High School Sports Update

Winter sports have pretty much wrapped up here in North Dakota, and it was a very exciting time.  High school basketball and hockey (boys and girls) are pretty serious business around here and are on local television, and we got pretty excited as Alycia's alma mater, the mighty Cavalier Tornadoes, placed third in the state tournament.

Here's a story from the Grand Forks Herald this morning about another high school sports team from just over the river in East Grand Forks.  (Here's the link - Grand Forks Herald Story, but the story is posted in full below).  You may read this article and question why ice fishing is a high school sport, and I'd probably agree with you.  Ice fishing typically involves sitting on a bucket on a frozen lake and fishing.  Fishing for fish.  In my mind this is no more of a sport than having a bowel movement (which without proper fiber intake could be considered a strenuous activity), but who am I to judge?

From the Grand Forks Herald - April 9, 2010 by long time columnist Marilyn Hagerty, a lovely writer who's been working for the newspaper for a long time. 

"Sometimes, I think he makes this stuff up. But every couple of years, I hear from Pat Hurley, a science teacher at East Grand Forks Senior High. He seems to be the coach of the ice-fishing team, which may be a figment of his imagination.

He says the team finished fourth in state this year and they are looking forward to next year.

Here’s his story. Team members are Bron Morrison, Brock Smith, Tom Driscoll and Jordan Kloety. They developed their skills through many early morning practice sessions on the ice of the Red Lake River. They took part in high-school-only tournaments at Zippel Bay, Pine Island and Rocky Point regions of Lake of the Woods. They also fished at Sugar Lake and Devils Lake. And they placed first in a tournament at Red Lake.

Their successful season led them to a fourth-place seed in the Minnesota state tournament near Brainerd. This was the highest seed they ever have taken to the state tournament. And Hurley says it is important to seed in the top four because the top seed gets a five-minute head start onto the lake.

Once the top four teams start setting up, other teams head out onto the lake. They cannot be within 100 feet of any other team. The East Siders got an excellent location on a rock reef and caught 41 pounds of walleye over the two-day tournament."