Minnesota Athletes on the Minnesota Professional Women’s Hockey League Team

January 8, 2024 Minnesota’s Professional Women’s Hockey Leaguewon both its opener, 3-2vs Boston, and its home opener, a 3-0 victory powered by Grace Zumwinkle’s hat trick.  The shutout over Montreal by Maddie Rooney was played at the Xcel Center in St. Paul in front of a record crowd of 13,316 for a women’s professional hockey

RUNNING AND HOCKEY: AT THE GRIAK INVITE AND AT TPT ALMANAC DISCUSSING HENRY BOUCHA

September 23, 2023 Attending the Griak Invite, the large, elite cross country race hosted at the Les Bolstand Golf Course on the University of Minnesota campus in St. Paul, is always rewarded with exceptional performances with California Baptist University leading the field. While the women’s team placed in the middle, the four lead runners were

Mary Lahammer ON COMPETITION: WE DREW BLOOD PLAYING SPOONS!

The youngest of five children in a St. Louis Park family, Mary Lahammer laughs reminiscing about the competitive and intense nature of her family, saying, “We drew blood,” as she recalls diving and clawing for spoons in a mad scramble of the card game where a player tries to obtain four of a kind and

MINNESOTA ATHLETES AT THE OLYMPIC TRIALS

Minnesota athletes continue to compete at the Olympic Trials in swimming and as the track and field competition begins today in Eugene, Oregon. In swimming, Regan Smith (Lakeville) has qualified for 2 events, the 100-meter backstroke and 200-meter butterfly, with her best event, the 200-meter backstroke still to be decided. The low-key, levelheaded swimming star

OLYMPIC SWIMMING TRIALS; GOPHERS AT NCAA TRACK & FIELD; USA WOMEN’S HOCKEY NATIONAL CAMP TEAM ROSTER SELECTED

Regan Smith (Lakeville) and Isabelle Stadden (Blaine) are among the most promising Minnesota swimmers trying out for the US Olympic team this week in Omaha, Nebraska. As of this time, Regan Smith qualified for the 100-meter butterfly semifinals. Both Regan and Isabelle will be competing for one of the two coveted qualifying spots in the

REPORTS ON A FEW SPORTING COMPETITIONS THAT HAVE BEEN HOSTED

RUNNING: Melissa Gacek won the master’s division in the Army 10-Miler and a Minnesota quartet comprised of Sasha Hovind, Colette Celichowski (Minnetonka), Andrea Haus (coach at Hamline University), and Gacek won the women’s team championship. WRESTLING: Patrick Smith (Chanhassen/Chaska) was runner-up at 77kg at the US Senior Greco-Roman Wrestling Nationals in November as Alec Ortiz

ELIZABETH YETZER SPEHAR: NO MATTER HOW I PERFORM, I AM LOVED

With older siblings following their mother’s footsteps, Elizabeth Yetzer says, “It [running] was a big part of my parents’ lives and we saw that modeled.  Naturally, you just kind of hop in.”  Jake, Rebekah, and Annie were the older siblings and Mary Stepka, the state runner-up in the mile run to future World Cross Country

SID, OF COURSE!! AND THE FIRST RACE OF THE WORLD CUP SKI SEASON

Legendary sports reporter Sid Hartman passed away today. The 100-year local icon famous for scooping stories, malapropisms, promoting local sports, and mispronouncing names died at the age of 100. Tomorrow, sports news assistant Joel Rippel (you see his byline primarily associated with high school and college sports) will be sharing his memories from a brief

RILEY PELLIGRO MACON: ATHLETIC CAREER HIGHLIGHTS WERE WITH TEAMMATES

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Riley Macon has returned to his birthplace as he pursues a master’s degree at Middle Tennessee State University.  But in between, Riley spent his formative years in Minnesota and became an elite high school runner with a state title in the 1600-meter run in 2012 and a runner-up finish in the

MINNESOTA’S ELITE BACKSTROKERS; MINNESOTA ATHLETES ON THE DIAMOND; AND USA TRACK & FIELD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Remarkable high school athletes Regan Smith (Lakeville) and Isabelle Stadden (Blaine; daughter of Jodi Stadden) continue to impress at the national level and finished 1-2 in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2020 TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville, Tennessee last month. Isabelle also finished 6th in the finals in the 100-meter backstroke while Regan claimed

MINNESOTA ATHLETES AT THE PAN AM GAMES; SWIMMING OLYMPIC TRIALS CUTS; AND REGAN SMITH

Sincere and hearty congratulations to Regan Smith (Lakeville) for setting two world records at the World Championships in South Korea! The 17-year-old athlete won individual titles in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke and swam the opening leg in the 4 x 100-meter medley. The quiet, modest swimmer is the youngest member on the senior national

ON THE TRACK, ON THE MAT, ON THE JOURNEY

The Minnesota State High School League track and field meet is in the record books. Relay teams from Alexandria and Hopkins are particularly notable. Congratulations to MaeLea Harmon (Waterville-Elysian-Morristown), champion in the girls’ 100-meter Class A dash and Emma Roethler (Northfield), daughter of Travis Roethler and Michelle Haugen Roethler, who placed in Class AA discus

RECENT APRIL RESULTS FOR THE MINNESOTA RUNNING AND WRESTLING COMMUNITIES

A posting before a series of columns on #MIAC athletes who became Olympians features many Minnesota athletes who performed will at the Get in Gear Race along the Mississippi River and Marine Corps US Open (wrestling) in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the premier 10K race, four Minnesota athletes finished between 4th and 7th within 23

SPRING SPORTS: THE VERSATILITY OF LIZ PODOMINICK AND FOUR MINNESOTA POSITION-PITCHER PLAYERS

Liz Podominick(Lakeville) was the 2003 Miss Minnesota Basketball award-winner. She also claimed 4 state high school track and field titles in shot put and two more in discus. The versatile athlete then competed in both sports at the University of Minnesota (U of M). Liz was a valued player off the bench when the Gophers’

End Of October Competitions

The University of Minnesota (U of M) volleyball team has continued its march of victories over Big 10 opponents, most recently a sweep over the # 12-ranked Michigan Wolverines. Taylor Mariah Morgan (Blaine) led the Gophers with 13 kills and CC McGraw (Prior Lake) had a career-high 24 digs. Samantha Jo Seliger-Swenson (Minnetonka) added to

Minnesota Has a National Swimming Champion, New M Club Hall of Fame Members

Teen swimming sensation Regan Smith (Lakeville) tied with Kathleen Baker for the 200-meter backstroke national championship title in Irvine, California, in a time of 2:06.43. Regan qualified for the senior World Championships last year as a 15-year-old! Also having a strong meet was Lindsey Kozelsky (nee Horesji from Albert Lea, U of M) tied for

Cheers For Achievements, Historic Race!

Lots to cheer about . . . Congratulations to Hugh McCutcheon, head coach of the University of Minnesota (U of M) women’s volleyball team, on the announcement of being inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. Several U of M athletes from Minnesota received Academic All-District awards: Lindsey Smits (Lakeville, track), Derek Wiebke (Kasson,

Duluth Races, More Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame Inductees

Several races were hosted in Duluth in conjunction with Grandma’s Marathon and many runners with Minnesota connections had notable achievements. Carrie Tollefson a recent Villanova University Hall of Fame inductee, won the women’s William Irvin 5K with a time of 18:21 while Team USA Minnesota runner Tyler Jermann placed an impressive 12th in the marathon.

Celebrating Youth

A longtime elementary school teacher, I sometimes tired of hearing adults complain about “today’s youth.” Certainly there was misbehavior and frustrating times dealing with belligerence or unmotivated students, but I mostly remember hearty vocal and instrumental performances, impressive athletic feats, well-deserved academic awards, and even humanitarian acts of kindness to others. This posting is going

Many Spring Sport Successes

Spring burst on the landscape suddenly after heavy snowfalls in April, but it has brought a pair of wonderful Big 10 championships to University of Minnesota women in softball and outdoor track and field and the baseball team is currently leading the conference. Many Minnesota athletes had outstanding performances at the Marine Corps U. S.

Boston and U of MN Results Happy Spring???

While athletes at Boston (and Minnesota!) endured wind, freezing rain, and cold temperatures, it did not dampen the spirits of many runners. Here are a few Boston highlights: John Simons (U of M graduate) took 2nd in the mile with a 4:09 time and Tony Schiller placed 24th in his age division in the marathon.

This is the second part of a sports series on autumn sports.

Congratulations to Darrell Thompson (Rochester John Marshall), Krissy Pohl (Brooklyn Park, picture below), and Heather Van Norman for being inducted into the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame last Sunday. Officials, athletic and activity coaches, and administrators also joined the elite group. More than 40 players on the current University of Minnesota football

Part V of Summer Sports Series

A mix of notes about summer sports and competitions. . . In swimming, 15-year-old Regan Smith (Lakeville) set a junior world record of 2:07.19 in the 200-meter backstroke semifinals at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She is the youngest member of the national team and finished 8th overall. Austin Athmann (Cold Spring) batted .268

Part I of a Summer Sports Series

This is the first installment of five articles which will highlight Minnesota athletes competing in summer sports: baseball, track and field, swimming, wrestling (an Olympic Summer Games sport), and celebrating hall of fame inductions. Austin Athmann (Cold Spring) is batting over .270 for the West Michigan White Caps, a class A affiliate of the Detroit