Certainly
it was an entertaining affair: lots of points. However, only two
sentences about this game appear in today's West Central Tribune of Willmar. What a ripoff. Was it the obligation of the MACA coaching staff to call in this info?
Even though we lost, our team scored 34 points, therefore there were generous offensive highlights. Certainly the fans were treated to a stimulating game at our fine local edifice for football - the envy of many other towns. For the record, the Bulldogs were the 52-34 victor on Wednesday night.
I was at a church gathering downtown. We meet at the little room which is an extension of the Met Lounge. Church at the Met Lounge? Oh, it's quite workable. Please consider attending. The Lutherans are mainly responsible for organizing this, but we'll welcome anyone! We're not like the Catholics who turn away non-Catholics for communion at funerals. The Catholics have enough problems these days, why don't they just lighten up a little? My best friends were Catholics when I was a little kid. They took me to "Catholic bingo."
To heck with the West Central Tribune of Willmar - it's a shoddy, uneven product that often contains errors. Let's see MACA sports develop its own PR website full of timely, lively information!
Volleyball: Tigers 3, Montevideo 1Even though we lost, our team scored 34 points, therefore there were generous offensive highlights. Certainly the fans were treated to a stimulating game at our fine local edifice for football - the envy of many other towns. For the record, the Bulldogs were the 52-34 victor on Wednesday night.
I was at a church gathering downtown. We meet at the little room which is an extension of the Met Lounge. Church at the Met Lounge? Oh, it's quite workable. Please consider attending. The Lutherans are mainly responsible for organizing this, but we'll welcome anyone! We're not like the Catholics who turn away non-Catholics for communion at funerals. The Catholics have enough problems these days, why don't they just lighten up a little? My best friends were Catholics when I was a little kid. They took me to "Catholic bingo."
To heck with the West Central Tribune of Willmar - it's a shoddy, uneven product that often contains errors. Let's see MACA sports develop its own PR website full of timely, lively information!
After a sputtering start on Tuesday, a 24-26 loss in game 1, the Tigers ran the table. The orange and black prevailed in games 2 through 4 by scores of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-18.
The all-important hitting category had Brooke Gillespie at the forefront. Brooke fueled this conference win with 19 kills, achieved on 49 of 57 in good/attempts. Kayla Pring was another prime spiker: 12 kills on 34 of 36 in G/A.
Lacee Maanum came at the Thunder Hawks with ten kills on 26 of 27 in G/A. Karly Fehr, whose main role on the night was as setter, pounded down four kills on a perfect seven of seven. Haley Erdahl had three kills on 13 of 16. Tracy Meichsner added a kill to the mix.
Karly Fehr was all over the court to accumulate 37 set assists on a nearly perfect 93 of 94 in G/A. Meichsner helped out some in setting. In ace blocks, Maanum had three and Meichsner one.
Kourtney Giese, the "libero" (and Homecoming queen), topped the digs list with 24. Gillespie had 20 digs and Lindsey Dierks 15. The list continues with Erdahl (14), Fehr (8), Maanum (6) and Pring (5).
On to serving: here it was Maanum nailing two aces on a perfect 16/16 in G/A. Two Tigers each had one serving ace: Gillespie (14 of 15 in G/A) and Fehr (23 of 24). Dierks was 15 of 17 in serving, Erdahl 11 of 11, Giese 11 of 12 and Bobbi Jo Kurtz one of one.
For the visiting T-Hawks of Montevideo, Natalie Feldhake had ten kills on 20 of 26 in G/A. Feldhake had seven ace blocks. Grace Sulflow was busy as Monte's setter, putting up 123 of 125 numbers with 23 assists. Alyssa Stern led Monte in digs with 14. Abby Olson, Erin Balken and Alexis Schmitz each had one serving ace.
Savannah Aanerud was the headliner for MACA in the West Central Conference meet held at Sauk Centre. Aanerud took first place with her time of 16:15.16. Maddie Carrington impressed with her time of 16:45.80. Correy Hickman impressed with her time of 17:19.61. Lauren Reimers was clocked at 17:28.40, and Midori Soderberg arrived at the finish chute at 17:35.97.
Aanerud's championship helped elevate the MACA girls to first place in the six-team field.
The boys story had Jonathan Jerke run an 18:53.82 time. He was joined in the MACA effort by Ryan Gray (18:57.34), Travis Ostby (19:47.45), Tyler Reimers (20:38.94) and Brock Anderson (21:43.92). The MACA boys placed fifth among eight teams.
The boys WCC team champion was Montevideo. The boys individual champ was Kurt TeBeest of Monte with a time of 17:04.70.
Running hard for five kilometers will tax your body to the max. If you run ten kilometers, just run slower and enjoy the scenery. Of course, many people become possessed to run the marathon. "Possessed" can be interpreted literally. I think it's a strange lure - this desire to run continually (or nearly continually) for 26.2 miles. That's running from here to Benson.
Now that I have castigated marathon runners, let me hurriedly add that I ran three marathons in my halcyon days. However, I never trained specifically for any of those marathons.
I ran the Twin Cities Marathon three times in the fall of the year. It was after the summer in which I made the rounds for doing 5Ks and 10Ks in our placid rural outstate communities. I remember one year having to beat the train across an intersection doing the 10K for the Elbow Lake Flekkefest - really. I also remember that race fondly for how kids in troll costumes would dash out and "scare" you in various places.
I remember that in Ashby, I went to the concession stand at the softball tournament to ask directions for where the runners were gathering. They laughed because all the runners were coming there to ask directions. I remember that for the Dumont Centennial, there was a breakdown with the stopwatch and so, after sweating hard to do a good 10K, we couldn't even find out our time. Oh, it's no biggie.
I did a run for the Donnelly Threshing Bee during that brief time when the Bee included this event. I handed my camera to Mrs. Spohr who took newspaper photos for me as I ran.
These small-town runs were charming with their very peaceful atmosphere and the camaraderie us runners felt. It was the stuff of a country music song. From that setting I sprang to the Twin Cities Marathon in three different years, where of course the atmosphere was quite different, quite thrilling really. It was neat running amidst that virtual sea of runners at event's start. There would be TV helicopters hovering overhead. We certainly didn't see that at Dumont!
Yes, I ran those marathons without training specifically for them. I just considered them an extension of the summer running season. I firmly believe you do not need to train specifically for very long distances. What you do, is run several 5Ks and 10Ks with maximum intensity and commitment, and then just "tack on" that marathon experience at the end. You'll be ready. In fact, you'll perform better in the marathon with this approach, as opposed to the approach where you simply get ready for the long distance. Just use common sense and pace yourself when you do the marathon.
It's exhilarating in the Twin Cities to have fans cheering you on, the whole way. I remember a band playing at Minnehaha Park. One year I wore a long-sleeve T-shirt that had "New York City Marathon" on the front, and was acknowledged accordingly by all the spectators along the way. I have been to "The Big Apple" twice but have never done the New York City Marathon.
I remember doing a 10K in Fargo where I broke 40 minutes for the first time. I nearly broke three hours in my first Twin Cities Marathon in 1984. Considering my large and somewhat lanky stature, that was a quite excellent time. I failed to do better in my next two Twin Cities Marathons. However, I did enjoy picking up my complimentary package of Pillsbury microwave brownie mix when registering!
I developed injury excuses as the years went on, like all runners. Today I swear I could "do it again," although every time I try, I quickly run out of gas. There was a time when I felt I could impress women by doing this, but I was wrong.
The best runners are very light and wispy. Carrying minimal weight is absolutely essential. We can fail to appreciate how small these people are, because when they're photographed, they're often with each other.
Alan Page gained note for taking up the pastime after his football playing days. Certainly his body didn't seem to lend itself, but he enjoyed. I did a springtime race in western Wisconsin where Page was present. He has been on the Minnesota Supreme Court for a long time. I hope he doesn't show head injury symptoms.
I have a rich tapestry of memories from my running experiences of the 1980s and into the 1990s. A sore right foot caused me to quit. Today I can jog short-term without having that pain re-surface, but if I try taking it a step further, it's no-go. My right foot will feel like an alligator is biting it. So. . .
I congratulate the intrepid cross country runners of Morris Area Chokio Alberta. Stick with it, guys and gals. And don't worry about trolls.
No comments:
Post a Comment