Thief River Falls Times

Inside . . .

Vol. 103, No. 16

g

Area Sports
Church Schedules . . . .6B
g

MIKE LUNDGREN Sports Editor ~ e-mail: mlundgren@trftimes.com

Wednesday, April 16, 2014
g

Menus . . . . . . . .3B

Second Section
g

Opinion . . . . . .4B

History . . . . .5B

Classifieds . . .7B

Sarah Durand a First Team pick on All-America basketball list

Sarah Durand was named a First Team pick when the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III womens basketball AllAmerica selections were announced Thursday for the 2013-14 season. A 6-0 sophomore center from Warren. Durand helped lead Northland Community and Technical College to its first NJCAA national title this winter. Tiffany Gehl of Minnesota West, a 5-11 sophomore forward, was also a First Team All-America selection.
NJCAA D-III All-America

Jorde Hutton of Thief River Falls returned this shot during the Prowlers 2014 boys high school tennis home

opener Thursday a double-dual that included Detroit Lakes and Crookston on the Franklin Middle School courts.

Second outing of the 2014 season for the Thief River Falls boys high school tennis team produced a second double-dual sweep for the Prowlers. After beating East Grand Forks and Moorhead by identical 4-3 scores in a Tuesday season opener indoors at Choice Health & Fitness in Grand Forks, N.D., Thief River Falls made its home debut Thursday with matching 6-1 wins over Detroit Lakes and Crookston. Playing 8-game pro-set matches, the Prowlers lost a pair of decisions at No. 1 singles, but won elsewhere. Thief River Falls coach Joe Wasfaret used the same line-up against the Lakers and Pirates. In singles, that included Hunter Blowers, Jorde Hutton, Ethan Johnson and Brady Nessen at 1through-4, respectively. The doubles combinations were Isaac Olson-Devin Hutton at No. 1; Nick Onkka-Isaac Dvergsten at No. 2; and Carter Onkka-Michael Magnusson at No. 3.
TRF 6, Detroit Lakes 1

Another tennis sweep

n First Team - Marya Trapp, 6-0 freshman foward, Brookdale (N.J.); Tiffany Gehl, 5-11 sophomore forward, Minnesota West; Sarah Durand, 6-0 sophomore center, Northland; Marquiesha Grant, 5-8 sophomore guard, Rock Valley (Ill.); Regina Steele, 5-11 sophomore center, Sullivan County (N.Y.). n Second Team - Olivia Antilla, Anoka-Ramsey; Jasmine Canady, Jefferson (N.Y.); Fredi Lawson, Massasoit (Mass.); Quorea Pearyer, Middlesex County (N.J.); Kadriana Howard, West Georgia Tech. n Third Team - Kamari Talley, Camden County (N.J.); Monae Abrams, Fulton-Montgomery (N.Y.); Ashley McHenry, Milwaukee Area Tech; Jebria Smith, Montgomery (Md.); Amanda Hoover, Roxbury (Mass.). n Honorable mention - Maria Loughlin, Anoka-Ramsey; Hivelize Escobar, Bronx (N.Y.); Alyssa Crosby, Jefferson (N.Y.); Erika Richards, Rockland (N.Y.); Kelsey Walthall, West Georgia Tech.

Seniors were given special plaques at the Thief River Falls girls high school basketball banquet. Courtney Amirayan (left) and Brooke Yaggie (right) received the awards from head coach Jeff Loe (center).

Banquet held for basketball squad

It was time to celebrate an outstanding campaign and to acknowledge team and individual accomplishments as the Thief River Falls girls wrapped up their 2013-14 high school basketball season during the Prowlers annual banquet. Brooke Yaggie was presented with the teams Top Cat Award after leading the Prowlers in scoring, assists, steals and free throws attempted/made while finishing fifth on the Thief River Falls rebound charts. Yaggie was also introduced as a Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association Class AAA all-state selection, academic all-state and Miss Basketball candidate. Jenna Tadych, Meleah Biermaier and Yaggie were recognized for being named to the All-Northwest Conference team, with Madison Brekke and Courtney Amirayan listed as all-conference honorable mention. Yaggie was the named leagues comost valuable player, along with Sydney Boike of Crookston, for the second straight year. Starting the season with a 16-game winning streak, the Prowlers were 24-3 this year. They were unbeaten at home, repeated as conference champion, came up with a title at the Richfield Invitational and gained possession of the River Rivalry trophy a prize introduced this winter that will go to the Game 2 winner in the annual home-and-home Thief River Falls vs. Crookston series. It was the third straight 20-plus win season for the Prowlers, who were 23-4 in 2011-12 and 25-3 in 2012-13. The campaign ended with a 68-67 loss to Albany in the Section 8AAA tournament semifinals. We had another great season cut short by a tough loss, said Thief River Falls coach Jeff Loe. Hopefully that loss will spark a fire in those girls who are returning next year. Yaggie and Amirayan were the only seniors on the 2013-14 roster. Amirayan

Pioneers have a 5-1 week as record climbs

It was a 5-1 week for the Northland Community and Technical College baseball team. The Pioneers split a Wednesday doubleheader against host Minnesota State-Fergus Falls, winning the opener 6-0, then dropping the nightcap 4-1. Their weekend schedule was tweaked a bit, but that didnt stop the Pioneers from sweeping a four-game series against Minnesota College Athletic Conference Northern Division rival Mesabi Range. The schedule showed Northland making its home debut with a Friday doubleheader against Mesabi Range that was to be followed by split twinbills at home Saturday and Sunday against the Norse and Minnesota State University Moorhead. As it turned out, playing in Thief River Falls wasnt an option. Instead, Northland and Mesabi Range met in Fargo, N.D. The Pioneers won 5-0 and 7-4 Friday; 2-0 and 8-4 Saturday. We had a good week, said Pioneers coach Barry Dowers, whose team has won seven of its last eight starts to push their record to 11-13. A lot of great pitching, solid defense and timely hitting has been the keys to our recent surge in wins. In nonconference play, (Continued on Page 2)

High school softball team features veteran line-up...

There is reason for optimism when looking at the potential of Thief River Falls 2014 high school softball team. That according to Prowlers head coach Carter Rogalla. Our team returns a lot of experience and talent from last year, pointed out Rogalla. We return a total of seven starters and ten girls who saw some varsity experience. Besides experience, I think our pitching and hitting will be our biggest strengths. The Prowlers line-up will be built around senior Megan Jones, who is entering her third year as the ace of the pitching staff. Coming off an 11-4 season when she struck out 47 and walked 17 in 94 innings of work while sporting a 2.74 earned run average, she has a career record of 19-7 and currently ranks fifth all-time in strike-outs. Junior Bailee Nordheim adds depth to the pitching staff. She was 1-0 with 7 strike-outs, 5 walks and a 2.52 ERA in 8 innings of work in 2013. A solid attack is expected to back the pitchers. Offensively, we have a nice mixture of speed and power, reported Rogalla. We have the make-up to score a lot of runs and be really good offensively. There are a few girls who, at the top of the line-up, can handle the bat pretty well, and run. I also think there are a few girls in the middle of the lineup and bottom of the order who have the potential to drive the ball. Overall, we return seven starters and nine girls who totaled 35 or more at-bats last year. Senior Hannah Kraemer hit .500 last spring, scored 23 runs and finished with 18 stolen bases; Jones hit .368 and drove in 26 runs; junior Tatyana Miles hit .348 with 19 RBI; senior Brandi Malwitz was a .343 hitter with two home runs and 13 RBI; senior Haley Nelson batted .333, scored 17 runs, drove in 17 runs and stole 8 bases; senior Sabrina Okeson hit .328, scored 18 runs, drove in 18 and had 9 stolen bases; and senior Avery Azure batted .305 while driving in 12 runs. As a team, the Prowlers hit .345 a year ago when they finished 15-8. Jones and Kraemer were All-Agassiz Valley Conference picks in 2013. Other seniors on the roster are Abby Thorpe, Brit-

Singles - 1. Alex Fondrick (DL) def. Hunter Blowers 8-3; 2. Jorde Hutton (TRF) def. Caleb Howard 80; 3. Ethan Johnson (TRF) def. Chandler Hanks 8-0; 4. Brady

Nessen (TRF) def. Austin Nelson 87 (7-3). Doubles - 1. Isaac Olson-Devin Hutton (TRF) def. Luke Eggebraaten-Colton Friesen 8-0; 2. Nick Onkka-Isaac Dvergsten (TRF) def. Dylan Bremseth-Jon Richards 8-3; 3. Carter Onkka-Michael Magnusson (TRF) def. Rok Juricic-Tucker McDermond 8-0. Singles - 1. Bobby Tiedemann (Crookston) def. Hunter Blowers 8-

Nick Onkka showed concentration on his face as he made a return shot during the Thief River Falls boys high school tennis home opener Thursday. Onkka and Isaac Dvergsten were teamed at No. 2 doubles.
3; 2. Jorde Hutton (TRF) def. Andy Gregg 8-0; 3. Ethan Johnson (TRF) def. Matt Garmen 8-4; 4. Brady Nessen (TRF) def. Harrison Bjorgo 8-4. Doubles - 1. Isaac Olson-Devin Hutton (TRF) def. A.J. BiermaierKal Salentiny 8-3; 2. Nick OnkkaIsaac Dvergsten (TRF) def. Jacob Roesch-Jake Widseth 8-6; 3. Carter Onkka-Michael Magnusson (TRF) def. Jordan Bengston-Elijah Phaiah 8-6.

TRF 6, Crookston 1

TRF has potential

tany Kasprick, Grace Thompson and Karlee Jorgenson. Rest of the juniors on hand are Morgan Martell, Jordyn Coltom and Nykasya Williams. The sophomores in the program are Juliet Tunberg, Mattlyn Erickson, Alexis Lane, Carly Lunsetter, Gillian Trudeau, McKayla Erickson and Savannah Peralta. Freshmen out for the sport include Kora Torkelson, Alexis Dennis, Allison Okeson, Annah Harder, Claire Mattson, Erin Kraemer, Gabriel Holte, Grace Matter, Kaitlyn Molstad, Macie Kezar, Madison Poole and Mariah Nelson. We will need a few new girls to replace Crystal Amundson and Julie Martinson, who were three-year starters, noted Rogalla. We have some girls who are very talented at those positions; we just need to get them comfortable with the speed of the game at the varsity level. The Prowlers, weathered out in four of their first five playing dates, had a 1-2 opening week. They made a belated debut Thursday at (Continuned on Page 2)

was one of the teams top defenders; Yaggie finished as the schools all-time scoring leader with 2,085 points. Obviously we are going to miss Courtney and Brooke, acknowledged Loe. It will especially be a tough task to fill Brookes shoes, but I think we can do it by committee. Brekke, Tadych and Biermaier will be returning starters in 2014-15. We bring back three very experienced and talented girls, pointed out Loe. What a great base to build around. All of them averaged double (Continued on Page 2)

A special presentation went to Brooke Yaggie during the Thief River Falls girls high school basketball banquet that recognized the 2,085 points she scored during her four years with the Prowlers varsity a school record total. Yaggie was also introduced as a Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association Class AAA allstate selection, academic all-state and Miss Basketball candidate.

Prowlers earning All-Northwest Conference honors this winter were recognized during the Thief River Falls girls high school basketball banquet. The group includes, from left, Courtney Amirayan, honorable mention; Brooke Yaggie, all-

conference, co-Player of the Year; Jenna Tadych, all-conference; Meleah Biermaier, all-conference; and Madison Brekke, honorable mention. (Submitted banquet photos).