The number of outstanding individuals we have in this area is amazing!  Several current high school and college athletes have achieved career milestones and have been recognized for their achievements.

 

 

Tyler Lehrke (Sr., F. Park Rapids, Minn.) posted two goals and two assists Saturday to lead the  No. 5 Bemidji State University men’s ice hockey team to a 5-2 victory at Robert Morris University. The win enabled the Beavers to salvage a College Hockey America road series split and come within a point of clinching their third consecutive regular-season championship.

 

It was the second straight night Lehrke scored a goal. His seventh lamplighter of the season came with 3:47 left in the first period and it would just be the tip of the iceberg for the senior on a career night. He would go on to add a pair of assists and capped the evening with an empty net goal to secure the victory for BSU.

 

"Lehrks was a stud and he’s been a stud for us all year," said Beavers' head coach Tom Serratore.  "I am proud of that line and I am proud of him. I can’t say enough about how he and Chris McKelvie have anchored that line this year. It is amazing how each year we have seniors step up for us."

 

 

Erik Tengwall of New London-Spicer recorded the 1,000th point of his career on Friday, January 8 as the Wildcats swamped Mora 79-57 in West Central North boys basketball.  Needing 10 points to reach the milestone, had 30 points overall and finished the night with 1,020 career points. Tengwall, a senior, becomes the 10th boys player from New London-Spicer to reach the milestone.

 

 

New York Mills senior Hannah Rutten began the 2009-10 season with 983 career rebounds.  After a 14-rebound performance in the team's second game of the season, a 68-48 win against Battle Lake, she passed 1,000 rebounds for her career.

 

Rutten passed the 1,000 point mark in the first game of the 2008-09 season.  This past Thursday (February 11), Rutten topped the 2,000 point plateau.  Needing 19 points going into the home game with Park Christian, Hannah hit the milestone a couple minutes into the second half and finished the game with 24 points and is now at 2,005 for her career.

 

 

Kendra Stokes, a senior at Bertha-Hewitt, became the fourth girl in Bears' school history to score at least 1,000 points when she achieved the milestone in a home game against Pillager on Friday, February 5.

 

Stokes needed eight points and didn't waste any time, reaching the mark less than five minutes into the game. 

 

Kendra now joins Jamie Dettwiler (Kendra's aunt), Kayla Finck and Jessica Finck as Bears' girls who went over 1,000.

 

 

Parkers Prairie Panther senior girl's basketball player Sari Noga reached a milestone that only six official girl’s hoopsters have reached in the history of girls basketball in Minnesota.

 

During the championship game of the Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Holiday tournament against Cook County, Noga drained a bucket that gave her 3,000 points for her career.

 

Noga joins Katie Ohm of Elgin-Millville (3,694), Megan Taylor of Roseau (3,300), Hannah Linz of Eden Valley-Watkins (3,233), Janet Karvonen of New York Mills (3,129), Susan King of Holy Angels (3,037), Kierah Kimbrough of Badger/Greenbush-Middle River (3,036).

 

Taylor Hill, a graduate of Minneapolis South, is probably the state's all-time leader with over 3,800 points, but some records have been lost and her official point total is presently under review.

 

Sari has signed a letter of intent to play basketball for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

 

North Dakota State University senior strong safety Kyle Belmont was among the 55 winners of the 12th annual Division I Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team were announced by the FCS Athletics Directors Association on Friday. There were 86 total nominees.

 

The winners were announced at the Football Championship Subdivision football championship in Chattanooga, Tenn.

 

Belmont, a 5-foot-10 1/2, 196-pound graduate student from Battle Lake, Minn. (Otter Tail Central H.S.), graduated with a bachelor's degree in pyschology in May 2009 with a 3.70 GPA. He is currently pursuing his MBA.

 

Belmont started in 22 of 33 games played during career including 11 starts in 2009. He was third on team with 52 tackles including 30 solos, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Belmont had one interception and three pass breakups.

 

He was named to the 2009 CoSIDA Academic All-District VII first team, 2009 MVFC All-Academic second team, and recipient of the MVFC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award in 2008-09.

 

 

Kelly Anderson's career as a head coach is less than a full season old and she’s already got plenty of great stories.

 

But that goes with the territory. The Ulen-Hitterdal coach is one of the rare women coaching boys basketball.

 

After graduating from Hawley, Anderson played at Fergus Falls Community College for two years and then played two more at Valley City State.  Following her playing days, Anderson was an assistant with the women's program at Minnesota State Moorhead.

 

That brought her to Ulen-Hitterdal, where she was the seventh-grade boys coach two years ago because "it was the only position they had open" and an assistant with the boys' varsity last year before taking over the head-coaching duties this season.

 

"When I first got up here, one student said basketball was 'a man's game,' " Anderson said. "So I played him one-on-one, even though I was five or six months pregnant at the time.

 

"Let’s just say it hasn’t been a problem since."