Dismal shooting leads to Knights’ loss
to Vikings
by Kris Beuckens
The Knights’ Boys Basketball team traveled into hostile territory last Thursday, January 10. They were in Pelican Rapids to take on the Vikings and lost the Heart O’Lakes conference tilt, 63-42.
The Knights had a dismal shooting night as they made just 17-67 shots (25 percent) from the field. They struggled from the free throw line as well, shooting just 40 percent (8-20) and many of their misses were at the front end of the bonus. They were also outrebounded by a large margin, 52-39.
Meanwhile, the Vikings shot 42 percent in the game as they made 25 of their 60 shot attempts.
by Kris Beuckens
The WCA Knights’ Football team is done with its two-a-day practice schedule and is psyched up for another hard-hitting season. The boys in red and black will be under the direction of first-year head coach Tim Pattrin in 2008. Pattrin was one of the Knights’ assistant coaches last year.
The Knights lost several key players to graduation off of last year’s 3-6 team and will have some big shoes to fill at a few positions, but the Knights are not exactly short on experience. In fact, they have several players returning with experience who are eager to prove they can lead WCA to some big wins.
“We have many returning players with game experience on our roster this season and that makes us very optimistic for a great season,” said Pattrin!
Senior captains Brent Anderson (OL/LB), Dayton Sternhagen (RB/LB), Matt Coleman (OL/DL), and Mike Gerber (RB/LB) will lead the Knights into action this year. They’ll be joined by returning juniors Tucker Belgum (WR/DB), Sam Richards (OL/DL), Bryan Barrera (OL/DL), Cody Blehr (WR/DB), and Jake Long (WR/DB), and sophomore starting quarterback Colton Blascyk.
Seniors Landon Sylskar (OL/DL), Donald Lacey (TE/DL), Erik Erickson (WR/DB), and Alan Strom (WR/DB), Toby DeAnda (OL/DL), as well as junior Bryan Oachs (OL/DL) are all expected by Pattrin to make major contributions this season.
Several newcomers to the team will also need to make contributions if the Knights hope to build a successful season. Senior Dylan Wevley will add speed at the receiver position and in the defensive backfield while juniors Jordan Haarstad and Max Sheldon will help to fill out the offensive and defensive lines when needed.
Besides Pattrin, the Knights coaching staff also includes long-time assistants Kraig Hunter, Luke Erickson and Jeff Holsen. The Knights will be a part of the Heart O’Lakes Classic Conference which also includes: Breckenridge, DGF, Pelican Rapids, Pequot Lakes, and Wadena-Deer Creek.
According to Knight coaches, Breckenridge and Pelican Rapids are the early favorites in the Heart O’Lakes Classic Conference while Pierz and Ottertail Central are the pre-season Section 6AA favorites.
The Knights will host Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa on Friday, August 29, to get the season underway.
Knights eager to prove
themselves on the gridiron
Knights hang on for football win over BBE in season opener
By Kris Beuckens
On a beautiful night for football, the West Central Area Knights hosted the Belgrade/Brooten/Elrosa (BBE) Jaguars in each team’s season opener last Friday, August 29. The Knights jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, led 27-6 late in the fourth quarter and had to hold off the surging Jags for the win, 27-20.
The Knights are 1-0 overall and 0-0 in Heart O’Lakes Conference action. They’ll head to Staples for a showdown with the Staples-Motley Cardinals.
Knights – 27
Jaguars – 20
Tennis team looking to post more
wins in 2008
By Kris Beuckens
The Lady Knights’ Tennis team has a solid group of players returning from its 2007 squad which went 4-12 in dual match play. The’ve been practicing since August 11 and have already competed in several matches. So far, they’ve put together a 2-2 record in head-to-head and competed quite well in an early-season tournament.
Head Coach Sue Maier, now in her tenth season as the varsity coach, is pleased with what she has seen from her team so far. “This group has played a lot of tennis and with the way they’re competing early on, I think they can improve greatly from where they ended last season.”
Twelve players are returning to the team this year including 11 letter winners. Seniors Hope Krusemark and Emma Byrne will serve as captains in 2008 and they’ll be joined by juniors Mikayla Paulson, Sarah Wagner, Kelley Haberer, Becky Rauchbauer, Amanda Hanson, Carly Gilbertson, Lauren Grenson, and Emily Frykman, and sophomores, Nicole Anderson and Sarah Frisch.
According to Maier, there are five players coming in who could also figure into the varsity rotation. They are: senior Kristine Longva, a foreign exchange student from Germany; junior Sierra Fosness; sophomore Erin Rudell; and Freshmen Carlie Loeks and Jasmyn Sutton.
“I am looking forward to our season this year. We are gaining much-needed experience and strength this season with the majority of our team as upperclassmen - three seniors and nine juniors,” said Maier. “Our main goal is to put more wins in the win column. The girls have been working hard during the past three weeks with captains’ call and the season getting underway.”
The Knights will remain in Section 6A this season. Staples/Motley and Minnewaska will be the heavy weights of the section with sub-section strength coming from Osakis and Parkers Prairie, according to Maier.
Inexperienced Lady Knights Volleyball team determined to succeed
by Kris Beuckens
The 2008 Lady Knights Volleyball team has been on the courts practicing now for over three weeks and is eager to show WCA fans what they can do. The team will have a completely different look than last years more experienced squad who finished as sub-section runners-up, but what this year’s Lady Knights lack in varsity experience, they will hope to make up for with hard work and determination.
Thirteen seniors graduated from last year’s team including some girls that had played a lot of varsity volleyball. According to Knights’ fifth-year Head Coach Suzie Lohse, “We lost a very skilled group of players who were extremely instrumental in the growth of our current volleyball program. These players include three-year starter and Heart O’Lakes (HOL) Conference honorable mention player Taylor Brekke, HOL all conference players Krystal Lacey and Dana Rude, and HOL honorable mention player Estee Juergens, as well as two-year starter Britta Belgum, Hillary Johnson, Laura Huebner, Amanda Werk, Kayla Miles, Megan Boeddeker, Megan Vikesland, Anna Mattson and Ali Schneeberger.”
The only returning starter/letterwinner taking the court for the Lady Knights this year will be junior setter Caitlin Peterson. She’ll be counted on to be a leader on the floor and to set the table for the Lady Knights attack.
Joining Peterson will be seniors Megan Anderson, Sadie Felland, Taylor LaValley, Beth Anderson, Nicole Lindor, and Amanda Gruenes. Juniors Alyssa Olson, April Nelson, Hollie Lien and Gwen Anderson, as well as sophomore Megan Amundson, should also see varsity court time in 2008. Freshman Jen Froemming has great court presence and should see a lot of varsity action.
“Our team may be a bit inexperienced, but the girls all have what it takes to play and compete at the varsity level,” said Lohse. “This is an extremely talented group. They work hard and will be a lot of fun to watch as they can execute many different play options.”
Lohse also noted that her team should have great speed on the court and should be strong on the service line. “One of the best things about this group is that they continuously strive to perform at a higher level.”
Lohse will be joined on the WCA sidelines by assistant coaches Dorene Green (JV), Katie Anderson (B-team), and Jody Brasel (C-team).
“I think Perham and DGF are going to be the teams to beat in the Heart O’Lakes Conference,” said Lohse. “I haven’t seen many of the schools in our new section play, but some of the contenders should be Underwood, Wheaton, Brandon-Evansville, or Chokio-Alberta/Herman-Norcross.”
Lady Knight spikers drop matches to
Rockets and Warriors
by Kris Beuckens
The Lady Knights hosted the Underwood Rockets last Tuesday night, August 26, in what was the season-opening volleyball match for both teams. The Lady Knights were unable to sustain their offensive attack for much longer than a just few points and the Rockets were able to take home the win in a three-game sweep. The game scores were 14-25, 10-25, and 13-25.
Then, two days later, the Lady Knights hosted the Wheaton Warriors and played a much better brand of volleyball in taking the match to four games. The Knights were in each of the final three games, winning game two, 25-22. Game scores for the match were 15-25, 25-22, 19-25, and 18-25.
WCA (0-2) will travel to CAHN on Tuesday, September 2, host Pelican Rapids on Thursday and then take part in a tournament at UMM on Saturday.
Lady Knights – 0
Rockets - 3
"I felt the girls hustled and played hard all night. They covered the court and had some excellent digs,” said Lady Knights’ Coach Suzie Lohse. “This was the first night of playing varsity ball for all of our players but one. Now that they have this match under their belt and got the feel of what to expect at this level they will only get better with each match.”
WCA was led by Jen Froemming (3 kills, 4 assists, 1 block, 5-6 serving), Megan Anderson (7-7 serving),Hollie Lien (5 digs, 15-16 serve receive), Caitlin Peterson (5 assists, 2 kills, 4-5 serving), Alyssa Olson(18-19 serve receive, 1 block, 5-6 serving) and Gwen Anderson (1 solo block, 2 kills).
“Our serves could have been better. We gave up five free points and didn’t quite hit our 90 percent mark. We hit 86% in our serve receive,” noted Lohse. “We are just getting started. With a little more court experience, we’ll get stronger and more confident.”
Lady Knights – 1
Warriors – 3
“The girls played much better tonight,” said Coach Lohse about her team second match of the season. “They covered the court well and had some excellent digs. We had a much more aggressive offense, put some blocking into our game and had better communication on the floor. I am very proud of the way they played together tonight.”
For the Lady Knights, Megan Anderson was 10/11 in serving, had four kills, five blocks and 12 digs; Sadie Felland was perfect at the serving line (9/9), was 16/17 in receiving serves, had six kills and two blocks; Caitlin Peterson had four kills, nine assists and one block; Jen Froemming was 9/10 serving, had four kills, eight assists and three blocks; Gwen Anderson was 11/12 serving, 9/9 on serve receive and added three kills.
“I feel we are and will continue to get stronger and more confident with each match we play,” noted Lohse.
WCA Cross Country runners prepared
for 2008 season
by Kris Beuckens
The West Central Area Knights’ Cross Country team has begun season number two with an eye, this year, on both personal and team improvement. They will be running without last year’s senior leader, Corey Froemming, but have many young and hard-working athletes to be excited about in 2008.
The team appears to be taking its goal of improvement quite seriously as most, if not all, of the runners could be seen this summer running on area roadways in preparation for the coming cross country season.
Head Coach John VanKempen has noticed his runners’ commitment to improving. “Now in our second season, we’ve been able to add more runners to our roster and the quality of their physical condition is much better than when we started last year.”
VanKempen and second-year assistant coach Rick Toms have been meeting with their team for over three weeks now as practices began bright and early on Monday, August 11. The coaches have seen some fine leadership shown by this year’s captains so far. Hillary Anderson and Paige Anderson are serving as captains for the Lady Knights and Kyle Toms and Colin Kjesbo are the boys’ captains.
The girls return six letterwinners from last year’s team, including: seniors Hillary Anderson, Paige Anderson, Kayla Andreasen; sophomores Alyssa Blair and Sarah Sivertson; and freshman Abby Peterson. There are seven new runners for the Lady Knights this season including sophomore Megan Andreasen and seventh graders Kylee Fernholz, Holly VanKempen, Katie Poyzer, Mikaylah Stark, Shaelyn Westergard and Ashton Blair.
Junior Logan Pfingsten and sophomores Kyle Toms and Beau Kashmark are all returning as letterwinners for the boys. They will be joined on the Knights’ roster by experienced track and field runner, senior Colin Kjesbo, as well as sophomores Neil Hyttsten and Brian Starner, and seventh grader Alex Toms.
According to VanKempen, Perham will be one of the favorites in the conference while Albany will be tough to beat in the section.
Cross Country Seniors are: Paige Anderson, Kayla Andreasen, Colin Kjesbo, unknown, and Hillary Anderson.
Cross Country Knights compete at Morris Invitational
Seventh grade winners Kylee Fernholz and Alex Toms
by Kris Beuckens
The Knights’ Cross Country team saw its first action of the season last Monday afternoon at Pomme de Terre Golf Course near Morris.
Kyle Toms led the way for the Knights individually with a fifth place finish. He ran the boys’ 5,000 meter course in a personal best time of 17:23.
Overall, the Knight boys placed eighth in their thirteen-team field with 239 points. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle won the team title with 63 points and Sauk Centre was second with 99 points
Hillary Anderson paced the Lady Knights with a ninth place finish individually. She ran the girls 4,000 meter course in a time of 16:23 which is 40 seconds better than her personal best time last year.
The Lady Knights placed twelfth as a team with 260 points while Paynesville Area won the title with 66 points and Canby/Minneota placed second with 71.
Also running for the Knights in the boys’ race were: Logan Pfingsten with a time of 19:33 (45th place); Colin Kjesbo (73rdplace); Beau Kashmark (76th place); Neil Hyttsten (84th place) and Bryan Starner (88th place). “Logan has been working very hard and we expect him to knock time off his 5000m runs. He knocked more than two minutes off of his best time from a year ago,” said Knights’ Coach John Vankempen.
Other Lady Knights completing the varsity course were Paige Anderson in 59th place, Abby Peterson in 76th place, Alyssa Blair in 81st place, and Megan Andreasen in 82nd place.
“We have many new faces and legs running for us this year, so for many of our athletes, this was their first competitive experience in cross country,” said VanKempen.
For the junior varsity boys, sophomore Carson Hunter finished with a time of 8:23 for 21st place and sophomore Christian Barrera finished the 2,000 meter course in 31st place. “It was their first race and we expect to see improvement from both of them as they gain experience,” noted VanKempen.
In the 2,000 meter seventh grade race, Kylee Fernholz placed first for the girls with a time of 7:53 and Alex Toms won the seventh grade boys race with a time of 7:10.
“These kids are both very competitive runners and we look for them to add depth to the varsity team after they have had some experience,” said VanKempen.
Other seventh grade girls competing were Holly VanKempen (7th place), Asthton Blair (12th place) and Shalynne Westerguard (13th place).
Cross Country teams show improvement at Breckenridge meet Toms leads the way with first place finish
by Kris Beuckens
The Knights’ Cross Country boys and girls teams were in action last Thursday afternoon at the Bois de Sioux Golf Course in Breckenridge for the Don Haugen/Deb Christopher Memorial Cross Country Meet.
In just the second event of the season, the Knights had an athlete place first in a varsity meet. Sophomore Kyle Toms won his 5,000 meter race with a time of 17:54.89 to pace the WCA boys to a second place finish behind only Breckenridge/Campbell-Tintah. Toms finished the race over 44 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.
Also for the Knights: seventh grader Alex Toms finished in sixth place overall just less than two minutes behind his older brother at 19:52.13; junior Logan Pfingsten finished in seventh place at 20:07.40; sophomore Neil Hyttsten placed fourteenth at 21:03.89, senior Colin Kjesbo placed sixteenth at 21:23.14; sophomore Beau Kashmark placed seventeenth at 21:25.29; and sophomores Bryan Starner, Christian Barrera and Carson Hunter placed 24th, 25th and 26th respectively.
Wahpeton, Hawley/Ulen-Hitterdal, and Wheaton placed third, fourth and fifth respectively at the meet.
For the girls, WCA senior Hillary Anderson again paced the Lady Knights with a second place finish at 16:26.35. Seventh grader Kylee Fernholz this time ran the 4,000 meter varsity race and performed very well, finishing third (16:36.04) behind only Anderson andWheaton’s Kasey Lasch (first place – 16:09.02).
Also for the Lady Knights: senior Paige Anderson placed fifteenth with a time of 18:58.32; freshman Abby Peterson placed seventeenth at 19:15.89; seventh grader Holly Van Kempen placed eighteenth at 20:19.69; seventh grader Ashton Blair placed twentieth at 20:34.71; sophomore Alyssa Blair placed twenty-first at 20:47.34; Pipsa Puumaula placed twenty-third at 21:35.32; and Megan Andreasen placed twenty-sixth at 22:32.36.
The Lady Knights finished in third place behind Wahpeton and Breckenridge/Campbell-Tintah. Hawley/Ulen-Hitterdal placed fourth in the meet.
“The girls’ team finished in third place but showed much improvement,” noted Coach Van Kempen. “Some young runners ran in the girls varsity race and they've showed much improvement since the season started.”
The junior varsity girls ran a 2800 meter race and WCA seventh grader Mikayla Stark placed fourth with a time of 13:27.03. Shaelyn Westergard placed eighth with her time of 15:20.45 and Katie Poyzer placed ninth with a time of 15:41.92.