U of M's Tim Brewster talks football in Alexandria
After getting back from a weeklong vacation in Rhode Island, I got a chance to talk to University of Minnesota head football coach Tim Brewster, who was in town as the featured speaker for the Gopher Goal Line golf tournament on Monday.
I talked to Brewster before his first season with the Gophers, and it was easy to see that he has not lost his enthusiasm for his job. And why shouldn't he be excited? He is moving into a new stadium on campus that will only make it easier to continue building this program.
When he took over, I figured it would take him three or four years to build a winning program. I never expected 1-11 in his first year, but it takes time to implement players that fit your system. Brewster has been able to do that with two solid recruiting classes. Now it is a matter of getting those players to continue to grow against Big 10 competition.
Brewster's goals have not changed. He came in talking about winning championships, and he will continue to believe it's possible to do that at the U of M. A lot of people get sick of hearing it, but I would rather have a coach who strives to reach the top than one who is content with finishing middle of the pack every year.
"We want to be the best," Brewster said. "We want to reestablish the University of Minnesota as one of the premier football playing schools in the nation."
He has taken steps toward doing that with his recruiting classes and the fact that he has been able to bolster the schedule to feature a number of tops teams across the county. The Gophers got USC on the schedule for 2010 and Brewster said he hopes to have Texas on the schedule here pretty soon.
"You know, some people will say that we might be in over our heads," he said. "But I don't buy that theory at all. We're going to prepare, and it's our challenge to be able to meet the challenge that the opponent represents."
I will have more on what Brewster said about the improved schedule, recruiting and what fans should expect from this team as they move into TCF Bank stadium. I also got a few pictures of All-Big Ten wide receiver Eric Decker playing in the Gopher Goal Line tournament this past Monday in Alexandria. Look for both of those in one of next week's Echo Press issues.
Posted by: Eric Morken on 7/01/2009 at 2:34 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Big fish are abundant while bowfishing
For Wednesday's issue of the Echo Press I wrote a story focusing on Tim Lais and the sport of bowfishing. You can find that here.
I had a general idea of what bowfishing was all about before I started researching for the story. What I didn't know was how great of an opportunity there was out there to shoot a lot of giant fish around the area.
I got an opportunity to spend a night bowfishing with Lais and his friend Rick Thiery a couple weeks ago for the story. That night I arrowed a 28-pound buffalo and shot over, under, left and right of a number of other big fish that were likely 20-plus pounders. Below I have posted a picture of Lais and a 37-pound buffalo that he shot on Sunday night.
I feel pretty confident in saying that one of the best ways to get big fish into the boat is done by bowfishing. I know they are carp and buffalo, but if you are looking for a pure fight with some of the biggest fish in the area, these huge rough fish offer quite a thrill.
Testing the waters of the sport doesn't have to be expensive. A lot of people own bows that they hunt whitetails with. These can be used for bowfishing. The main thing to focus on is getting the poundage down to between 35-45 pounds. The lighter poundage makes for easier arrow removal from the bottom of the lake.
Lais also said one of the most important accessories is a good point.
“You need to get a good point or it won’t hold them,” he said. “If you get the real cheap stuff, you will likely lose some fish. It’s better to spend $12 on a good point than spend $10 on one that’s going to lose fish.”
This becomes increasingly important with bigger fish. And my guess is you will get an opportunity to boat a lot of big fish.
Posted by: Eric Morken on 6/17/2009 at 8:25 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Hinrichs, Erickson react to heartbreaking loss for Alex baseball team
The Alexandria baseball team's spirited run through the Section 8AAA tournament fell one win short of a state-tournament appearance with two heartbreaking losses to St. Michael-Albertville last night.
I wrote a story about the two games that you can see in Friday's edition of the Echo Press. I was able to catch up with head coach Russ Hinrichs and game two starter Colin Erickson after the game last night. I got a lot of what they said into the print edition of my story.
Here are a couple of quotes that I was not able to fit into the story.
Erickson on the team's confidence coming into the day - "Our confidence was higher than its ever been all season. I've played with these guys my whole life, and I've never seen us play like [we have through the playoffs]. We were having so much fun, just enjoying being out here. Coming in, we knew we were playing a tough team. It just didn't go our way, I guess."
Erickson on the Cardinals dramatic wins throughout the tournament - "We never gave up, we gave everything that we have. It was amazing . I just wish it would have turned out a little different."
Hinrichs on what he told his players in the locker room after the game - "We just told them as coaches we love them. We care about them, and we appreciate their effort all year. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and we'll get through this together, and we'll be better for it. We'll learn from this siatuation. It's hard for the seniors cause this is the end for them. We wish we could have done it for them. They're always going to be a part of this program, and we just thank them for everything they gave to our program."
Alexandria finished the season 14-13. The Cardinals will lose eight seniors from this team, including Wednesday's game one starter Derek Miller and maybe their best all-around player in Karl Brezina. Their leadoff hitter Zac Beireis will also not be easy to replace.
They do have a strong group of returning players, though. That includes starters Tyler Iverson, Ross Thompson, Parker Giroux, Mark Whiting, Dalton Leuschke, Shawn Krueger and Erickson. They will be looked upon to lead a program that hopes to take another step next season.
Posted by: Eric Morken on 6/04/2009 at 11:20 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
The Cardinal baseball team one win away from state
The magical postseason run for the Alexandria baseball team continued this past weekend as the Cardinals moved within one game of its first state tournament appearance since 1975 with wins over Sartell and St. Michael-Albertville.
It has been an amazing run for a team that entered the Section 8AAA North tournament as the bottom seed in its subsection. Alexandria came into postseason play losers of five of its last six games. That gave them a 9-11 record entering the first playoff game against top seeded Brainerd.
The Cardinals put whatever problems they had to end the regular season behind them and have since rattled off five straight wins to put themselves within a win over St. Michael-Albertville on Wednesday of a state tournament appearance. It is a scenario that might not have seemed likely two weeks ago, but that's what makes playoff time so special.
"I can' say enough about the heart and determination of this crew," head coach Russ Hinrichs told me today. "They have developed a mindset that they are refusing to lose. They don't want this season to be over...I really feel I have been blessed as a coach to experience this with this group."
Alexandria got two strong pitching performances from Colin Erickson and Derek Miller this past weekend. Both players went the distance on the mound. Erickson allowed three runs, none earned, while Miller pitched the second game of the day and allowed just his second earned run of the playoffs.
"We haven't had to go to the bullpen once in the playoffs," Hinrichs said. "As a coach, you are only as good as your starting pitching."
Both Erickson and Miller will be available on Wednesday as they try to wrap up the section title. Hinrichs did not know who would get the ball in the first game against the Knights. He hadn't talked to either of them about that yet, but one of them will get it with the other being available in case a second game is needed that night.
"The kids are going there to win one game," Hinrichs said. "No matter when that happens. We obviously hope to finish things in the first game, but no matter when that happens, we want to finish the job."
First pitch is set for 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud. Game two, if necessary, will follow after that.
Posted by: Eric Morken on 6/01/2009 at 1:58 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Paradis' section 8AA record highlights strong day for Cards at section prelims
Everyone who stayed for the final event of the first day of the Section 8AA meet on Wednesday night at Citizens Field witnessed a little bit of history in a great race between three standout distance runners in the boys' 3,200-meter run.
Drew Paradis' seed time of 9:21.83 made him the favorite coming into the day for Alexandria, but Bemidji's Erik Truedson and Moorhead's Jakob Lindaas both came into the race with the ability to keep up with him. That is exactly what they did for much of the eight-lap race.
The three runners all kept pace with each other throughout the race, but Paradis found himself in third for much of the first 2,800 meters. Going into the final lap, that is exactly where he stood as the three remained bunched together. But the determination Paradis showed in the final lap had Alexandria fans going crazy as he came down the final 100 meters.
Paradis pushed passed Lindaas at the first turn of the final 400 meters. From there, he set his sights on Truedson. Paradis passed him with around 200-meters remaining and pushed it into another gear. He ended up winning the race by more than eight seconds with a gutsy push at the end.
Two records that were within reach served as good motivation coming down the stretch. His time of 9:20.95 set both the section and Jefferson High School record. The section time had stood since 1984 when Steve Lumbar ran the 3,200 in 9:22.95 for Bemidji. Luke Bryant held the old school record with his time of 9:21.70 at the state tournament in 2003. It was a fitting way for Paradis to end his career on his home track.
If he hadn't done it already, his performance at sections firmly cemented him as one of the greatest distance runners in Alexandria history. He will take his talent to the University of Minnesota next season where he will run for the Gophers.
Paradis' run also put him into the state tournament as the 3,200-meter run, as well as three field event finals were held on Wednesday. The rest of the events were prelims to narrow the field down for the Section 8AA finals, which are set for tomorrow, Saturday, in Sartell.
Paradis was not the only one from Alexandria to solidify a spot in the state tournament. Jamie Piepenburg was never challenged from the gun in the girls 3.200-meter run. She blew past the competition with her time of 10:54.04. Sartell-St. Stephen's Heidi Peterson finished second, more than 15 seconds behind her, at 11:09.25.
Joining Piepenburg at state for the girls' team will be Rosey Erickson, who cemented her spot with a first-place finish in the long jump. Her leap of 17'8" qualified her for state in one event before she tries to make it in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes tomorrow.
Also solidifying a spot at state for the Cardinal boys on Wednesday night was Bobby Guetter. Guetter placed second in the shot put with his toss of 50'00." This will be Guetter's first state appearance.
A number of athletes will compete for the opportunity to join them at the state tournament when the Section 8AA finals are completed on Saturday in Sartell. Events are scheduled to start around 3 p.m.
Posted by: Eric Morken on 5/29/2009 at 10:42 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink