fall sports preview 2010

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2010 - INTER-COUNTY LEADER - FALL SPORTS PREVIEW - SECTION C

Fall SPORTSPREVIEW2010-2011I N T E R C O U N T Y

Crafting a Champion (ship)

The artwork above was done by some of the Webster Junior High students a couple of years ago, as part of a class taught by Dawn Schultz. They depict eachactivity that the Leader Land sports staff is looking forward to covering this fall. – Photos by Greg Marsten

INTER-COUNTY LEADER - FALL SPORTS PREVIEW - SECTION C - AUGUST 25, 2010

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Like the waftingaroma of fresh-brewed java, the ar-rival of fall is bothexciting and some-times hard to ignore; afew rebel trees willjump the gun andmodify theirplumage, and thoseblazing August after-noons can quicklyturn to see-your-breath Octoberevenings.The seasons also col-

lide with the start ofschool, and a whole new batch of activ-ities and sports to mark the seasonalchanges. It’s a time to both celebrate anddread as a person who follows sports.Hope springs eternal for teams that areall even at the start. Previous records arejust that, previous and in the past.Like the season itself, the beginning

marks the end - both of summer and itssticky heat and for teams that maybewish the record-keeping wasn’t so thor-ough.Even though I’m the relative newbie

in Leader land, I’ve been on all sides ofsports journalistically and as a player,parent and fan. I’ve dealt with it all be-fore, and while the excitement canquickly fade away for some folks, I ab-solutely revel in the relative unpre-dictability of high school sports.At the high school level, the future of

a program can hinge on just a few play-ers and their birth dates. Small classescan still have phenomenal athletes whothrow the critics into a frenzy, declaringa “dynasty” and celebrating their suc-cess. Conversely, large schools can have“down years,” where the pool of ath-letes doesn’t necessarily match themath.Yes, success can breed success, and

vice versa. Many local squads are evi-dence and proof of that. I’ve seen amaz-ing programs blossom from relatively

small schools, and how they all seem tohave their own marks in history foroverachievement.It’s all cyclical and it’s always chang-

ing.I’ve been on the sidelines for both

high school and college sports over theyears, shooting the action as both a par-ent and as a reporter. There are no “surethings,” ever. I’ve seen the smallest, un-derdog schools from the windblownDakota prairies inflict damage on pro-grams five times their size. And I’veseen bloodbaths so unforgiving andruthless, it makes youwant to buy flow-ers for the losing teams’ bus ride home.It’s “David and Goliath,” and some-

times the reverse.The heart-stopping excitement - and

letdowns - of competition and the fluiddynamics of winning are an Americanfall tradition that we should both cele-brate and enjoy to its fullest. From golfprowess that improves to levels previ-ously unseen to volleyball action thathas become an absolute marvel of com-petitive thrills. And yes, those gridironmatchups can become communityevents that are almost tribal in their con-nections.We love to support the local kids, and

yes, that’s a very good thing.But the start of school and the start of

its corresponding athletic action is adouble-edged sword: The joy of seeingkids grow into adults and eventuallymove on is both sad and thrilling.Watching them mature and compete inwhat are usually very short athletic “ca-reers” is a treasure beyond its cost, andreason enough for coaches to put play-ers in who aren’t necessarily “the best.”One of the beauties of the American

Experiment are that we celebrate differ-ences. We can take that one step furtherand set aside those differences for a fewhours every week and support the time-less tradition of just being a fan of localkids.Trust me, it’s OK to be biased on oc-

casion, as long as you realize we’re onthe same side.In spite of financial woes and red ink

in school budgets and in checkbooks,we’re all optimists in the fall.

A sappy fall sportspreview column

GregMarsten

North ofEverything

READLEADERSPORTS

Looking forward to another season

Area football fans don’t have to wait any longer, as the first games of the sea-son take place throughout the area on Friday, Aug. 27. See the football sched-ules and all of the area sports schedules on the back of this issue. – Photo byLarry Samson

AUGUST 25, 2010 - INTER-COUNTY LEADER - FALL SPORTS PREVIEW - SECTION C - PAGE 3

FREDERIC VIKINGS FOOTBALLVikes will look tomirror last year’s

success storyby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerFREDERIC – The

Vikings are comingoff one of their mostmemorable seasonslast year and willlook to do the samein what appears onpaper to be a verycompetitive SmallLakeland Confer-ence. Despite a 5-3

conference record Frederic battled theirway to the Level 3 playoffs, a first for Fred-eric football, and defeated rival Shell Lakein overtime to get there. This year, they’lllikely have another battle in store as ShellLake returns all but two players, and withthe addition of Luck in the Small Lakelandthis year, things could get interesting.“I think we’ll be pretty competitive …

our kids are pretty fired up, and I thinkthey’ve been playing very intense in prac-tice,” coach Ken Belanger said.The addition of Luck in the conference

will make this year the first in about 20years that the teams play against eachother.“That’ll be good for interest and particu-

larly, if we’re both pretty competitive, wellthen it’ll really generate some interest,” Be-langer said.Other points of interest for the Vikings

this season is that they’ll be bringing backa number of talented athletes despite los-ing a handful tograduation. They’llhave a strong back-field and a second-year starter atquarterback whoshould get protectionfrom at least four re-turning linemenwhostarted last season.Belanger said his lineis big and strong, and

there are athletes on the team that havespeed and receivers that can catch the ballwell.“We’ve been lucky in the fact that we’re

generally about half and half, seniors andunderclassmen in terms of starting, andwe’re kind of in that same boat again thisyear,” Belanger said.The Vikings have strength in the fact that

the team has been working hard through-out the summer, and they have the right at-titude to push through the long season.

“I think it’s a pretty football-maturegroup that knows what they need to do,and they’ve worked hard, so I think that’sin our favor for sure,” Belanger said.It’s going to be a tough season to predict

in the Small Lakeland, but the Vikingsshould be able to compete with the best ofthem. Their first test of the regular seasonwill come at Siren on Friday, Aug. 27.

Waylon Buck Michael Tesch Anthony Evans Eric Stoner Ray Kurkowski Chris Hopp

The Frederic Vikings could provide the same excitement as they did last sea-son with the quality players they have returning. – Photo by Marty Seeger

Kyle Simonson

FREDERIC VIKINGS FOOTBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Jon Sederlund, Trae Gehl, BenAckerley, RobertKirk, Tony Peterson, Zach Tietz, Chase Dodds, JohnChelmo, Jesse Sanchez, Ryan Phernetton, Kyle Simonson,Josiah Lund.JUNIORS: Waylon Buck, Michael Tesch, Eric Stoner,Antwon Smith, Anthony Evans, Ray Kurkowski, Chris Hopp,Bryce Williamson, Dayton Rivera.SOPHOMORES: Kory Morse, Garrett Wendelboe, AdamChenal, Chris Schorn, Vince Nelson, David Crandell, MikeRunnels, Brad Peterson, Alex Harlander, Ryan Wylie, MattTietz, Nate Ahlness, Blain Clemons, Gino Lonetti.FRESHMEN: Jaryd Braden, Jack Tricker-King, HunterDodds, Sawyer Tietz, Zach Kuechenmeister, Sam Pewaush,Sonny Chelmo, Tim Lund, Ben Kurkowski.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Ken BelangerASSISTANTS: Troy Wink, Jason Pickering, Billy Struck.

Affordable QualityAvalonBass Lake LumberBremer BankBurnett Dairy Co-opCarquest of FredericCummings LumberD & L Financial ServicesDaeffler Quality MeatsDaeffler TruckingDrs. Harlander & TeschEarth Energy SystemsFiedler Ford

Frederic Design & PromotionFrederic GroceryFrederic Nursing &Rehabilitation Community

Frontier Trails Riding StablesGrindell Law OfficesIndianhead Credit UnionInter-County CooperativePublishing Association

Larsen Auto CentersLinda’s Family Child CareNorth Land Ambulance #975Paradise Landing

Polk-BurnettElectric Cooperative

Pour HouseRural American BankState Farm Insurance –Corey Arnold

Sterling BankSundown SaloonThe Medicine ShoppeTrade Lake StoreU.S. Bank

GOOD LUCK FREDERIC VIKING TEAMSFROM THESE BUSINESSES:

Dayton Rivera Kory Morse Adam Chenal Vince Nelson Mike Runnels Ryan Wylie Gino LonettiBryce Williamson

Robert Kirk Zack Tietz Chase Dodds John Chelmo Jesse Sanchez Ryan Phernetton

Ben Ackerley Tony PetersonTrae Gehl

Ken Belanger

Antwon Smith

Josiah Lund


GRANTSBURG PIRATES FOOTBALLPirates are pumpedup to have some funand do some winning

by Greg MarstenLeader staff writerGRANTSBURG –

The Grantsburg Pi-rates are hoping toleave some bruises inthe conference - bigpurple bruises.Keith Lehne is en-

tering his 13th sea-son as head coach,which may work inhis direction, luckynumber, and all. But

even then, Lehne has been at the helm - orvery near it - for even longer.“I spent two seasons as defensive coor-

dinator, and a season as a volunteer assis-tant before becoming head coach,” Lehnesaid.He’s got a few changes coming this sea-

son, as a new defensive coordinator, MikeO’Donnell, will be on the sidelines for2010. Another new face on the Pirate side-lines is coachAdamHale, who comes froma place with actual pirates.“He comes to Grantsburg after several

seasons coaching in Florida,” Lehne said.The Pirates graduated seven seniors last

spring, and have lost two or three startersto “School changes, injury, or poorchoices,” Lehne said.But this is a new year, and his squad

seems pretty pumped up to get dirty andhave some fun. He has some solid talent instarters Gavin Meyer and Damien Ras-mussen on the offensive line and as line-backers, and can expect to improve on2009's 3-6 overall record.Also watch for four-year-starter Derek

Bertelsen, who has become a familiar faceas a linebacker and running back. You’llnotice Brent Myers returns at QB andsafety. Kyle Johnson returns as a runningback.“Once our offensive line is healthy it

should be a major strength,” he said, not-ing that Meyer, Rasmussen, Seth Coy, andColton Tretsven are returning from last sea-son as well. He also looks to contributionsfrom Mat Swenson, David Ohnstad, AndyJones and Clay Poeschl.“Our biggest weakness at this point is

depth at all positions,” Lehne said. “Wewill be counting on contributions from sev-eral sophomores and possibly a few fresh-men.”Team captains Myers, Rasmussen and

Meyer are handling the inside leadership,and Lehne is expect-ing Clear Lake andFlambeau to battlefor the champi-onship.“We look forward

to playing everyonewith the goal of get-ting our programback to a playofflevel,” He said.

The Grantsburg Pirates football team is pumped up and ready for action.They’re coming off a solid performance at the scrimmage in Shell Lake on Fri-day, Aug. 20. – Photo by Larry Samson

GOOD LUCK GRANTSBURG PIRATE TEAMSFROM THESE BUSINESSES:

BackWoods Beer & BaitBass Lake LumberBremer BankBurnett Dairy Co-opD&L Financial ServicesFarmers IndependentTelephone Co.

Fiedler FordGary Nelson InsuranceAgency

Grindell Law OfficeHerb’s Tee To GreenHoliday StationStores –Grantsburg

Indianhead Credit UnionInter-County CooperativePublishing Association

Larsen Auto Centers


Pour HouseState Farm Insurance –Corey Arnold

Trade Lake StoreTrailer CityU.S. BankWild River Sports Cycle

GRANTSBURG PIRATES FOOTBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Devan Christensen, Trevor Thompson, Jim Nel-son, Brent Myers, Kyle Johnson, Derek Bertelsen, AndyFalk, Gavin Meyer, Dylan Franklin.JUNIORS: Daniel Larsen, Damien Rasmussen, Andy Jones,Seth Coy, David Ohnstad, Mat Swenson, Brent Johnson,Devon Mogel.SOPHOMORES: Brandon Ryan, Bryce Ryan, Evan Ryan,Connor Myers, Colton Tretsven, Clay Poeschl, Jacob Wald,Lucas Willis.FRESHMEN: Jared Benedict, Richard Berry, Nick Britton,Shane Fagnan, Joe Gaffney, Gus Johnson, Austin Thoreen,Lars Thoreson, Chandler Witzany.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Keith LehneASSISTANTS: Josh Watts, Bob Martin, Mike O’Donnell,Adam Hale.

Damien Rasmussen Andy Jones Seth Coy David Ohnstad Mat Swenson Brent Johnson Devon MogelDaniel Larsen

Bryce Ryan Evan Ryan Connor Myers Colton Tretsven Clay Poeschl Jacob Wald Lucas WillisBrandon Ryan

Devan Christensen

Jim Nelson Brent Myers Kyle Johnson Derek Bertelsen Andy Falk Gavin Meyer Dylan FranklinTrevor Thompson

Keith Lehne


LUCK CARDINALS FOOTBALLRespect all, fear nonecampaign for 2010

by Marty SeegerLeader staff writerLUCK – The Luck

Cardinals had apretty solid cam-paign during the2009 season, going 4-2 in the Large Lake-land Conference and6-4 overall. Theywere one of thesmallest schools inthe Large Lakelandbut enrollment has

dropped considerably over the past years,from 230 students to between 150 and 160.Shrinking enrollment is most often asso-

ciated with bad news, but it could be an ex-citing time for Luck, as they move back

into the Small Lakeland for 2010. For thefirst time in about 20 years, they’ll get achance to face the Frederic Vikings, andavenge last year’s first-round playoff lossto Shell Lake, who was ousted by Frederic

in the Level 2 playoffs last year. WhileFrederic, Shell Lake, Turtle Lake and Bruceall look to be contenders for the conferencetitle, Luck’s motto of “respect all – fearnone” shows they’re up for any challenge.

“This is going to be another great seasonat Luck. When you have outstanding play-ers and students, how can you not want tocoach these fine athletes?” said DonKendzior, who began coaching again inLuck last season. He coached at Luck be-tween 1995 and 2002, and the Cardsboasted a 57-18 record during that time.“Before the season has even started, I can

honestly say we have already been suc-cessful, because of the players’ dedicationand motivation to become better. If the in-jury bug stays away, we will be there at theend,” Kendzior said.The Cardinals return several key starters

from last season including LandenStrilzuk, Roger Steen, Ben Kufalk and Coleand Alec Mortel. But they’ll also be work-ing with smaller numbers, something un-avoidable in the smaller school systems.And while depth could be a potential

issue, the Cardinals have been staying inshape, hitting the weight room throughoutthe summer.“Great attendance at summer weight

room sessions,” Kendzior said.With so many close games last season

against the larger schools, and a bulk oftheir starters returning again this season,Luck shouldn’t be a dark horse in the con-ference, but a key contender for a title.

The Luck Cardinals football team lines up against New Auburn in their firstscrimmage of the season. – Photos by Marty Seeger

Cards receiver, Cole Mortel made anice grab against NewAuburn duringthe scrimmage at Luck.

GOOD LUCK TO LUCK CARDINAL TEAMSFROM THESE BUSINESSES:

Auto Plus of LuckBella SalonBurnett Dairy Co-opCardinal ShopFiedler FordHog Wild BBQHoliday StationStoresIndianhead Credit UnionInter-County CooperativePublishing Association

Larsen Auto CentersLuck Golf CourseLuck Saddlery & OutfittersLuck Sport and MarineMaxwell Heating & AirConditioning

Nails by Cathi & TanningNorth Land Ambulance #974Paradise LandingPawn Gallery

Peper Tire & AlignmentPolk-BurnettElectric Cooperative

Rural American BankScott Mellon/Edina RealtySterling BankThrivent Financial ForLutherans – Luck

Van Meter’s Meats

LUCK CARDINALS FOOTBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Devin Douglas, Landen Strilzuk, Cole Mortel,Alec Mortel, Kyle James, Roger Steen, Kenny Sanford,Chris Spencer, Brady Klatt.JUNIORS: Ben Kufalk, Nick Tronrud, Spencer Nelson,Jesse Rennicke, Hunter Wilson, Jacob Schrock, BrandonHoldt.SOPHOMORES: Kyle Hunter, John Denny, Eric Blaser,Cole Engstrand, Brody Kunze, Matt Sanford, Evan Armour,Ethan Prien.FRESHMEN: Karsten Petersen, Casey Ekholm, Cody Eng-strand, Connor McGinnity, Austin Holm, Colton Branville.

COACHHEAD COACH: Don Kendzior

Brady Klatt

Devin Douglas Ben Kufalk Spencer Nelson Jesse Rennicke Hunter Wilson Jacob Schrock

Landen Strilzuk Cole Mortel Alec Mortel Roger Steen Kenny Sanford

Chris Spencer

Nick Tronrud John Denny Eric Blaser Cole Engstrand Brody Kunze Matt Sanford Kyle Hunter

Brandon Holdt

Don Kendzior

Evan Armour


ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTS FOOTBALLSkill positions, speedand junior class forSaints this season

by Marty SeegerLeader staff writerST. CROIX FALLS

– It’ll be a differentlook for St. CroixFalls this year. Lastseason they startedoff with what ap-peared to be one ofthe more solid teamsin the conferenceuntil injuries startedsetting in. Out of 22

starters, the Saints had about nine remain-ing by the final three or four games. De-spite those numbers, the Saints finishedstrong, but fell just short of making theplayoffs.“I would say the one thing I learned last

year is the character of our younger guys. Imean, they really could’ve rolled over and

quit, and they came to practice every week.It literally was, ‘OK coach, where am Igoing to be at this week?’” And theystepped up and competed,” said headcoach Rod Sempf.With 10 seniors and about 17 juniors to

work with, the team is relatively new, soSempf will be taking it day by day. Thereare also a handful of new assistant coachesthat bring new concepts to the game onboth offense and defense.“This year, we’ve got a lot of new guys,

a lot of new players in different positionsand its definitely going to involve a lot ofjust … development of players,” Sempfsaid. “We have guys that are good footballplayers but just getting them into a cohe-sive team is going to be the biggest chal-lenge I think this year.”

One of the team’s strengths could restwith their skills players and speed, some-thing the Saints have also had over the pastfew seasons. Nick Johnson is back this sea-son as a four-year starter at wingback, andAuney Seifert was the go-to running backnear the end of theseason last year. Hehad about 600 yardsrushing in the Saintsfinal three games.The Saints will beworking with a newquarterback in seniorTaylor Sempf. He re-places the graduatedMatt Vold, a three-year starter.“We have guys that

want to compete, and we have guys thatare physical, andwhen you have those twocharacteristics, we’ll be competitive.There’s no doubt about it,” coach Sempfsaid.

The St. Croix Falls football team has a heavy dose of junior talent and a fair number of seniors to work with. – Photoby Marty Seeger

Barb’s Family Hair Care andTanningBurnett Dairy Co-opCity of St. Croix FallsClaytonHardware/RadioShackDalles Auto SalesFiedler FordFrontier Ag and Turf

Greatland TransportationServiceIndianhead Credit UnionInter-County CooperativePublishing AssociationLampert'sLarsen Auto CentersMarketPlace FoodsMartens Jewelry

Paradise LandingPolk-BurnettElectric CooperativeSt. Croix FamilyDentistrySteven Swanson AALTheRiverBank -St. Croix FallsUncle DonutsUptown Floral and GiftsWal-Mart SuperCenterWild River Flags

GOOD LUCK ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTTEAMS FROM THESE BUSINESSES:

ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTS FOOTBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Ryan Jaremczuk, Garrett Radinzel, Nick John-son, Spencer Walters, Taylor Sempf, Zach Christenson,Marcus Campbell, Ian Anderson, Sam Mike, Auney Seifert.JUNIORS: Jake Rademacher, Jace Marek, Zack Horn,Cody Zelinski, Erik Segelstrom, Alex Bertram, Preston Lar-son, Ryan Nussbaum, Austin Foeller, Alex Mikl, Ethan An-derson, Ben Clausen, Terrence Klemish, Grant Simpson,Eric Swenson, Nolan O'Brian, Kyle Yunker.SOPHOMORES: Tony Stelton, Ryan Johnson, Kevin Fisk,Jake Sommer, Taylor Woller, Hayden Peterson, MarshallDillman, Michael Chernyav, Shane Swanson, Zach Con-stant, Jordan Amos, Tyler Hills, Bryan Nelson, BrandonLoiselle.FRESHMEN: Drew Dumke, John Houliston, Cory Thereox,Kodi Peters, Jake Rix, Ben Kopp, Zarek Kubesh, BrianGilbert, Andrew Erickson, Joe Rademacher, Eric Anderson,Dan Horn, Teagan Hills, Travis Mcloud, Nate Hansen, TrevorCross, Zach Wojahn.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Rod SempfASSISTANTS: Grant Belisle, Rob Bullard, Ryan Humpal,Jake Meyer, Paul Gilbert.

Zack Horn Cody Zelinski Erik Segelstrom Alex Bertram Preston Larson Ryan Nussbaum Austin FoellerJace Marek

Ethan Anderson Ben Clausen Terrence Klemish Grant Simpson Eric Swenson Nolan O'Brian Kyle YunkerAlex Mikl

Ryan Jaremczuk Garrett Radinzel Nick Johnson

Taylor Sempf Zach Christenson Marcus Campbell Ian Anderson Sam Mike Auney Seifert Jake RademacherSpencer Walters

Rod Sempf


SIREN DRAGONS FOOTBALLDragons have a new

head coach andstrong numbers

by Greg MarstenLeader staff writerSIREN – The Siren

Dragons are bankingon some renewed in-terest with a newcoach and some newplayers this season.Coming off a 1-7 con-ference record in2009 in the SmallLakeland, Siren hasregrouped andchanged their focus

as the new year rolls around.“I’m really looking forward to the sea-

son, we’ve got a decent-sized squad andsome new players, so it should be a goodseason!” stated new head coach Bill Hoe-fler, who spent the last three years as a backand linebacker assistant at St. Croix Fallsbefore taking over the Dragon program.He should have lots of help, as the entireassistant coaching staff has returned tohelp out the newcomer Hoefler.“That’s really going to help,” he said,

noting that assistant coaches Ron Dorn, BillSargent and Frank Taylor will be instru-mental in keeping what works and startingover in a few areas.Hoefler will not have official captains

this season and hopes that the team de-cides later on who they feel should be theleaders. “It’s not necessarily the best play-ers, or even the oldest players,” he said.He is excited to have some of the best of

the past in his stable, but realizes graduat-ing last year’s lone senior, Christian Hall,was a big loss. But that shows they haven’tlost many players, and in fact have gainedquite a few.“Really, any returning player is a good

thing,” he said. “All of ‘em! And I’m reallyimpressed by some of the new kids we’vegot.”With about 25 kids on the roster, he says

having a “decent-sized squad” is a bigplus, along with the way they work to-gether so early in the year.“I honestly think that team unity is one

of our big strengths,” he said with a nod.“They’re a good, close-knit group, and a re-ally good group of boys,. We’ll see whereit takes us!”Hoefler says he doesn’t know of any

weaknesses and is sincere when he saysthat “every team they face will be a chal-

lenge. Every team in this conference is ca-pable of beating any other team.”

The Siren Dragons have a decent-sized squad this season with a roster of 25athletes, which could benefit the team considerably. – Photos by Marty Seeger

The Dragons had a nice showingagainst Lake Holcombe at a scrim-mage in Luck Friday, Aug. 20, scoringa pair of touchdowns during one ses-sion on offense.

GOOD LUCK SIREN DRAGON TEAMSFROM THESE BUSINESSES:

BackWoods Beer & BaitBremer BankBurnett Dairy Co-opChattering SquirrelDaeffler Quality MeatsDaeffler TruckingD & L Financial ServicesEarth Energy Systems

Fiedler FordHerb’s Tee To GreenIndianhead Credit UnionInter-County CooperativePublishing Association

Kris’ Pheasant InnLarsen Auto CentersLee’s Sports


Pour HouseSiren Dairy QueenSterling BankU.S. BankVasatka Systems

SIREN DRAGONS FOOTBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Dana Hubbell, Seth Stoner, Tadd Oachs, JeremyWikstrom.JUNIORS: Elijah Hinze, Evan Oachs, Isaac Wegner, WillHaines, Murdock Smith, Andrew Brown.SOPHOMORES: Reuben Mixsooke, Josh Lemieux, HunterWikstrom, Shay Johnson, Courtland Otto.FRESHMEN: Triston Alden, Graham Hall, David St. John,Ethan Java, Jared Emery, Asa Hunter, John D'Jock, JadeMerrill.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Bill HoeflerASSISTANTS: Frank Taylor, Bill Sargent, Ron Dorn, DaveHatch.

Dana Hubbell Seth Stoner Tadd Oachs Jeremy Wikstrom Elijah Hinze Evan Oachs Isaac Wegner

Murdock Smith Andrew Brown Reuben Mixsooke Josh Lemieux Hunter Wikstrom Shay Johnson Courtland OttoWill Haines

Bill Hoefler


UNITY EAGLES FOOTBALLEagles loaded with

senior talent,high expectations

by Marty SeegerLeader staff writerBALSAM LAKE –

The Unity Eaglesseem ready take onthe Large Lakelandthis year with one oftheir largest crops ofveteran seniorsthey’ve had in recentmemory.“We’ve got a good

group, and most ofthem have been play-

ing for two to three years,” said coachDave Anderson, who is in his fifth year ashead coach and 10th year overall coachingUnity football.For the past few seasons, the Eagles had

to work with a bit of inexperience due to alack of upperclassmen and have fallen justshort of the goal of making the playoffs.But this could be the year, as the defensereturns seven starters and another sevenplayers are returning to the offense.The Eagles will be without at least one

playmaker this season in 1,000-yard-rusherDustin McKinney, who brought bursts ofspeed with every game. McKinney hassince graduated, but the Eagles will beadding bulk to the backfield with Reed

Sorenson and Xavier Foeller. Sorensen wasa backup to McKinney last year, andFoeller was the starting fullback. Both arebigger, stronger and faster than last season

according to Anderson, and the line onboth offense and defense is just as im-proved.“Most of our line is returning starters

and they’re all bigger. The weight roomwent really well this summer,” Andersonsaid.The team also participated in another

football camp over the summer at UM-Du-luth, and team captains incorporated asummer captain’s draft, choosing teams inthe spring and earning points for good per-formance in the weight room over the sum-mer. The captain’s team that won thesummer challenges was able to pick theworkout for the first week of practice.Rolling huge tractor tires was just one ofmany ways the workouts began, and oneway to make the grueling practices a bitmore interesting.One of the biggest strengths for the Ea-

gles this season will be their senior leader-ship according toAnderson. Captains LukeNelson, Jason Vlasnik, Brady Flaherty andRush Hickethier will hope to lead the teamthrough another season and another shotat making the playoffs.“It will be a competitive conference this

year, and we hope to be right in the mix,”Anderson said.

The Eagles are eyeing the playoffs and have a great shot at doing well in theLarge Lakeland this year behind coach DaveAnderson. – Photo by Marty Seeger

GOOD LUCK UNITY EAGLE TEAMSFROM THESE BUSINESSES:

Angler’s InnBalsam Lake HardwareBalsam Lake MarketBradwell EnterprisesBurnett Dairy Co-opDale A. Johnson, CPAFiedler FordHarvest Moon Saloon

Holiday StationStoresIndianhead Credit UnionInter-County CooperativePublishing Association

Jeff’s Small EngineLarsen Auto CentersParadise Landing


Rural American BankSterling BankSteve’s Appliance PlusTire ExpertsU.S. BankWilkins Bar and Resort

UNITY EAGLES FOOTBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Mitchell Galle, Rush Hickethier, Joe Swanson,Lucas Hetfeld, Jake Johnson, Dylan Hendricks, Luke Nel-son, Jason Vlasnik, Brady Flaherty, Derek Campbell, StevenAcosta, Brandon Mooney, Reid Binfet, Doug Bengtson.JUNIORS: Kevin Bystrom, Brady Turner, Jordan Hughes,Nate Despiegelaere, Clay Peckman, Garrete Lunsmann,Steven Anderson, Xavier Foeller, Reed Sorenson, JustinRunberg, Eric Nelson.SOPHOMORES: Alex Lennartson, Brendan Foeller, JacobRuck, Austin Peterson, Aaron Koshatka, Mitch Egge, KyleSorenson, Justin Peper, Erik Kuske, Zac Baxter, JustinAronson, Justin Mooney.FRESHMEN: Cash Hickethier, Zac Johnson, Kelby Peter-son, Cole Peckman, Hunter Ward, Justin Bradley, MitchellKruger, Cullen Madison, Mac Baxter, Colin Loehr, SklerRicketson, Oliver Raboin, Cole Hanson, Dakota Ward,Caleb Hacker, Alex Juleen, Austin Severin, Reese Johnston.

COACHHEAD COACH: Dave Anderson

Brandon Mooney Reid Binfet Doug Bengtson Kevin Bystrom Brady Turner Jordan Hughes Nate DespiegelaereSteven Acosta

Garrete Lunsmann Steven Anderson Xavier Foeller Reed Sorenson Justin Runberg Eric NelsonClay Peckman

Jason VlasnikRush Hickethier

Brady Flaherty Mitchell Galle Joe Swanson Lucas Hetfeld Jake Johnson Dylan Hendricks Derek CampbellLuke Nelson

Dave Anderson


WEBSTER TIGERS FOOTBALLTigers expectingvery good things

this seasonby Greg MarstenLeader staff writerWEBSTER – The

Webster Tigers arecoming off a stellar2009 season, markingan undefeated LargeLakeland perform-ance and just onenonconference loss.They became a teamthat got better as theweeks went on.

That’s a tough measure to match, butsixth-year head coach Jeromie Voeltz isconfident they can make some waves thisyear again. He has a talented and dedi-cated group of assistants to keep the magicrolling, which may be difficult after gradu-ating 17 seniors.“You never can tell until the season gets

going,” he said, looking to a stable of qual-ity players from last year, including GarrettEichman, James Wethern, Dan Dochniak,Mason Kriegel and Greg McIntyre. All ofthem know what makes a quality squad,and can hopefully take that same formulaback on the field.

Even graduating somany players, Voeltzthinks one of their biggest strengths is theirhigher numbers than in the past. Successoften raises interest levels and the Tigers’past success means the program shouldstay strong again.Voeltz's biggest weakness this year is just

losing a bevy of talented seniors, but thatinexperience should be a simple problemto overcome.“We’ve just got to get out their and see

what we can do,” he said while walking toa practice. “You never know until the sea-son starts!”Voeltz thinks the Clear Lake Warriors

could be an opponent to watch, again, as

well as Flambeau, which has always hadsuccessful programs.But if history says anything about his

squad, they will blossom as the seasonrolls, evenwith the loss of “ultra back” DanPope - one of the most explosive playersin the conference last year. He made surethey were never out of a game, and thatmeant never turning away from the score-board for long.Predicting whether they canmake up for

their senior losses is tough, but safe to saythe Tigers will have plenty of offense thisyear, and will make some waves on theother side of the ball, as well.“Again, just got to get on the field and

see what we’ve got,” Voeltz said confi-dently.

The Webster Tigers football team lines up against Shell Lake during their first scrimmage. – Photos by Larry Samson

A Tigers ball carrier slides past aShell Lake defender during a scrim-mage.

GOOD LUCK WEBSTER TIGER TEAMSFROM THESE BUSINESSES:

Bremer BankBurnett Dairy Co-opChattering SquirrelFiedler FordFour Star SportsHerb’s Tee To GreenHoliday StationStores

Indianhead Credit UnionInter-County CooperativePublishing Association

Larsen Auto CentersLog Cabin StorePolk-BurnettElectric Cooperative

Pour HouseThe TapU.S. BankVasatka SystemsVoyager Village Country ClubYellow Lake Golf Course

WEBSTER TIGERS FOOTBALLROSTER

SENIORS: James Wethern, Dan Dochniak, Mason Kriegel,Andrew Starks, Greg McIntyre, Lincoln Spafford, BenJensen.JUNIORS: Garrett Eichman, Aaron Clay, Austin Bork, JoshBaer, Anthony Dietmeier, Chris Weeks, Mycal Larson,Michael Bambery, Marcus Nelson, Randy Rankin, ChadRosenthal.SOPHOMORES: Nathan Puttbrese, Dillon Reeder, JamesPijanowski.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Jeromie VoeltzASSISTANTS: Jovin Kroll, Andy Smith, Craig Dorn.

Ben Jensen Garrett Eichman Aaron Clay Austin Bork Josh Baer Anthony Dietmeier Chris Weeks

James Wethern Dan Dochniak Mason Kriegel Andrew Starks Greg McIntyre

Lincoln Spafford

Michael Bambery Marcus Nelson Randy Rankin Chad Rosenthal Nathan Puttbrese Dillon Reeder James PijanowskiMycal Larson

Jeromie Voeltz


Veterans and talentednewcomers amonglong list of positives

for Piratesby Greg MarstenLeader staff writerGRANTSBURG –

The Grantsburg Pi-rates record standsby itself. In fact, theonly time you won’tfind the Pirates nameat the top of the WestLakeland Conferenceis in the preseason,where they fall be-hind - alphabetically- to those pesky

squads fromClayton, Clear Lake and Fred-eric.Short of changing the school name to

something that starts with a ‘B,’ the Pirateswill just have to gowith the next best thing:Keep winning. They are coming off one oftheir best seasons ever, with a Division 3state title to match their 21 straight confer-ence championships. Under 28-year coach-ing veteran Bill Morrin, the program hasbecome the model by which many volley-ball programs are formed.Morrin won’t reveal much about any

changes for 2010 - why mess with success?But he did note that they have plenty ofveterans coming back and “very talented

newcomers.”The Pirates are missing many key sen-

iors from the state run last year, includingAnnie Palmquist, Lauren Romanowski,Larissa Wilhelm, Kallie Thoreson andSarah Wald. Losing that core would doommany programs, but the Pirates haveplenty of gas in the tank with returningstand-outs Kortney Morrin, Emily Cole,Tiffany Meyer and Carly Larson.They are a quick, very talented group

that likes to win, and has fun doing it. Mor-rin would not speculate on any areas hissquad is lacking, saying he’d “let our op-ponents figure that out,” but probably re-alizes that they are the team to beat, everynight on the court.The winning gunslingers always were a

target, and in spite of having a stellarrecord and history, they are always tryingto improve, and Morrin thinks Turtle Lakewill again be solid conference competition.

Grantsburg’s team captains this year areoutside hitter Kortney Morrin and setterCole, both of whom earned numerous hon-ors in conference and were also All-Staterecipients. They have both been at the topand know how to get their teammates backinto position for another deafening playoffrun. Which is good, since they can’t domuch about the whole alphabetic, first-let-ter-in-your-school-name thing.

Coach Lemieuxtakes back the

helm in Fredericby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerFREDERIC – A

love of coaching anda love for the game ofvolleyball hasbrought back StaciLemieux to the Fred-eric volleyball teamthis year. The formercoach took last yearoff to go back toschool full time andpursue a new career

path. After solidifying her profession as asurgical technologist in St. Croix Falls, shewas able to work out a schedule to fit workwith the pleasures of coaching.“There’s a lot of potential there, and I’m

very excited to be back in coaching. Ijust love the game,” said Lemieuxafter her first practice of the season.The Vikings first day of practice

was a grueling one, but it didn’tseem to keep anyone away.“Yesterday there were like 31 girls

and now there are 32, so that’s a pos-itive,” Lemieux said.Many of the girls back from last

year have varsity experience, andtwo had even been coached byLemieux as freshman. Juniors MariaMiller and Corissa Schmidt both saw

varsity action and will likely be strong as-sets to the team again this year. The teamalso has a group of five seniors includingKrysta Laqua, Alli Anderson, Kayla Nel-son, Lea Schweinoch and Tara Anderson.“I have a lot of strong hitters, but I

haven’t figured out exactly where I’mgoing to put them yet,” said Lemieux, butshe believes things will eventually pan out,and that they’ll be competitive in the con-ference. The team has also spent time atvarious camps over the summer and a fewplayed club volleyball.“I’m just glad they’ve been doing some-

thing in the offseason,” Lemieux said.It was just three seasons ago when

Lemieux started her coaching career, andin her first year, she took the Vikings to aregional game. Good things could be instore for the team again this season.“I’m very excited,” Lemieux said.

FREDERIC VIKINGS VOLLEYBALL

GRANTSBURG PIRATES VOLLEYBALL

Maria Miller Lauren Domagala Corissa Schmidt Ashley Wendelboe Autumn Schmidt Allie Lundblade Jamie Taft Kendra Mossey

Vikings junior CorissaSchmidt tips the ball over thenet as senior Krysta Laqualooks on. – Photo by Brenda Mar-tin

FREDERIC VIKINGS VOLLEYBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Krysta Laqua, Alli Anderson, Kayla Nelson, TaraAnderson, Lea Schweinoch, Isabel Lexen.JUNIORS: Maria Miller, Lauren Domagala, CorissaSchmidt, Ashley Wendelboe, Autumn Schmidt, Allie Lund-blade, Jamie Taft, Brandy Gravelle.SOPHOMORES: Mckenna Cook, Kendra Mossey, EmilyWells, Paige Burton, Kourtney Douglas, Kendra Sheldon,Natalie Phernetton, McKenna Rognrud, Kaitlin Warner.FRESHMEN: Carly Gustafson, Lexi Domagala, RachelThomas, Tylyn O'Brien, Brandy Bahr.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Stacy LemieuxASSISTANT: Casey DeNucci

GRANTSBURG PIRATES VOLLEYBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Tiffany Meyer, Kortney Morrin, Lauren Finch,McKenzie Ryan, Emily Cole.JUNIORS: Carly Larson, Gabrielle Witzany, SaishaGoepfert, Nikki Ticknor, April Campana, Breanna Fickbohm,Haley Burkhardt.SOPHOMORES: RuthAnn Pedersen, SamanthaSchwieger, Kylie Pewe, Somer Rikkola, Ellie Corbin, JenSchwieger, Cathy LaMere, Grace Corbin, Melissa Dahl,Arikka Davison, Stacey McKenzie, Lily Benge Briggs.FRESHMEN: Harlei Hennessey, Hope Tucker, Macy Han-son, Raelyn Rochman, Gabby Banks, Kate Rod, BeccaGlover, Rheanna Johnson, Jaicee Bowman, Amanda Cam-pana, Wendy Roberts.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Bill MorrinASSISTANTS: Dana Morrin, Deb Allaman-Johnson.MANAGER: Carissa Skifstad

Krysta Laqua Alli Anderson Kayla Nelson Isabel Lexen Tara Anderson Brandy Gravelle

Stacy Lemieux

Macy Hanson Samantha Schwieger Saisha Goepfert Lauren Finch McKenzie Ryan Nikki Ticknor Emily Cole Kylie Pewe

Carly Larson Tiffany Meyer Gabrielle Witzany Kortney Morrin RuthAnn Pedersen

Bill Morrin

Senior Kortney Morrin will be aleading force for the Pirates this fall. –Photo by Brenda Martin


Saints showeven more promise

this seasonby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerST. CROIX FALLS

– The Saints finishedwith just three lossesin the conference lastyear but couldn’t getthrough the firstround of the playoffs.Injuries played a bitof a role toward theend, forcing girls intonew roles and dis-

rupting a bit of the cohesiveness of theteam, but this year the girls are back andbetter than ever.“We should expect a little more than

what we had last year. We only lost MeganYunker for front row, but otherwise every-

body else is returning,and stronger and bet-ter,” said coach StaciHoff, who is in hersecond year as headcoach of the Saints.“We should really

be able to get up andblock pretty well thisyear,” said Hoff,adding that hittingshould go right alongwith that. They’vealso got four girlswho should be able toadd another dimen-sion to the game withtheir jump-servingabilities.Sophomores Na-

talie Sempf and Syd-ney Geisness are twoof the four athletesworking on their

jump serves, and Hoff says both have im-proved dramatically. Geisness will alsomove to a middle-hitting role this seasonand will be working alongside five seniorsand three juniors, including Sarah Pet-znick, who was one of the leaders in killslast season along with senior Alicia Chel-berg.“We have a phenomenal group of ath-

letes, so we should do well,” Hoff said.One thing the Saints will need to work

on is in their setters, since they have onlyone at this time.“She’s a good setter, I just don’t know

how well she’s going to do playing frontrow. She hasn’t played there in a few years,so that could be one of our weaknesses,”Hoff said.Another challenge for the Saints could

come in the postseason, as they will bemoving from Division 3 to Division 2 thisseason.

Cards rely onspeed and a solidrotation in 2010

by Greg MarstenLeader staff writerLUCK – The Luck

Cardinals volleyballteam is young, fastand hungry. Second-year head coachAlyssa Notermann isconfident her squadcan compete withsome of their rivalsin the talent-richWest Lakeland Con-ference, while also

developing into a premier program laterdown the road.“We have a strong freshman class, and

we’ll be running a 6-2 offense, so we willbe more aggressive at the net,” she said.That 6-2 offense means the setters will be

key to making some magic happen, andwith returning seniorMorgan Denny avail-able for kill and block duty, along with avery fast offense, this could be an excitingyear to follow the Cards.“We really don’t have any weak rota-

tions,” Notermann said, confident that pre-vious growth in the program over the yearshas really started to pay off, boding wellfor the future.The Cards did lose some quality players

to graduation, but as she said, they are re-lying on younger talent and quality play tostay competitive. Denny’s 205 kills and 99

blocks in ‘09 are hard to argue with, andfolks can expect another quality year fromthe co-captain this season, who shares

leadership duties with senior co-captainSarah Elert.The junior varsity program is also

strong, according to JV coach VernLonghenry. He’s excited for “an excellentseason,” and said they are relying on thatsame strong, younger group of talent tobuild on in the future.While neither Notermann nor

Longhenry would go out on a limb for pre-dictions, they both seemed quietly confi-dent they will be competitive and are solidenough to surprise their competition attimes this season.The Cardinals finished at 4-6 in confer-

ence last season, but split overall with an11-11 record. They fell to Weyer-haeuser/Chetek in the second round of theWIAA Regionals, but finished the seasonvery strong, winning five of six and losingonly to powerhouse Turtle Lake, 1-3, at theend of the regular season.Several Wisconsin notables and net-

works list the Cards as a team to watch,and they could truly surprise some rivalsthis season ... and maybe even themselves.

LUCK CARDINALS VOLLEYBALL

ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTS VOLLEYBALL

Ahna Hoefler sends the ball over the net during theteam’s first week of practice. The Saints have a shot atmaking a name for themselves this season. – Photo byMarty Seeger

Morgan Denny spikes the ball over the net for the Cardinals. Denny is a sen-ior this season and will be one of several playmakers for the Cards. – Photo byMarty Seeger

ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTS VOLLEYBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Alex Lunde, Heather Gilbert, Alicia Chelberg,Jessica Larcom, Katelynn Meyer.JUNIORS: Ahna Hoefler, Sarah Petznick, Alexis Erickson.SOPHOMORES: Stephanie Melin, Natalie Sempf, SydneyGeisness.FRESHMEN:

List incomplete, no roster available.COACHES

HEAD COACH: Staci HoffASSISTANT: Angela Maternowsky

LUCK CARDINALS VOLLEYBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Morgan Denny, Sarah Elert.JUNIOR: Maia Lehmann.SOPHOMORES: Hannah Karl, Jaimee Buck, Taylor Joy,Ashley Dexter, Jillian Peterson.FRESHMEN: Bella Nelson, Camille Marsten, TessaClemenson, Abbie Otlo.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Alyssa NotermannASSISTANTS: Vern Longhenry, Diane Aldrich.

Morgan Denny Sarah Elert Maia Lehmann Hannah Karl Jaimee Buck Taylor Joy Ashley Dexter Jillian Peterson

Katelynn Meyer Alicia Chelberg Alexis Erickson Sarah Petznick Ahna Hoefler Stephanie Melin Natalie Sempf Sydney Geisness

Heather Gilbert Jessica Larcom Alex Lunde

Alyssa Notermann

Staci Hoff


Leadership rolesresting on Eagles

four seniorsby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerBALSAM LAKE –

The Eagles volleyballteam made greatstrides last seasonunder new coachChris Lesneski, start-ing off a bit slow, butgained momentumtoward the end of theyear and into theplayoffs. They madeit to the second

round after an exciting match-win over St.Croix Falls, only to fall short in a 3-1 matchagainst St. Croix Central. It seems, how-ever, that the volleyball bug has been bit-ing Unity since the end of the season lastyear, as about 16 of the 25 girls out for theteam haven’t stopped playing volleyball.Seeing the team’s willingness to learn in

the form of camps or club volleyball is oneof the more noticeable changes Lesneskihas witnessed since the first week of prac-tices began.“All of that is extremely important and

extremely promising for what we’ve gotgoing on here,” Lesneski said.This year the Eagles will look to their

four seniors, Marisa Hacker, Hayla Bader,Bryana Petersin and Crystal Donahue, for

leadership. There’s also a large crop of un-derclassmen that played a role at the var-sity level last year as well, so the Eaglesaren’t lacking in experience.“They have a better understanding of

what’s going on. Having everybodywithinthe program, with me running it for a year,it’s really beenmaking a huge difference asto what everybody knows andwhat the ex-pectations are,” Lesneski said.As far as predictions go, Lesneski be-

lieves his girls will bring a competitive side

to every game in the conference, and healso hopes they can keep the same inten-sity that they had at the end of last season.“I’m not sure where we’ll fall, but I don’t

think that there’s anybody that we can’tcompete with a little bit more this year,”Lesneski said.

Dragons relyon experienced,senior talent

by Greg MarstenLeader staff writerSIREN – The Siren

Dragons dig backinto the volleyballseason with return-ing head coachCaryn Stanford, wholong ago shook thosefirst-season jittersand is ready to havethe Dragons maketheir marks.

“This is my second year coaching, and Iam really excited about this year,” Stanfordsaid.The Dragons have five seniors returning

this year: Ashley Guevara, Carley Emery,Daphne Hubbell, Steph Taylor andDanielle Keller, which Stanford is lucky tohave.“They bring a lot of experience with

them on the court,” she said. “We also havefour returning starters and good competi-tion for the remaining positions left openby graduating seniors.”Under Stanford, Siren is almost sure to

improve on their 2009 record of 2-8 in theWest Lakeland - 6-15 overall - and shouldbe a formidable opponent this season,which Stanford also expects.

“This is going to be a great year for us,”she said confidently. “We are going to playto our strengths - which are hustle, intelli-gent play, quickness, and heart.”Having so many experienced players on

the court every game promises to be agood thing for Stanford’s squad, who isquite confident this will be an excitingsquad, especially with such a rich talentpool to work with.“Even though we lost the leadership of

four seniors, I am confident the returning

players will step upand fill that role,”she said. The Dragonsquad should matchup well this seasonin the very solidWest Lakeland Con-ference, and is a clas-sic example ofimproving, across-the-board talent,with very well-

matched schools and programs.“With this being my second year of

coaching, I am looking forward to confer-ence play, and matching up against theother teams,” Stanford said. “I am expect-ing a good improvement in our recordfrom last year.”Siren also has a strong pool of under-

classmen coming up, and their expandingvolleyball talent was evident in the play-offs last year, when they surprised a verycompetitive Bayfield squad in the first-round regional with a 3-1 match win. Ex-pect those kinds of things to be less of asurprise this season.

SIREN DRAGONS VOLLEYBALL

UNITY EAGLES VOLLEYBALL

Eagles Junior Brittany Thomfohrdamakes a tough play at a practice. –Photo by Marty Seeger

Carley Emery will be one of the senior leaders on the Dragons team this sea-son. – Photo by Larry Samson

SIREN DRAGONS VOLLEYBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Carley Emery, Ashley Guevara, Danielle Keller,Daphne Hubbell, Stephanie Taylor.JUNIORS: Jessica Lysdahl, Amber Hall, Abigail Mitchell.SOPHOMORES: Brittany Coulter, Kyisha Kettula, ElizabethBrown, Heather Bearheart.FRESHMEN:

List incomplete, no roster availableCOACHES

HEAD COACH: Caryn StanfordASSISTANT: Kristin Kosloski

UNITY EAGLES VOLLEYBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Crystal Donahue, Hayla Bader, Marisa Hacker,Bryana Petersin, Olga Novikova, Femke Oltrop.JUNIORS: Brittany Thomfohrda, Ashley Johnson, JenniferVlasnik.SOPHOMORES: Sarah Bader, Hailey Olson, Taylor Heath-man, Kourtney Collins, Shay Nelson, Shauna Jorgenson.FRESHMEN: Carly Ince, Maddie Ramich, Becca Garvey,Emily Gross, Sophie Peterson, Danielle Mares, Kelly Radke,Josie Owens, Cassie Hanson, Kennedy Olson, Lily Lenk.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Chris LesneskiASSISTANTS: Jennifer DeLozier, Briana Coombe.MANAGER: Naomi Williamson

Daphne Hubbell Jessica Lysdahl Amber Hall Abigail Mitchell Brittany Coulter Kyisha Kettula Elizabeth Brown Heather Bearheart

Carley Emery Ashley Guevara Danielle Keller

Brittany Thomfohrda Ashley Johnson Shauna Jorgensen Shay Nelson Kourtney Collins Taylor Heathman Hailey Olson Sarah Bader

Bryana Petersin Marisa Hacker Hayla Bader Crystal Donahue

Caryn Stanford

Chris Lesneski


Tigers hope torise to top in a

tough conferenceby Greg MarstenLeader staff writerWEBSTER – The

Webster Tigers vol-leyball team has asolid core of experi-enced talent this sea-son. They have asmany talented sen-iors as any squad inthe West Lakeland,and should be asolid contender allseason long.

Head coach Mindy Widiker is in herninth season at the reins of the Tiger pro-gram, and lost just two graduating seniorsfrom last year: Kendra Spurgeon andNikkiSteiner. That means the team will haveplenty of talented, mature players this year,which Widiker agrees will be a huge help.“One of our strengths this year is we are anexperienced team with lots of seasonedseniors,” she said.The Tigers made a great run last season,

locking up a third-place finish with a dra-matic upset win over the very good Clay-ton Bears in the regular season finale. Thattenacious, never-give-up quality - com-bined with a good nucleus of talent - couldcarry the Tigers even farther this season,

especially with the seniors she’ll have onthe court: Michelle Gibbs, Billie Ingalls,Mary Johnson, Siiri Larsen, Alyssa Mainand Ally Daniels.“I really have a strong senior group,”

Widiker said. “They are experienced anddriven.”While Widiker admitted there’s not a

whole lot of new things for the 2010 sea-son, that’s not a bad thing. The Webstersquad will stay at the top of the local pack,and give every team a run for their moneyat the net. While the Tigers are not that tall,they do have several very talented hittersand setters that can use the whole court.“Yeah, that is one of our weaknesses, we

don’t have a lot of height,” she admitted,but noted that some of the players to watchare seniors Larsen, Gibbs and Johnson, allof whom are multitalented seniors fewteams can match.Widiker thinks the conference competi-

tion may be tightening, as some of theyounger programs begin to mature.“Grantsburg will be tough, but we’d like to

give them a tough challenge,” she said. “Ibelieve there should be a lot of good com-petition this season, but without playing ateam at least once it’s hard to speculate.”

WEBSTER TIGERS VOLLEYBALL

FREDERIC VIKINGS CROSS COUNTRY

Jade Johnson Sarah Knauber Tanesha Carlson Samantha Nelson Ben Saengthaweep Katie Simpson Ian Lexen Abby Brightbill

Webster seniorMary Johnson isjust one of a hand-ful of talentedplayers on theWebster volleyballteam this year. –Photo by BrendaMartin

WEBSTER TIGERS VOLLEYBALLROSTER

SENIORS: Billie Ingalls, Michelle Gibbs, Ally Daniels, SiiriLarsen, Mary Johnson.JUNIORS: Sarah Nyberg, Chelsea Larson, Melissa Gus-tavson, Shauna Rein, Audrey Mulliner, Tanya Johnson,Alyce DeBlase, Miranda Burger, Ciara Stadick.SOPHOMORES: Amber Davis, Gabby Schiller, Nikki Em-berson, Alyssa Main, Briana Phernetton, Danielle Curtis,Samantha Perius, Jill Holmstrom, Chelsey McIntyre.FRESHMEN: Marissa Elliott, Amy Sue Greiff, Tammy Quat-mann, Lindsay Schilling, Alex Holmstrom, Sydney Stellrecht,Megan Hophan, Mikayla Hatfield, Sarah Thielke, Ashley Di-etmeier, Aleah Heinz.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Mindy WidikerASSISTANTS: Marleana Rank, Rachel Belisle.MANAGERS: Taylor Larson, Sophie Phernetton, AbbyWidiker.

Alyssa Main Mary Johnson Billie Ingalls Chelsea Larson Sarah Nyberg Amber Davis Nikki Emberson Briana Phernetton

Michelle Gibbs Ally Daniels Siiri Larsen

Mindy Widiker

Vikings pool oftalented girls should

be winnersby Greg MarstenLeader staff writerFREDERIC – The

Frederic Vikingscross-country seasoncould be quite inter-esting. The returningdepth and talent is asimpressive a squadas any in the region,and are sure to beeven faster and morecompetitive this sea-

son.Second-year coach Ian Karl teams up

with returning co-coach Eric Olson to keepthe Frederic program marching along, atan even quicker pace.“We expect even faster running,” said

Karl, who noted the exceptional pool of re-turning seniors that includes Tanesha Carl-son, Samantha Nelson, Sage Karl, CallaKarl, Jade Johnson and Sarah Knauber, allof whom are quite capable.“Our experience working together as a

team from last year, also my and coachOlson’s experiences from last year, willhelp us to be better coaches this year,” Karlsaid.While the girls are the odds-on favorite

for a conference win, the boys are suffering

the loss of some key runners, including JoelAnderson, “Hewill be missed, but wewishhim luck in his college career,” Karl said.They do have returning runner Ian Lexenand track veteran Ben Saengthaweep. Butthe boys numbers are still low for the mo-ment, putting even more pressure on un-derclassmen.“We have some new, younger runners,

but still needmore if our program is to staystrong,” Karl said.Both Olson and Karl are confident that

the season will be very good for the girls inconference this year, and even othercoaches have remarked on their solid girlssquad this season.The Vikings regional and sectional per-

formances last fall were just a hint of their

success at Wisconsin Rapids. Their sev-enth-place finish at the state tournamentlast Halloween is an example of theirstrength, and the group of returning sen-iors means the local squads are the likelyfirst victims.“Yeah, the [conference] outlook is very

good for the girls team,” Karl stated.“We’re looking forward to an exciting sen-ior year for our conference champion girlsteam and the opportunity for our youngerrunners to learn from them.”This is likely going to be quite a memo-

rable season for the Vikings, andwill hope-fully draw in a larger pool for seasons tocome.

Ian Karl

Coaches Eric Olson and Ian Karl are confident that the season will be verygood for the girls in conference this year. – Photo by Greg Marsten

FREDERIC VIKINGS CROSS COUNTRYBOYS ROSTER

SOPHOMORES: Ben Saengthaweep, Ian LexenGIRLS ROSTER

SENIORS: Jade Johnson, Sam Nelson, Calla Karl, SageKarl, Tanesha Carlson, Sarah Knauber.SOPHOMORE: Katie SimpsonFRESHMAN: Abby Brightbill

COACHESHEAD COACH: Ian KarlVOLUNTEER ASSISTANT: Eric Olson

Calla Karl Sage Karl


Saints look to becompetitivethis season

by Marty SeegerLeader staff writerST. CROIX FALLS

– The St. Croix FallsSaints cross-countryteam will be work-ing with a newcoach this year, butwill be familiar withwhat TammiBraund expects ofthem. Braund was

the assistant coach to Jennifer Cleminslast year, but will fit nicely this season ashead coach of a cross-country team.“I was the assistant coach last year and

loved it. I love to run and have been run-ning for about 15 years or so now. I havelots of running experience,” said Braund.The new coach is a St. Croix Falls HighSchool alumnus that also ran track inhigh school. She loves to participate inthe local 5K and 10K races, but had al-ways been a sprinter in the past.“Now I like the long distance things,”

Braund said.The Saints also have a new assistant

coach in Doug Schmidt, who has beenrunning for over 30years and will bringanother angle of ex-perience to theteam.Braund says the

Saints boys shouldbe very good thisseason, and haveadded a couple offreshmen to themix. Junior Alex

Frey is back for another season and has ashot at state, along with junior RashaudKelash, who has been pushing himself

over the summer.For the girls, senior Bailey Bergmann

will get one more try at a state appear-

ance. She earned a trip to state as a fresh-man, and sophomore Savannah Stonecould add a nice dimension to the teamthis year.“Our conference outlook looks good

but we will have to see what the seasonbrings. It looks to be a great season witha lot of kids returning from last year. Wewill try our best and see what that bringsus,” Braund said.

Good things instore for Pirates

cross-country teamby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerGRANTSBURG –

Of the three Piratesthat earned a trip tothe state meet lastyear, two will beback. Seniors StevenMcKinley and An-gela Gaffney will behoping to earn theirthird-straight stateappearance and

have a great shot at doing so. Severalpositives came from the sectional meetlast season.“Every single one of the kids that ran

were at their personal bests, or ran bet-ter than their personal bests,” said long-time Pirates coach Paul Huskamp afterhis athletes finished the sectional meet inBoyceville last year.Other boys who ran the sectional last

year are back this year as well, includingZach Arnold and Daniel Biorn. Arnoldmissed a trip to state by just two placesand Biorn finished 18th overall, but im-proved considerably over the course of

the season. There are also juniors Bren-dan Kutz and SeanHandy back this year,and both competed at the sectional level.“The boys team looks especially good

this year,” Huskamp said, adding thatjust about everyone has come back.As far as the girls team, experience and

numbers are lacking a bit, but both boys

and girls should field enough for a fullteam.“Plus, we have some newcomers that

haven’t ran before,” Huskamp said,adding, “who knowswhat our incomingfreshmen will do.”A handful of the Pirates runners last

season were newcomers, and showed alot of great potential running with someof the area’s best competitors.

GRANTSBURG PIRATES CROSS COUNTRY

ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTS CROSS COUNTRY

The St. Croix Falls cross-country team is working with enough talent to makethemselves a competitive team in the conference this year. – Photo by MartySeeger

The Grantsburg Pirates cross-country team is geared up to give the confer-ence a run for their money this season. – Photo by Priscilla Bauer

GRANTSBURG PIRATES CROSS COUNTRYBOYS ROSTER

SENIOR: Steven McKinleyJUNIORS: Nick Lindgren, Brendan Kutz, Zach Arnold,Daniel Biorn, Kyle Roberts.SOPHOMORES: Bradley Taylor, Sean Handy.FRESHMEN: Jacob Ohnstad, Erland Olson.

GIRLS ROSTERSENIORS: Jordan Christopherson, Haley Larson, RosieLaMere, Angela Gaffney.JUNIOR: Kaelah Maslow.FRESHMAN: Jaden Cook.

COACHHEAD COACH: Paul Huskamp

ST.CROIXFALLSSAINTSCROSSCOUNTRYBOYS ROSTER

SENIORS: Nate Gravesen, Joe Thayer.JUNIORS: Chris Eisen, Alex Frey, Rashaud Kelash, SamNichols, Anthony Locken.SOPHOMORE: Rob Foss.FRESHMAN: Cody Leach, Brendon Gearhart.

GIRLS ROSTERSENIORS: Bailey Bergmann, Ashley Bollig, Jessica Der-rick, Carley Martin.SOPHOMORES: Autumn Erickson, Allie Holmdahl, Sa-vannah Stone.

COACHHEAD COACH: Tammi Braund

Brendan Kutz Nick Lindgren Kyle Roberts Sean Handy Bradley Taylor Jacob Ohnstad Erland Olson Jaden Cook

Steven McKinley Angela Gaffney JordanChristopherson Kaelah Maslow Zach Arnold Daniel Biorn

Paul Huskamp

Tammi Braund

Alex Frey Sam Nichols Rob Foss Autumn Erickson Savannah Stone Allie Holmdahl

Bailey Bergmann Chris Eisen Rashaud KelashNate Graveson Carley Martin Jessica Derrick

Joe Thayer


Tiger distancerunners build ona solid legacy

by Greg MarstenLeader staff writerWEBSTER – The

Webster Tiger cross-country program islooking forward toanother good year,according to headcoach Jim Muus -who has 29 years inhis pocket for expe-rience.

“We’re down a little bit in the highschool [numbers], but looking forward toa good group in the junior high,” hesaid.Webster’s cross-country prowess is

hard to match, at least on the boys side.Their dominance at Boyceville in the Di-vision 3 sectionals last year, and latertheir fourth-place finish at state, is bothnotable and impressive. A repeat wouldbe nice - but could be tough to duplicate.“We are looking forward to another

great year for Jack Taylor, as well as JoeyErickson and Devin Greene,” Muus saidof his upper-level boys. “Emma Kelbyand Kelly Schiller should also have an-other great year.”Muus is a master

at developing talent,and he’s confidentthat the youngerranks will continueto grow and blos-som into a qualityfuture.“Yes, we have a

good junior highprogram that should

help us this year and in the future,” hesaid.Webster has a bevy of male talent this

year at the upper levels, but the femaledistance runners are younger, andpoised for the future. But for the hereand now, Muus is pretty happy withtheir chances.

“Yeah, I think we have a good chanceto win conference with the boys,” hesaid. “At this point, it's hard to say withour girls. I think Frederic should win theconference for the girls.”Muus has a some new kids that were

working out and running hard this sum-mer, and quite a few folks are interested

to see how they fare.“We’re looking forward to seeing how

well some of our new people do thisyear, like Tatyana Pope, Matt Smith andOudy Weber,” he said. “We have a greatgroup of runners and we’re looking for-ward to working with each one of them.”The distance running tradition is

strong in Tigertown, andwith steady, pa-tient veterans like Muus, that history issafe, sound and solid.

Unity cross-countryteam working withmore upperclassmen

by Marty SeegerLeader staff writerBALSAM LAKE –

The Unity/Luckcross-country team isseeing a nice shift innumbers this season,which could yieldsome success in theconference. In yearspast, the team wasloaded with middleschool athletes, but ithas since shifted to

include a handful of upperclassmen.“This year I should have enough for a

full girls team,” said Lori Anderson, whois head coach for the second-straight sea-

son. It was tough season last year for theEagles as they faced a few injuries thatwhittled their numbers down a bit.On a brighter note, the team has man-

aged to pull a few athletes from the LuckSchool District to make it one of the moresuccessful years in recruiting a full squadof boys.“Definitely, this is the biggest group of

young men that I’ve ever had,” Anderson

said.Sophomore Colton Sorenson will likely

be a key to the Eagles success this season,and senior Mickey Muller brings a lot ofexperience to the team. Muller works hardin the offseason to prepare for the fall, andBen Bengtson, Alec Larson and MattSchultz are a handful of juniors that willbring some healthy competition as well.The Eagles also have a new foreign ex-

change student, Taavi Kasemagi, of Ger-many, who in the first day of practice camein with a time in the top five boys. Sopho-mores Dylan LeMay and Brendon Fenningare two athletes from Luck who will havean opportunity to make their mark on thecross-country team as well.“Just from the one practice that we had

yesterday, we just have some raw talent,”Anderson said.

UNITY/LUCK CROSS COUNTRY

WEBSTER TIGERS CROSS COUNTRY

The Webster boyscross-country teamis poised to get an-other group of qual-ity athletes to thestate meet later thisfall. – Photo by GregMarsten

The Unity/Luck cross-country team has a lot of raw talent on this year’s ros-ter, which could make things very exciting at the end of the season. – Photoby Marty Seeger

WEBSTER TIGERS CROSS COUNTRYBOYS ROSTER

SENIORS: Jack Taylor, Devin Greene.JUNIORS: Joey Erickson, Taylor Heinz, Brad Krause, CodyIsaacson, Robert Buehler.SOPHOMORES: Matt Smith, Cortland Summer.FRESHMAN: Oudy Weber.

GIRLS ROSTERSENIOR: Shaina Pardun.JUNIORS: Olivia Kopecky, Tatyana Pope.SOPHOMORES: Emma Kelby, Kally Schiller.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Jim MuusASSISTANT: Roy Ward

UNITY/LUCK CROSS COUNTRYBOYS ROSTER

SENIORS: Taavi Kasemagi, Mickey Muller.JUNIORS: Ben Bengtson, Aaron Cousins, Mitchell John-ston, Steven Krueger, Alec Larson, Matt Schultz.SOPHOMORES: Scott Bever, Brendon Fenning, DylanLeMay, Colton Sorenson.FRESHMEN: Austin Baker, Neil Kline.

GIRLS ROSTERSENIORS: Alison Lennartson.SOPHOMORES: Anna Luepke, Megan Volgren.FRESHMEN: Emily Bethke, Olivia Coen, Ella Luepke,Jade Rau.

COACHESHEAD COACH: Lori AndersonASSISTANT: Yvonne Sorenson

Lori Anderson

Jim Muus

Alec Larson Matt Schultz Scott Bever Brendon Fenning Dylan LeMay Anna Luepke Colton Sorenson Megan Volgren

Mickey Muller Ben Bengtson

Joey Erickson Cody Isaacson Taylor Heinz Matt Smith Cortland Summer Emma Kelby Oudy Weber

Devin Greene Jack Taylor Brad Krause Robert BuehlerShaina Pardun Olivia Kopecky

Taavi Kasemagi Alison Lennartson


An interestingseason ahead for

Luck/Unity golfersby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerLUCK – The

Luck/Unity golfteam is seeing somepretty good partici-pation this season interms of the numberof golfers on theteam, but a shadowhas been cast onwhether or not theteam will be allowedto stay in the Middle

Border Conference this fall. Both St. CroixCentral and St. Croix Falls are in the samepredicament, as it was decided last Maythat the teams will need to find a new con-ference other than the Middle Border.Details are still sketchy on exactly why

the issue was brought to attention in thefirst place, and the decision to move thethree teams out of theMiddle Border is notyet final, but it will make a three-team con-ference championship at the end of the sea-son somewhat interesting. Despite thenews, Luck/Unity will continue to playand continue to compete this season.Those back this season include five sen-

iors, one junior, two sophomores and afreshman. It makes next season a bit grimin terms of girlsgoing out for golf,but this year couldbe exciting still for afew players. AverySteen is back againthis season and eye-ing up another tripto the state tourna-ment. She’s off to aslow start this yearbut still has a goodshot at a return trip

to state.There are a handful of girls who haven’t

played golf before, but coach Ron Steensays they’ve beenmaking steady improve-ments and seem to love the game, which islikely to become their lifetime sport.“The girls are having fun and they’re

learning something andmeeting other girlsfrom other teams,” Steen said. He added,“Just the camaraderie, it is really neat tosee.”

Saints workingone short of a team

this seasonby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerST. CROIX FALLS

– The Saints golf pro-gram has a traditionof successful golfteams and athletes.In the past decade orso they’ve been to thestate tournamentseven times, andhave been able to doso with low num-bers. This year,

they’re working with some of the lowestnumbers in team history. Just three golferswill grace the roster this season, but thequality is still there.Seniors Tess Hedrick and Brittany Buss

are back again for another season after fin-ishing up in the sectional tournament atAmery last year. The team was close tomaking it to the state tournament but onlyone, Marissa Campeau, made it to state asan individual. With just three girls, and oneshort of fielding a team this seasonHedrickand Buss will look to make a trip to stateindividually instead.“They were top 10 in the conference last

year and they’re really determined to dowell this year and they’ve got a good atti-tude as going on as individuals,” coachTerry Benoy said.The Saints are also wielding a newcomer

to the mix this year in freshman MacKaylaSwanson, who didn’t start playing golf allthat long ago, but has worked very hardover the summer to perform quite well inher very first match of the season.“She’s dedicated and has her family be-

hind her so that’s really good,” Benoy said.

LUCK/UNITY GIRLS GOLF

ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTS GIRLS GOLF

Emily Stelling Jenelle Larson Tina Lennartson Avery Steen Jena Alling Karissa GillerLindsey Stapel

From (L to R): MacKayla Swanson, Brittany Buss and Tess Hedrick hope tocompete this season and gain a spot at state as competitors. – Photos by MartySeeger

It will be an interesting season for the Luck/Unity golf team, as several questions remain about how they’ll fit in theMiddle Border Conference, but you can bet that whatever happens, they’ll be enjoying the game of golf and having funalong the way. – Photo by Marty Seeger

LUCK/UNITY GIRLS GOLFROSTER

SENIORS: Lindsey Stapel, Emily Stelling, Jenelle Larson,Jade Schrock, Megan Moore.JUNIOR: Tina Lennartson.SOPHOMORES: Avery Steen, Jena Alling.FRESHMAN: Karissa Giller.

COACHHEAD COACH: Ron Steen

ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTS GIRLS GOLFROSTER

SENIORS: Tess Hedrick, Brittany Buss.FRESHMEN: MacKayla Swanson.

COACHHEAD COACH: Terry Benoy.

Tess Hedrick eyes up a shot after ahard swing.

Ron Steen

Tess Hedrick Brittany Buss MacKayla Swanson

Terry Benoy


Fundraising a bigfactor in keepingdance team going

by Marty SeegerLeader staff writerFREDERIC – After

starting up a danceteam last year for thefirst time in manyyears, the Fredericdance team is work-ing hard to performduring halftime atfootball and basket-ball games this sea-son. With a dozen

girls committed to the team this year fromseventh grade through 11th grade, theteam was able to keep the numbers upagain.“We’re real happy with those numbers,”

said second-year coach Jackie Kurkowski,who will be getting help from choreogra-pher Amy Tinman and assistant coach SueWettergren.Along with the time and effort it takes to

practice their routines, the Frederic danceteam is self-funded and relies on fundrais-ing to pay for some of the costs to compete.They’ve already held a car wash in Fred-eric and hope to bring back their annualprom dress exchange in the spring.“The girls are enthusiastic, and they’re

the ones that are driving it and trying to get

it going, so that helps mestay on top of things too,with their energy level. It’sgreat,” Kurkowski said.The teams fundraising ef-

forts will help send them toa dance competition inPrairie Farm in December.“Wewent down there last

year, and I don’t know howthey’ll do, but it’s kind offun,” Kurkowski said.Two other members on

the team will also be com-peting as individuals, butuntil that time, the teamwillcontinue to work on a rou-tine, which Kurkowski saidwill be accompanied by thesong, “Girls Just Want toHave Fun,” by Cyndi Lau-per.You can also look for the

girls to be hosting a tailgateparty during the Fredericfootball games this fall.

“Great potential”for younger Unity

tennis teamby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerBALSAM LAKE –

The Unity/Lucktennis team has hada number of suc-cesses over the pastcouple of years andhas another chanceto make it a memo-rable season in 2010.The team had five

girls that were lostto graduation last year, including theirNo. 1 singles player and part of the No. 2doubles team.“We have lost five players from our

varsity team, but have gained severalnew players who show great potential,”

says second-year coach Beth Trudeau.Last season five girls made it to the

sectional match in Durand, but couldn’tmake it to their ultimate goal of a stateappearance. But their No. 2 doublesteam, featuring Katherine Ebenspergerand Jessica Kutina, could have a goodshot to make it this year. BothEbensperger and Kutina are serving asteam captains this season. Also, AnnaEbensperger, who was on the No. 2 dou-bles team last season, will be playing sin-gles, along with teammate Julie Franzel.“Our No. 1 doubles team has set their

goals high and are ready to reach them.Our team also has a great camaraderieand encouragement for each other and Icouldn’t ask for more,” Trudeau said.While it’s difficult to predict the season

overall, Trudeau believes they can com-pete in the middle of the conference, buthave the capability to reachmuch higherthan that.“Our goal is to finish in the middle of

the conference ranks, but I also see ourteam succeeding higher than that if theystay focused and determined,” Trudeausaid.

UNITY/LUCK TENNIS

FREDERIC VIKINGS DANCE TEAM

KatherineEbensperger

Jessi Kutina Kathryn Zahler Julie Franzel Emily Petzel Elizabeth Thuerkoff Anna Ebensperger Sierra Thomfohrda

Kayla Johnson April Johnson

Jackie Kurkowski

As part of the halftimeentertainment for sev-eral high school sport-ing events this season,the Frederic Vikingsdance team will be per-forming to “Girls JustWant to Have Fun,” byCyndi Lauper. They’llalso be performing at acompetition in Decem-ber at Prairie Farm. –Photo by Greg Marsten

Katherine Ebensperger and Jessi Kutina will be looking to go beyond the sectional match this season as the No. 1doubles team. – Photo by Marty Seeger

UNITY/LUCK TENNISROSTER

SENIORS: Katherine Ebensperger, Jessi Kutina, KaylaJohnson, April Johnson, Kathryn Zahler.JUNIORS: Julie Franzel, Emily Petzel, Elizabeth Thuerkoff,Brittney Bublitz.SOPHOMORES: Anna Ebensperger, Kelsy Johnson.FRESHMEN: Sierra Thomfohrda, Tess Anderson.

COACHHEAD COACH: Beth Trudeau

FREDERIC VIKINGS DANCE TEAMROSTER

JUNIORS: Ashley Kurkowski, Danielle Swanson, TabithaJava.SOPHOMORE: Natasha BaileyFRESHMEN: Carly Gustafson, Bryana Bailey.EIGHTH GRADE: Kendra Mosay, Hayden Swanson, JamieSiebenthal, MaKayla Arthurs, Hanna Daeffler.SEVENTH GRADE: Julia Buck.

COACHCOACH: Jackie Kurkowski

Beth Trudeau


Expect new stuntsfrom Eagle

cheerleaders this yearby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerBALSAMLAKE –

Unity’s cheerlead-ing tradition willcontinue againunder head coachBetsy Lyga, who iscoaching her fourthseason and alsohelps out as assis-tant to the dance

team. She says each year brings excite-ment and something new.“I’m looking forward to the season!

The girls have great attitudes and areopen to learning new cheers and stunts.Though we are very green, I think it’ll bea successful season for us,” Lyga said.Most of the cheer squad is new this

year, and for football, the captain will beKaitlyn MacKinnon, who is entering herthird season. Junior Sam Palmquist willbe in her second year of cheerleading.“Though we lost many seniors last

year, we are very fortunate to have fournew ladies on our squad. As mentionedbefore, they are very eager to learn andhave a lot of enthusiasm!” Lyga said.

The team will also add a few newstunts and mounts to the mix of cheersthis season.“We have a flexible group this year;

most of the girls can interchange posi-tions between bases, flyers and spotters,”said Lyga.This year the Central Wisconsin Cheer

Camps put together a camp for the girlsat the school, and Julie Poeschel, a Uni-versity of Minnesota cheerleader, put ona six-hour camp, where she taughtstunts, mounts and short dances.“It was ideal to have our own camp, so

that all skills could be taught at our abil-ity level. The girls bonded and learnedto trust one another through the camp,which is necessary in order to feel com-fortable stunting,” Lyga said.The girls will be performing at all of

the home games as well as the awaygames.

Everything is newwith the Unity

Eagles dance teamthis season

by Marty SeegerLeader staff writerBALSAMLAKE –

Jillian Chell hasspent at least threeyears as the headcoach of the UnityEagles dance team,and they’re alreadylining up for an-other great year asthe Eagle halftime

entertainment. The team will be per-forming at all of the home football gamesand coming up with a completely differ-ent routine during the basketball season.The first week of practice for the group,which exceeds 30 performers, was atough one, but things are right on sched-ule according to Chell.“Last week was busy and a lot of

work, but they did a good job,” Chellsaid, adding that it’s an easy group towork with.Chell gets a lot of her help from chore-

ographer Tiffany Hallin, who comes up

with songs as well as new and uniquedance routines.“She does an awesome job,” Chell

said.Many of the girls already know the

drills and performed last season, but theteam did something new this year by

selling tickets at the Polk County Fair tohelp raise money. Those who worked atthe gates to sell tickets earned enoughmoney to pay for new warm-ups andbrand-new uniforms.“That’s something new that we

haven’t done before, and we’ll get to do

that every year now until we don’t wantto do it, so that’s kind of nice,” Chellsaid.Everything is new this year for the

Unity dance team, and they’re excited togive fans a great show during halftime atthe home football games this season.

UNITY EAGLES DANCE TEAM

UNITY EAGLES CHEERLEADING

The Unity Eagles cheer squad is ready to bring the crowd to life at homeand away football games this year. – Photo by Marty Seeger

UNITY EAGLES CHEERLEADINGROSTER

SENIORS: Autumn Peterson, Sam Palmquist, Brandi Lar-son.JUNIOR: Kaitlyn MacKinnonFRESHMEN: Sadie Swenson, Lexi Bates.

COACHCOACH: Betsy Lyga

SCHEDULEAll home and away football games.

Jillian Chell

Autumn Peterson Sam Palmquist Brandi Larson Kaitlynn MacKinnon Sadie Swenson Lexi Bates

Betsy Lyga

UNITY EAGLES DANCE TEAMROSTER

SENIORS: Lindsey Voss, Erin Mabry, Julia Moore, KaitlynJohnson, Josie Kalenda, Kari Owens, Cassie Sturgal, KymRadke, Alison Lennartson, Femke Oltrop, Hayla Bader.JUNIORS: Jade Baerg, Brittany Bublitz.SOPHOMORES: Kasey Heimstead, Anna Luepke, BrittneyKruse, Emily Bethke, Renae McKenzie, Tina Lennartson,Elaine Butala, Taylor Heathman.FRESHMEN: Nikki Bystrom, Courtney Galle, Lily Lenk,Josie Owen, Kelly Radke, Ashley Ackerman.

COACHESCOACH: Jillian ChellASSISTANT: Betsy Lyga

The Unity Eagles dance team will once again perform during halftime at all of the home football games this season.– Photo by Marty Seeger


Tiger girls areexcited to pump up

the crowdsby Greg MarstenLeader staff writerWEBSTER – The

Webster Tigerscheerleading squadfor 2010 is downslightly in numbers,but with some newyoung talent andplenty of interest,the squad will onceagain be lighting up

the crowds, especially when the Tigerson the gridiron are in need of a littlepick-me-up.Now in her seventh year as head

coach, Shirley Tyson is confident hersquad can get the crowds going and helpkeep the Webster fans pumped up andready for some football.The Tiger football cheer squad will

have at least five high school membersthis year, and has another half dozen orso middle schoolers in the wings to helpout on occasion, such as pep rallies or

other events.Those five varsity members are young,

which is both good for the program, andgives the squad astrong future. Teamcaptain Brenna Nutt- a sophomore -leads a group thatincludes one junior,Mackenzie Koelz,and three hungryfreshman: AshleyStarks, Amy Rindaland Casey Sperling.“We’ve got a lot of

new girls this year,” coach Tyson said.“And the middle school and high schoolgirls seem to work really well together.”

The Tiger cheers this year may sound alittle new, as Tyson admits they “comefrom everywhere,” and that the teamgives themselves lots of critical review.“The past girls experience has a lot ofinput,” she said.There is no shortage of excitement

around the Webster football program,and with one of the best, most explosivegridiron squads in the region, the Web-ster crowds always have lots to cheerabout, and they also have some goodleadership to lead that cheering.“We just try to have fun andmake sure

the girls keep the crowds going,” Tysonsaid as the girls worked on some new ac-robatics. “This is a really good group!”The Tiger cheer squad has a young

group of girls, excited to keep the crowdsand team going, while having some funalong the way. It sounds like a winningcombination.

Eight cheerleaderslook to lead rowdy

section this fallby Marty SeegerLeader staff writerST. CROIX FALLS

– The Saints footballteam will have asquad of eightcheerleaders thisseason, after tryoutswere held earlier inthe year.“We had tryouts

for football the lasttwo years, which is kind of cool becauseit shows that there’s an interest there.Unfortunately, that means you have tocut some people, but I can’t work with 14girls, that’s just too many,” said coachSarah Campbell.The eight cheerleaders are comprised

of four seniors, and at least five of theeight are returning from last year.“Their emphasis this year is bonding

and team building, keeping focus andhaving fun,” Campbell said.The team has added a unique

fundraising idea to their list of activitiesthis year, which includes cheerleadingbirthday parties that will be offered to

the community. For a small fee, parentswill be able to hire three cheerleaders tocome to a little girl's birthday party andteach cheers, stunts and jumps. They’llalso be offering another youth cheer-

leading camp in October.Another idea to get the crowdmore in-

volved is the formation of a spirit club,which gets others not on the cheerlead-ing squad to make signs and help lead

cheers in the crowd.“It just gets more kids involved. Some

that would never go out for cheerleadingwould love to come to the game andscream at the preps,” Campbell said.This year the team’s motto is “every-

body loves everybody.” Campbell says itallows the girls to “click” and becomeone unit. It also helps with team-build-ing skills so they can get to know eachother better and accept one another.

ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTS CHEERLEADING

WEBSTER TIGERS CHEERLEADING

There is no shortage of excitement around the Webster football program,and with one of the best, most explosive gridiron squads in the region, theWebster crowds always have lots to cheer about. – Photo by Greg Marsten

Brenna NuttMackenzie Koelz Casey Sperling Amy Rindal Ashley Starks

The Saints cheerleaders have several unique ideas to bring spirit to eachhome and away game this fall. – Photo by Sarah Campbell

ST. CROIX FALLS SAINTS CHEERLEADINGROSTER

SENIORS: Jenna Bartusch, Taylor Stowell, Bridgette Bayle,Samantha Peterson.JUNIORS: Queen Jacobs, Samantha French.FRESHMEN: Ciara Swanson, McKayla Swanson.

COACHESCOACH: Sarah CampbellASSISTANT: Susie Jasperson.


WEBSTER TIGERS CHEERLEADINGROSTER

JUNIORS: Mackenzie KoelzSOPHOMORES: Brenna NuttFRESHMEN: Casey Sperling, Ashley Starks, Amy Rindal

COACHESCOACH: Shirley TysonVOLUNTEER COACH: Kandi Otero


Shirley Tyson

Jenna Bartusch Taylor Stowell Bridgette Bayle Samantha Peterson Queen Jacobs Samantha French Ciara Swanson McKayla Swanson

Sarah Campbell


Thursday, August 26TennisTBD Amery at UnityVolleyballTBD Luck at Unity quad

Webster at Unity quad7:30 p.m. Northwood at Frederic

Webster at BirchwoodCross Country4:30 p.m. Grantsburg Invite

at Memory Lake Park(Frederic, St. Croix Falls, Webster,Unity/Luck)Golf9 a.m. SCF & Luck/Unity at Krooked

KreekFriday, August 27Football5 p.m. Webster at UW-Stout7 p.m. Frederic at Siren

Spooner at GrantsburgSt. Croix Central at UnityWinter at LuckSt. Croix Falls at Osceola

Saturday, August 28VolleyballTBD St. Croix Falls at MenomonieSunday, August 29VolleyballTBD St. Croix Falls at MenomonieTuesday, August 31Cross Country4:30 p.m. Frederic Invitational(St. Croix Falls, Unity-Luck, Grantsburg)Volleyball7:30 p.m.Solon Springs at FredericGolf4 p.m. SCF & Luck/Unity at EllsworthThursday, September 2TennisTBD Unity-Luck at DurandVolleyball7:30 p.m. Luck at Shell Lake

Siren at St. Croix FallsClear Lake at UnityWebster at Frederic

Golf4 p.m. SCF & Luck/Unity at SCCFriday, September 3Football7 p.m. Frederic at Northwood

Siren at Turtle LakeCumberland at GrantsburgLadysmith at St. Croix FallsChetek at UnityWebster at ClaytonBirchwood at Luck

Tuesday, September 7Cross Country4:30 p.m.Unity-Luck at Webster Invite

held at Yellow Lake Golf CourseTennisTBD Bloomer at UnityVolleyball7:30 p.m. Frederic at Birchwood

Siren at WinterCumberland at WebsterSt. Croix Falls at Osceola

Thursday, September 9TennisTBD Unity-Luck at MondoviCross Country4:30 p.m.Grantsburg at CameronVolleyball7:30 p.m.Grantsburg at Webster

St. Croix Falls at Shell LakeSiren at ClaytonFrederic at Unity

Golf4 p.m. SCF & Luck/Unity at St. Croix

FallsFriday, September 10Football7 p.m. St. Croix Falls at Clear Lake

Grantsburg at UnityLuck at Shell LakeWashburn at SirenWebster at FlambeauWinter at Frederic

Saturday, September 11Cross Country10 a.m. Grantsburg at Glenwood CityVolleyball10 a.m. Grantsburg at Ashland9 a.m. Siren at Chetek tourneyMonday, September 13TennisTBD Barron Area Schools at UnityTuesday, September 14Cross Country4 p.m. Rice Lake Invitational(Unity-Luck, Webster, Grantsburg)TennisTBD Ellsworth at UnityVolleyball7:30 p.m. Clear Lake at Siren

Webster at LuckGrantsburg at UnityFrederic at Turtle Lake

Golf4 p.m. SCF & Luck/Unity at PrescottThursday, September 16TennisTBD New Richmond at UnityVolleyball7:30 p.m. Shell Lake at Webster

Clayton at St. Croix FallsGrantsburg at LuckUnity at SirenFrederic at Clear Lake

Golf9 p.m. SCF & Luck/Unity at Bristol

Ridge, SomersetFriday, September 17Football7 p.m. Frederic at Bruce

Grantsburg at ColfaxShell Lake at SirenNorthwood/Solon Springs at LuckUnity at FlambeauWebster at Clear LakeSt. Croix Falls at Cameron

Saturday, September 18VolleyballTBD Unity at Osceola Tourney

St. Croix Falls at Osceola Tourney10 a.m. Grantsburg Tourney

(Frederic, Webster)Cross Country10 a.m. Grantsburg at OsceolaTuesday, September 21TennisTBD Unity-Luck at BarronVolleyball7:30 p.m. Luck at Clayton

Webster at SirenClear Lake at GrantsburgFrederic at St. Croix Falls

Cross Country4 p.m. Webster at NorthwesternThursday, September 23Cross Country4:30 p.m. Grantsburg at Unity InviteVolleyball7 p.m. Unity at Webster7:30 p.m.Grantsburg at Clayton

Siren at Turtle LakeSt. Croix Falls at Clear LakeLuck at Frederic

GolfTBA Conference TournamentFriday, September 24Football7 p.m. Grantsburg at Webster

Turtle Lake at FredericLuck at SirenFlambeau at St. Croix Falls

Saturday, September 25Football2 p.m. Cameron at UnityMonday, September 27TennisTBD Unity-Luck at OsceolaCross Country4:30 p.m. Cumberland Invitational(Webster, Grantsburg)

Tuesday, September 28Cross Country4 p.m. Winter Invitational(Unity-Luck, Grantsburg)TennisTBD Unity-Luck at New RichmondVolleyball7:30 p.m.St. Croix Falls at Grantsburg

Turtle Lake at WebsterClear Lake at LuckShell Lake at UnitySiren at NorthwoodClayton at Frederic

Golf9 a.m. Regional Tournament at OsceolaThursday, September 30Volleyball7:30 p.m. Luck at St. Croix Falls

Shell Lake at SirenUnity at Turtle LakeFrederic at Grantsburg

Friday, October 1Football6 p.m. Cochrane-Fountain City at Frederic7 p.m. Cameron at Webster

Clear Lake at UnitySiren at BirchwoodSt. Croix Falls at GrantsburgLuck at Turtle Lake

Volleyball7 p.m. Clear Lake at St. Croix FallsSaturday, October 2Volleyball9 a.m. Unity at Amery tournament

Webster at Amery tournamentSt. Croix Falls atAmery tournamentGrantsburg at Duluth Marshall

Monday, October 4Volleyball6 p.m. Siren at BirchwoodTuesday, October 5Cross Country4 p.m. Amery Invitational(Unity-Luck, Webster, Grantsburg)Volleyball7:30 p.m. Turtle Lake at Grantsburg

Unity at LuckWebster at St. Croix FallsSiren at Frederic

Golf9 a.m. Sectional Tournament at

Bristol RidgeThursday, October 7Volleyball7:30 p.m.Grantsburg at Siren

Luck at Turtle LakeClayton at WebsterSt. Croix Falls at UnityFrederic at Shell Lake

Friday, October 8Football3 p.m. Siren at Winter7 p.m. Grantsburg at Cameron

Shell Lake at FredericUnity at Glenwood CityBruce at LuckWebster at St. Croix Falls

Sunday, October 10GolfTBA WIAA State Tournament at

MadisonMonday, October 11Volleyball5 p.m. Frederic at Luck triangularTBA WIAA State Tournament at

MadisonTuesday, October 12Volleyball7:30 p.m. Siren at Luck

Shell Lake at GrantsburgUnity at ClaytonSt. Croix Falls at Turtle LakeWebster at Clear Lake

TBA WIAA State Tournament atMadison

Thursday, October 14Football3:30 p.m. Luck vs. Lincoln at Rice LakeCross Country4 p.m. Conference Meet at Winter -

Barker Lake Golf Course(Bruce, Cameron, Flambeau, Frederic, St.Croix Falls, Shell Lake, Webster, Winter,Grantsburg, Unity-Luck)Volleyball6 p.m. Siren at Bruce triangularFootball7 p.m. Webster at Boyceville

Frederic at Birchwood

Friday, October 15Football7 p.m. Clear Lake at Grantsburg

Unity at St. Croix FallsBruce at Siren

Saturday, October 16Volleyball9:30 a.m.Grantsburg at Cameron InviteMonday, October 18Cross Country4:30 p.m.Unity-Luck at St. Croix FallsTuesday, October 19VolleyballTBD RegionalsThursday, October 21Football7 p.m. Unity at Webster

St. Croix Falls at Elk MoundFlambeau at GrantsburgLuck at FredericSiren at Northwood

Friday, October 22Cross CountryTBD SectionalsVolleyballTBD RegionalsSaturday, October 23Cross CountryTBD SectionalsVolleyballTBD RegionalsTuesday, October 26FootballTBD PlayoffsThursday, October 28VolleyballTBD SectionalsSaturday, October 30Cross CountryTBD StateFootballTBD PlayoffsVolleyballTBD SectionalsThursday, November 4VolleyballTBD StateFriday, November 5FootballTBD PlayoffsVolleyballTBD StateSaturday, November 6FootballTBD PlayoffsVolleyballTBD StateFriday, November 12FootballTBD PlayoffsSaturday, November 13FootballTBD PlayoffsThursday, November 18FootballTBD Playoffs

fall sports preview 2010

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