Speaking of Sports

By John Fragodt, Sports Reporter

That’s a lot of traveling — The Minnewaska baseball team had another great season this year, finishing the year 20-4-1 to tie for the most wins in program history.  The Lakers had an unusual spring this year with one suspended game taking about a month to complete against Montevideo, and a late tie game with Morris Area that was suspended late at night in the 10th inning when a storm hit the field.

There was not enough time left in the regular-season to complete the game so it went down as a tie.

In the playoffs, the Lakers had a first-round bye followed by a tough loss to NLS.  That put Minnewaska Area in the consolation round where it would need to win six-straight games to reach state.

They almost did just that, winning their first four elimination games against Paynesville, NLS, Fairmont and Windom before losing to Montevideo in the finals.

Talk about traveling, the Lakers played their first game at home before playing Paynesville at Regal (70-mile roundtrip) on a Saturday, NLS at Granite Falls (130 miles) two days later on Monday, traveling to Marshall, Tuesday (200 miles) before having to turn around because the game was postponed, going back to Marshall Wednesday (200 more miles) to face Fairmont and Windom, and then back to Marshall one more time (200 miles) for the championship game.

Yes, close to 800 miles for the Lakers over a six-day span, or about 16-18 hours in a car driving besides taking another 10 hours or so to play the five games.

I remember way back when teams would play closer to home for most of the postseason before possibly playing their final one or two games at a site far away.

Now, it seems like the no one cares how much traveling the teams do; it’s more about having it easier for the organizers.

•  Moving to track and field, I’ve been so impressed with the Laker track program.  I played golf in seventh grade, tennis in eighth, tennis and track in ninth and only track in 10th-12th.  In addition, my two sons competed in tennis and track from 7th-12th grades so I’m very aware of what it takes to excel at track.

For Owen Meulebroeck to take up track as a sophomore and win a state title as a junior is incredible.  When you add in the fact he won a gold medal in the hurdles, it’s even more amazing.

I’ve been to so many track meets over the years.  When the 100 meter dash prelims come around, there are numerous athletes competing in one heat after another.  One event earlier, during the 110 meter boys or 100 meter girls high hurdles, there normally is only one or two heats as the athletes are intimidated to not only run on the track, but being forced to jump over 10 obstacles along the way.

Almost every hurdler has taken at least one hard fall over the years.  I remember falling at the cinder track at Benson and getting myself up before having to pick out little pebbles from my scraped knee.

I also remember having my hands scraped by other athletes’ spikes, hitting my knees on the hurdles while going over and also taking one especially-embarrassing fall during the 110 meter high hurdles at the sub-section meet my senior year.

Yes, competing in the hurdles is hard!

Although Owen also competes in the 110 meter high hurdles, where I have no doubt he’d also excel with another full season, he will have pressure to stay on a few relay teams and could also add the 200 meter dash to his repertoire.  In addition, he’s a capable triple-jumper so that might also be in his future.

•  Thatcher will be back.  Thatcher Sherlin, an eighth-grader with the boys golf team, competed at the State Boys Golf Tournament last Tuesday and Wednesday.  He had a first-round 87 followed by a 38 the second day when the golfers were able to get in only nine holes before rain halted action.

Sherlin had season lows of 36 in nine holes and 73 in 18 and he was also among the top three golfers in the conference.  If he had been able to shoot three rounds of 38, his score would have been a 114 and he would have tied for 17th.

With four more seasons of high school golf left, I expect to see Thatcher back at the state meet at least one or two more times.

And, if he finds his groove at the state meet, don’t be too surprised if he finishes among the top 10-20 golfers at the state meet.

•  And, what is it with these eighth-graders?  The boys golf team is young, but the girls golf team is also young with three eighth-graders, one ninth-grader, one sophomore and one junior.

Yes, this team will be heading back to state at least a few more times over the next four years before those eighth-graders have graduated.