Carrington was No. 4 to the finish chute with her time of 20:30. It was Kira Sweeney of Staples-Motley taking first in the girls race with her time of 19:46. Lexi Bright of West Central Area was second (20:16) and Kristine Kalthoff of Albany third (20:28). Carrington in fourth was followed by Katie O'Brien of Sauk Centre (20:32).
Meredith's sister Maddie was second best on the MACA team with her time of 21:04. Also running for the orange and black were Caryn Marty (22:20), Malory Anderson (23:05), Kaylie Raths (23:22), Isabel Fynboh (23:36) and Madelyn Siegel (23:44). Eden Valley-Watkins topped the girls team standings.
On to the boys: Tate Nelson will be running in the prestigious state meet. Nelson covered the course in 17:46. The boys champion was Emmet Anderson of Staples-Motley with a time of 16:38. Nelson was joined in the MACA boys team effort by: Noah Stewart (17:57), Ben Hernandez (18:23), Solomon Johnson (18:26), Thomas Tiernan (19:21), Tyler Reimers (20:00) and Bradley Rohloff (20:04). Emmet Anderson and his Staples-Motley mates were #1 in the boys team standings. Jonathan Tostenson of Benson-KMS qualified for state by placing fifth.
The Section 6A competition was in Long Prairie.
Other sports
The high-flying MACA volleyball team is in a rather lengthy break from action, partly due to a well-deserved bye. So I'm on hold writing about that exciting team. As for football, we have had an unfortunate development of the Tigers disappearing from the West Central Tribune coverage (other than scores). I can cite three recent home games that did not get reviewed on the pages of that purportedly regional newspaper. I don't take notes week by week, but I also seem to recall at least one other game getting reported belatedly, in Monday's issue, which I assume that paper discourages.
Also, based on my memory, the boxscore (stat) review of the Benson game appeared twice. That led me to wonder if it was repeated in order to correct a mistake. And if there was a mistake, maybe a major one, maybe a coach got distressed and just decided not to call in anymore.
I have been waiting for that paper's system to break down. I suspect that the younger coaches are not as apt to view a newspaper as essential to their work. Younger coaches grew up in a time when we were surrounded by ever-burgeoning new media. We don't automatically delegate to newspapers anymore. Forum Communications came right out and admitted, at the time of cancelling the Hancock paper, that papers are afflicted by revenue issues.
I open the Willmar paper and find so much of the sports information reported in such small type, it's difficult to read. I would be hopeless without my reading glasses. Sometimes it's difficult even with those glasses on.
Coaches have got to feel pressure getting so much fine game info collected and ready to report within a short timespan at the end of game night. Here's a question: are coaches even required to keep stats? Would they be allowed to keep minimal stats? Who is the West Central Tribune to direct them to do otherwise? Who is the West Central Tribune to direct them to do anything? Could the school administration direct coaches to do anything in relation to a newspaper? I suspect not.
I have seen the West Central Tribune get the names wrong of players scoring touchdowns. I have seen the Morris paper fail to correct some of this stuff even when they have a week to do so.
A few years back there was a highly dramatic, memorable win by MACA football at Paynesville, a game that was severely butchered in the Willmar paper. It was so bad, Lyle Rambow gave me a heads-up via email late Saturday afternoon, just hours after I put up my blog post using info from the Willmar paper. The Morris paper had a week to start fresh with that game and put together a comprehensive, thorough article. Someone just had to sit down with coach Jerry Witt for a half hour or 45 minutes, take some notes and write a lively article. Could you imagine me still at the Sun Tribune and not taking the trouble to do this? I'd be called every name in the book. I might be burned in effigy on Morris' main street by a howling mob bearing torches. OK I exaggerate.
I was expected to try to be consistent when I was at the Morris paper. So if you start the season with game reviews of MACA football, as the Willmar paper did, you should be consistent and carry through to the end of the season. Of course they rely on coaches. That's really the crux of the matter. No matter a paper's philosophy or approach, it really comes down to the coaches. So, here is my suggestion: teams should design their own web-based home pages, just like we see for the UMM teams. It wouldn't be work, it would be fun. I have certainly had fun putting up my blog posts.
But in the end, my work wasn't considered satisfying at the Morris Sun Tribune. I was told in writing that I should try to get quotes from players for sports articles. How often does the Sun Tribune do that now? I was handed several pages of typed, single-spaced micromanaging sports directives. That was the end for me. The editor was Tom Larson, who did not impress me as an editor or as a human being.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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