In this edition of Lots O’ Stuff:
Katie Lange wrestles in the U.S. Open
Volleyball camp in Jackson
College athlete updates
More on the Battle for the Paddle
Fun Fact
Something Completely Different
Not a fun fact
Lange fourth
Martin County West graduate Katie Lange placed fourth at 65 kg in the Senior Women's Women’s Freestyle division at the U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas.
Competing for the Laker Wrestling Club from Allendale, Mich., where she attends Grand Valley State University, Lange went 3-2 in the tournament.
After a first-round bye, Lange won by technical fall and then won by decision.
Following a loss, Lange won a 7-2 decision before losing 9-4 in the third-place match,
Volleyball skills camp
A volleyball skills camp for girls entering fifth grade through high school will be held July 15-16 in the auxiliary gym at Jackson County Central High School.
There will be three sessions each day.
High school athletes will be in session from 1-3 p.m., grades 1-4 from 3:30-5 p.m. and grades 5-8 from 5:30-7 p.m.
The main clinicians will be Krista (DeGeest) Nelson and JCC graduate Sadie Voss. They will be joined by several other area graduates.
Nelson, a Spencer High School grad, has an extensive resume of playing and coaching volleyball. She played in high school for the Tigers and went on to play at Northern Iowa and professionally in Europe and South America for seven years.
She has coached many club teams and also spent time on the JCC coaching staff. Nelson has conducted numerous camps and individual lessons.
Voss will be a senior outside hitter with the University of Sioux Falls volleyball team in the fall. She was the Freshman of the Year in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in 2022 and is a three-time all-conference selection.
For more information, email vb101camps@gmail.com or call or text 712-363-7493.
College athletes
Jackson County Central graduate Peyton Hanson, a sophomore with the University of Sioux Falls women’s track and field team, placed fifth in the pole vault a the Mount Marty Twilight Meet in Yankton, clearing 11-7.75.
Andrew Boyum, a JCC grad who is a junior at Concordia University in St. Paul, was 41st out of 54 runners in the 1500 meters at the Gary Wilson Invitational at the University of Minnesota with a time of 4:12.99.
JCC graduate Evan Paplow, a freshman at Iowa Central Community College, was 84th of 128 runners in the 5000 meters at the Kip Janvrin Open at Simpson College with a time of 16:01.31.
Jackson County Central grad Brittany Tufvesson is a sophomore outfielder at Iowa Central Community College. She’s played in 17 games this spring for the NJCAA Division II 14th-ranked Tritons (45-8, 22-6). Brittany is hitting .267 (4-15) with two doubles.
She’s also walked five times and has an on-base percentage of .450. Iowa Central will host the Region 11B tournament this weekend as the No. 2 seed and faces No. 7 Ellsworth in its opening game. The other first-round game has No. 3 Kirkwood vs. No. 6 Northeast.
Former Fairmont pitcher Tegan Livesay is a sophomore at Southeast Missouri State. She’s appeared in 14 games for the NCAA Division II Redhawks (23-15, 16-7) and has a 4-3 record with a 3.52 ERA. In 47.2 innings, she’s given up 33 runs (24 earned) on 51 hits, walked 14, hit two and struck out 36.
Eli Anderson, a Fairmont graduate, is a junior outfielder at Purdue. He was 4-for-5 at the plate in a series vs. Illinois. Anderson was also hit by a pitch, had two runs batted in and scored three runs as the Boilermakers (25-18, 7-14) won one of three vs. the Illini.
Fairmont graduate Landen Meyerdirk is a sophomore outfielder at Minnesota-Morris. He’s hitting .269 (18-67) with five doubles, one triple and 18 RBI for the Cougars (15-18, 11-7).
Two Fairmont graduates are playing baseball at NIACC.
Lincoln Becker is a redshirt freshman infielder who has started all 47 games for the Trojans (17-30, 10-18). He’s hitting .316 (56-177) with 10 doubles, two triples and nine home runs. He has walked 17 times and been hit by a pitch three times for an on-base percentage of .378. Becker has scored 45 runs and has 45 RBI.
Jacob Crissinger is a redshirt sophomore pitcher who has a 1-3 record and 5.33 earned run average. In 27 innings, he’s allowed 21 runs (16 earned) on 27 hits, walked nine and struck out 37.
Fairmont grad Solveig Senf, a sophomore with the St. Olaf women’s golf team, tied for 42nd out of 69 golfers at the St. Olaf/Carleton Spring Invite at Willingers Golf Course in Northfield. She had rounds of 86 and 92 for a 178 total.
She was also 20th at the 18-hole at Bethel’s Rumble at the Ridge at Oneka Ridge Golf Course in White Bear Lake, shooting an 83.
Battle for the Paddle
Thanks to reader Ron Anderson for reminding me of something I thought of, but never included in last night’s newsletter regarding revival of the JCC-Windom football rivalry.
The Huskies (and Blue Jays before that) and Eagles had been rivals for years but somehow that matchup was never a trophy game.
That changed when Lion Patrick Barnett initiated the conversation with Lion Doc to have an event at the game each year to raise funds for Jackson, Lakefield and Windom.
And the Battle for the Paddle was born.
The rivalry will resume on Wednesday, Oct. 15 in Windom. To be honest, I don’t know if that means the track and field complex north of the high school or Island Park, but we’ll let you know as it gets a little closer.
On that note, voters in the Windom Area School District will be voting on May 13 on a bond to fund improvements to the district’s fine arts and athletics facilities.
Among the items included are an athletic complex with artificial turf, an eight-lane track, and dedicated youth fields.
Fun fact
In 1935, Jesse Owens broke three world records and tied another in 45 minutes.
Owens broke the world records for the 220-yard dash, the 220-yard low hurdles, and the running broad jump, and equaled the world record for the 100-yard dash.
Several actors were considered to portray Ted Striker in the 1980 movie Airplane!, a role that eventually went to Robert Hayes.
BONUS FUN FACT: With only three weeks until filming, executives at Paramount Pictures told the film’s creators (film’s creators David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams) that they had decided on an actor to fill the role.
Barry Manilow. Yes, that Barry Manilow. Do you know of another?
Paramount executive Tom Parry broke the news to the team, known collectively as ZAZ.
“Their jaws dropped, and then they broke into gales of laughter,” Parry would write years later in a book.
David Letterman, who hadn’t started his career hosting talk shows yet, was considered. This is his screen test:
Also considered for the role were Chevy Chase and Bill Murray. And Fred Willard later said he was offered the part but turned it down because he didn’t really get the comedy.
Not a fun fact
Nate Klima shared this post on social media on Monday.
A not so fun fact: About 12 hours after posting that from Mankato that day I flew to Sioux Falls for surgery following a heart attack. Good times.
Six years later I now finally offer an apology to Madison (now Madison Sinn) as well as mom and dad, (Nate and Sara).
I was working at a local radio station at the time and with Madison with the intent of using it the next day, but I didn’t make it work so it never got on the air. My bad.
However, after waking up in the Recovery Room after surgery I was able to get untangled enough from the cables attached to me to tweet that Jackson County Central had a new Superintendent of Schools three minutes before the school posted it. And that may have been some of the behavior that got me into that situation in the first place.
And to bring the story full circle, I now work with some of those same cables in my day job. At least when I’m not on furlough due to some of that short-term pain that some of us are experiencing in this country.