accurate cost. Right now, we just have preliminary costs, so we’ll get some more fine-tuned costs on the project moving forward. And then, look at the overall project, how we’re going to roll that out, what does that look like for communication, and making sure that people fully understand what it is we’re looking for, and what we’re looking to accomplish.”

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CROOKSTON FIREFIGHTERS PROTECTED PROPERTY WHILE THE FIRE GREW AND JUMPED THE HIGHWAY AROUND THEM

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The Crookston Fire Department was one of more than a dozen agencies that battled the large grass fire in Polk County on Monday. Crookston Fire Chief Tim Froeber estimated more than 100 fire trucks, grass fire rigs, and other firefighting apparatus were used to battle the fire.

Froeber said he’d never seen anything like the size of the response or the blaze that tore through 13,000-15,000 acres. “It was an amazing effort with all of these fire departments,” said Froeber. “I’m guessing we probably had 10 different fire departments, state and federal resources with aircraft and ground crews, law enforcement and ambulance crews. It was a huge effort out there. I’ve never seen anything like that before with so many fire apparatuses. I’m sure there had to be at least 100 different pieces of fire equipment out there working on this fire. When you watch TV and see stuff like out in the Washington area or California that was right in our back yard east of Crookston. I’ve talked to some of the retired firefighters from Crookston here, and they’ve never heard of such a large fire that had so many crews working on it. But it went very well; it was well orchestrated by mutual aid and the mutual command system. I’m glad that it all turned out well.”

The Crookston Fire Department initially received a dispatch for mutual aid shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Monday.  “We got dispatched out for mutual aid for the Mentor Fire Department at 13:34 hours for the large grass fire,” said Froeber. “We were assigned to 135th AVE SW on Highway 2 to assist with keeping the fire from jumping Highway 2. From there, we provided backburning going east about three-quarters of a mile. The fire eventually ended up jumping Highway 2 further to the east due to the wind that was out that day, and we had to protect some homesteads north of Highway 2 on 120th Ave. Successfully protected all of those buildings, then we were dispatched to go to Glacial Ridge on Highway 32, south of Highway 2.”

On the way to a group of buildings belonging to Glacial Ridge, the CFD also protected several homes. “On the way there, they also dispatched us to protect a bunch of homes along Highway 32,” said Froeber. “The guys did a great job with the assistance of other fire departments of protecting three homes and the Glacial Ridge compound and kept those structures from catching fire. We were using everything from engines to grass rigs, people with brooms and backpacks, everything that we had at our disposal to keep all of these structures from burning.”

While protecting the Glacial Ridge buildings with firefighters from several other agencies, heavy winds were aiding the fire in jumping Highway 32 around the firefighters while reducing visibility to mere feet. “Probably the craziest area was when we were over at the Glacial Ridge compound,” said Froeber. “The winds really, really picked up. We were right on their lot trying to protect their buildings. They have a lot of buildings out there, and we, the state agencies, and a bunch of local fire departments were trying to protect their buildings, knowing the fire was coming that way. That was probably at the height of the winds. I’m not sure what the winds were at during that time, but I’d have to say they were at least 50 mph. Visibility was sometimes down to just feet. The guys were out there fighting fires, and we were able to keep any of those buildings from catching fire. The fire wrapped around that compound and jumped Highway 32, and that’s when it continued heading east toward Mentor.”

Once the danger to the Glacial Ridge Buildings had subsided, the firefighters moved back in front of the flames again, this time protecting homes near Mentor. “We were able to protect those structures, and while we were out there, the fire continued going east toward Mentor,” said Froeber. “As soon as we were able to make sure all of those places were secure, we were dispatched towards Mentor where we had several areas along Highway 2 where we protected structures. We set up in a yard with hose lines and grass rigs and anything else at our disposal to protect farmsteads along there. We set out wet lines and did some backburning around structures.”

Froeber said he was amazed by the support and precision of the aircrews helping to battle the blaze. “At one point, they did bring in aircrews to help drop water,” said Froeber. “I believe there were three to four airplanes, and I saw one helicopter dropping retardant and water. That was a huge help. They were dispatched by the Minnesota DNR. That was something I’m sure that none of my crew or most of the people out there have ever seen before other than on TV. It was amazing how precise those people were in that aircraft.”

There was also support from farmers, local businesses, and the Salvation Army, said Froeber. “By the time we got back to the station and put everything back together again, we were pushing about 10 p.m.,” said Froeber. “We were out there for eight and a half hours at least. It was nice the Salvation Army came in and fed everybody. They set up shop at the Mentor Fire Station, and it looked like a lot of the local restaurants around that area donated a lot of food and water. We also have to thank a lot of the farmers and businesses along the line that were offering water equipment for putting out firebreaks. We had commercial contractors out there with bulldozers and tractors helping to make firebreaks and spreading out hay bales that caught fire. It was definitely a huge effort by not only fire departments, federal agents, but also your local neighbors.”

The best news, no one from the Crookston Fire Department was injured. “We did not,” said Froeber. “We have a few minor repairs on our equipment, but I’m glad to say we came out of it very well. Our firefighters did an excellent job, and I’m very proud of them.”

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