Speaking of Sports

By John Fragodt, Sports Reporter

Wow, I sometimes forget how busy things can get at this time of year.  Concerts, school trips, awards programs, postseason tournaments, graduation and so much more.  Just when you think you’re caught up with everything, another event is added to the schedule as everyone tries to finish up the school year and year of sports on time.

Poor weather doesn’t help either at this time of year.  With tournaments set to begin, the regular-season is sometimes squeezed into a couple of days where teams are trying to get all their regular-season games completed before the start of playoffs.

Although things were very busy, they were also very successful for the Lakers last week.  Consider:

•  The boys tennis team won the Section 8AA title at Osakis last week and the doubles’ team of Carter LeClair and Drew Bleick also qualified to state.  It’s the second trip to state for the boys tennis team and, with only one senior and two juniors on the team, the Lakers’ boys tennis team is set up for success for many years to come;

•  The girls golf team opened up a 59-stroke cushion at the Section 3AA Prelims at Buffalo Lake, while the boys team placed third at the same course and both teams are still in contention for Section 3AA team titles and individual state berths;

•  The Waska baseball team improved to 16-2 overall and 13-0 in the WCC with a 5-3 win over Morris Area, Thursday.  The Lakers go into the Section 3AA Tourney as the top seed and earned a first-round bye; 

•  The Laker softball team avenged an earlier 21-2 loss to NLS with a 6-5 victory over the Wildcats, Thursday, in the opening round of the Section 3AA Tourney.  Minnewaska is 4-2 in its last six games;

•  The track and field teams both won sub-section titles, including a victory by the boys team by a half-point over Pelican Rapids and two points over Osakis for the team title.  Several of the team members are very close to breaking school records and the teams are peaking at the right time;

•  Oh yeah, the Minnewaska trap team also had its first perfect team score in competition as Dylan VanZee, Levi Schultz and Mason Reichmann combined to go 75-for-75 during a competitive round.

And, that was just one week; in fact, it was only several days of action . . .  Yes, it’s sure a busy time of year, but that’s what also makes it also a very exciting time of year.  Good luck to the Lakers’ sports teams as they continue with the final postseason of the 2023-24 school year.