Melena Longtin, Ella Roering and Mesa Kittelson all placed first for the Minnewaska-Morris Gators during a dual meet at Litchfield last Tuesday, but it still wasn’t enough as the host Dragons edged the Gators 55-43. The Gators, coached  again this season by Sam Oellien, who is assisted by Kathy Walker (diving coach), Shannon Dougherty, Summer Rydell… Read More

Craig Pederson, Starbuck High School, Class of 1986 Small schools offer many opportunities for involvement. There were just 31 students in Starbuck’s graduating class of 1986. Craig Pederson seized the opportunity to not only be involved in, but to excel in, multiple sports along with band, choir and other activities. It didn’t happen very often that a… Read More

Change of sub-districts for Lakers By John Fragodt, Sports Reporter The Minnewaska Area football team is set to open up the 2023 season at 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 31 at home against the visiting Morris Area-CA Tigers. The Lakers not only have a slight change to their section alignment this fall, but they also have a change… Read More

•  Minnewaska to host Morris Area-CA Tigers in 2023 opener  The Minnewaska Area football team is set to kick off the new season Thursday, Aug. 31 at home against the Morris Area-CA Tigers. The Lakers, coached by second-year head coach Jared Lyle, are coming off an 0-9 season from a year ago.  Minnewaska Area also went 1-8… Read More

The Minnewaska Area boys soccer team opened up the season last week with two home wins against Fergus Falls and Heritage Christian.  Jose Contreras Mondragon had the only goal for the Lakers during a 1-0 victory over Fergus Falls, Thursday, during the season opener, while Blake Nelson had two goals during a 3-2 victory over… Read More

The Minnewaska girls tennis team split a pair of non-conference matches against strong foes last week.  The Lakers, who are 2-3 on the season, won a 5-2 decision at Litchfield last Wednesday before falling 7-0 to Staples-Motley in a home match, Friday. The Lakers are set to host Benson-KMS, Tuesday, Aug. 29 in what could decide… Read More

The Minnewaska Area cross-country teams, coached by Jennifer Johnsrud and Linda Mills, are set to open up the season Monday, Aug. 28 at the Morris Invitational, followed by the Wadena-DC Invitational, Tuesday, Sept. 5 where the Lakers will find out how they match up against a strong WDC team that edged the Minnewaska Area girls… Read More

The Minnewaska Area-Morris Area Gators swimming and diving team opened up the season with a fifth-place finish at the Willmar Invitational, Friday.  Melrose won the meet, while St. Cloud Tech was second. The Gators are coached  again this season by Sam Oellien, who is assisted by Kathy Walker (diving coach), Shannon Dougherty, Summer Rydell and Ruth Hovel…. Read More

Alan Hoeper, Minnewaska Area High School Class of 2001 Alan Hoeper made his mark as one of the most talented Minnewaska basketball players when he took the floor for the Lakers from 1997-2001.  Although Alan played one sport, without a doubt, basketball was his sport. During Alan’s tenure as a starter, the Lakers won 68 games, which… Read More

Letters from the PCT mailbag  By John Fragodt, Sports Reporter The Pope County Tribune receives hundreds of letters each week (not really) from our readers asking a variety of well-thought-out questions regarding sports’ topics.  We haven’t had the time to respond to the questions until now.  And so, here are some questions from interested people concerning some… Read More