NDSU Championship Trophies to Visit Six Scheels Locations

FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota State University's five NCAA Division I football national championship trophies are scheduled to make appearances at six Scheels locations in three states.
 
Fans will have an opportunity to view and take photographs with the trophies at each stop.  There is no charge for the events.
 
Friday, February 19
Bismarck, N.D. – 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
 
Saturday, February 20
Minot, N.D. – 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Grand Forks, N.D. – 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
 
Sunday, February 21
Fargo, N.D. – 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 5
Rochester, Minn. – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 6
Sioux Falls, S.D. – 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
 
North Dakota State University is the first team in college football history to win five straight national championships.  The Bison defeated Jacksonville State 37-10 in the championship game to complete a 13-2 season.  NDSU also won a share of its fifth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference championship with a 7-1 record in league play

MN State Girls’ Gymnastics Meet Preview

            Both Detroit Lakes (Class A) and Roseville Area (Class AA) return to defend their 2015 titles when the 2016 State Girls’ Gymnastics Meet opens at the Sports Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus on Friday, Feb. 19. Five other qualifying teams return from last year’s Class A field. In Class AA, five additional teams return from the 2015 field.

            In Class A, two champions return in search of more gold. Jennifer Boyle of Austin is looking to repeat in the uneven bars and Mady Brinkman of Melrose Area is hoping for her second consecutive title in the balance beam.

            In Class AA, Maria McDonough of Faribault is competing for her second consecutive championship in the balance beam.

            Class A Highlights

            The defending champions from Detroit Lakes return with 10 gymnasts who competed in the state meet last year. The Detroit Lakes team includes students from Frazee. Five additional teams that competed in the 2015 team competition also return: Melrose Area, runner-up; Watertown-Mayer/Mound-Westonka, third; Becker, fifth; Austin, sixth; and Worthington, which includes students from Adrian and Fulda, seventh. The other qualifying teams are Mankato West and Mahtomedi.

            Nine of 30 event medal-winners will return for the 2016 Class A individual competition.

            Maddie Mullenbach of Austin, who placed fifth last year, is the only returning medalist in the floor exercise.

            Defending champion Jennifer Boyle of Austin leads three returning medal-winners in the uneven bars competition. Carly Breitenfeldt of Perham and Mady Brinkman of Melrose Area, who placed third and fourth in 2015, respectively, also return.

            Teammates Mady Brinkman and Kayla Austing of Melrose Area both return in the balance beam. Brinkman took championship honors in 2015 and Austing placed fifth.

            Haley Mottinger of Willmar is the single returning medalist in the vault. She is looking to improve on last year’s runner-up showing.

            Mady Brinkman of Melrose Area leads the field in the all-around. She placed second last year and will face tough competition from Maddie Mullenbach of Austin. Mullenbach placed fifth in 2015.

            Class AA Highlights

            Roseville Area returns as the four-time defending champion and the Raiders return four gymnasts from last year’s team. In addition to Roseville Area, five other teams also return from the 2015 field: St. Cloud Tech, which includes students from St. Cloud Cathedral, runner-up; Lakeville North, third; East Ridge of Woodbury, fourth; Champlin Park, fifth; and Cambridge-Isanti, seventh. Owatonna and Eden Prairie are the final qualifying teams.

            Twelve of 30 event medal-winners in 2015 will return for 2016 Class AA individual competition.

            Defending champion Maria McDonough of Faribault returns in search of more gold in the balance beam. Kayla Soplata of Roseville Area, who placed fourth last year, also returns.

            Andrea Gessner of Centennial of Circle Pines leads a field of four returning qualifiers in the vault competition. Gessner earned runner-up honors in 2015. The other returning medal-winners are: Liz Hammond of Champlin Park, fourth; Josey Schlie of Rosemount, fifth; and Sophie Redding of Henry Sibley of Mendota Heights, sixth.

            Lauren Stitch of Eden Prairie and Lara Aycock of St. Cloud Tech return in the uneven bars. They placed fourth and fifth last year, respectively.

            Two medalists return in the floor exercise: Josey Schlie of Rosemount, runner-up; and Andi Puls of Wayzata, tied for sixth.

            Jessica Strecker of Roseville Area and Megan Trollen of East Ridge are the only two medal-winners retuning in the all-around. Strecker placed fourth last year and Trollen finished sixth.

            Schedule and Tickets

            The meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19 and 20, at the Sports Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. Team competition is scheduled for Friday, with Class A competition beginning at 11 a.m. and Class AA competition beginning at 6 p.m. The identical time schedule will be followed for Saturday's individual and all-around events, with Class A beginning in the morning and Class AA beginning in the evening.

            Tickets for the meet are available at the Sports Pavilion. Adult tickets cost $12.00 per session and student tickets cost $8.00 per session.

           

            Webcast

            The entire state meet — team competition on the 19th and individual competition on the 20th — will be webcast live on pay-per-view at Prep45.com. The cost is $6.97 per day or $10.97 for both days.

MN Girls’ Hockey State Tournament Preview

            Six of last year’s 16 qualifiers are making return trips to the 2016 Girls’ Hockey State Tournament, including the two-time defending Class AA champions from Hill-Murray of Maplewood. The Blake School, a perennial state tournament entrant, is back after a runner-up finish in Class A in 2015.

There are four teams making their first state tournament appearances: Northfield and Luverne in Class A, and Maple Grove and Sartell/Sauk Rapids in Class AA.

Hill-Murray earned the No. 1 seed in Class AA. The Pioneers are attempting to become the second consecutive big school to win three Class AA championships in a row. Minnetonka was the first to accomplish the feat from 2011-13. In 2013, Minnetonka defeated Hill-Murray in the big-school title game.

Edina is the No. 2 seed in Class AA followed by No. 3 Eden Prairie. Maple Grove earned the No. 4 seed and Lakeville South is No. 5.

The Blake School earned the No. 1 seed in the Class A field. The Bears, who lost to Thief River Falls in last year’s small-school championship game, are trying to win their state-best sixth state championship. Warroad earned the No. 2 seed followed by St. Paul United at No. 3. Proctor/Hermantown is the No. 4 seed and New Prague is No. 5.

            This is the 22^nd state tournament, but only the eighth year that the event has been seeded. It is the 10th consecutive year that eight teams will compete in both Class A and Class AA. Only four teams competed in the 1995 and 1996 state tournaments, and eight teams competed from 1997 through 2001.

            This is also the 11th year that all championship rounds of the tournament will be played at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. All consolation games will be conducted at Ridder Arena on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

            The Class A teams will start play on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 11 a.m., and the Class AA teams will take to the ice at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18. Championship semifinals in both classes will be played Friday, Feb. 19. The Class A third-place game will be played on Saturday at 9 a.m. and the Class AA third-place game will follow at 11 a.m. Both championship games will be played in one session later on Saturday. The Class A game will begin at 4 p.m. and the Class AA title game will begin at 7 p.m.

                The seeding process had all 16 coaches of the section champions log onto a special page of the League website. Each coach then ranked the other teams one through seven. The highest and lowest rankings for each team were discarded, leaving five rankings for each team. From those rankings, the top five teams were seeded. In conference calls with all eight head coaches of each class, League Associate Director Craig Perry announced the top five seeds. A blind draw determined the three teams to oppose the top three seeded teams. Numbers four and five automatically play each other.

                Detailed season statistics provided by qualified teams are available on the League’s website — www.MSHSL.org — as a Media Guide link under Tournaments, then Winter, then Girls’ Hockey.

Class A Quarterfinal Highlights

                Section 1A Northfield (19-9-0) vs. (No. 2 seed) Section 8A Warroad (23-3-1) — 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17: The Northfield Raiders are making their state tournament debut. They were ranked No. 16 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. Northfield played tournament entrant New Prague early in the season and lost 3-0. Warroad is making its sixth state tournament appearance and first since 2013. The Warriors are two-time champions (2010, ’11) and three-time runner-ups (2006, ’09 and ’13).  Warroad was ranked No. 3 in the final poll and did not play any tournament entrants during the season.

                Section 6A Alexandria (18-7-1) vs. (No. 3) Section 4A St. Paul United (21-5-1) — 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17: The Cardinals of Alexandria are making their fourth consecutive and 11th overall tournament appearance and seek a second title to accompany their first in 2008. Alexandria went home with the consolation trophy for the second consecutive season in 2015. The Cardinals were ranked No. 9 in this season’s final Let’s Play Hockey poll and did not face any other Class A qualifiers during the regular season. St. Paul United is making its second state tournament appearance and first since 2014 when they captured the third-place trophy. St. Paul United, a co-op between St. Paul Academy and Visitation, was ranked No. 5 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. St. Paul United recorded a 5-1 victory over tournament entrant Proctor/Hermantown in late November.

                Section 3A Luverne (20-6-0) vs. (No. 1) Section 5A The Blake School (23-2-2) — 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17: Luverne is making its state tournament debut. Luverne, which co-ops with Adrian, was not ranked in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. The Cardinals did not play any other Class A entrants during the regular season. The Blake School is in the state tournament for the fourth consecutive season and ninth overall. The Bears captured championships in 2003, ’07, ’09, ’13, and ’14. The Blake School, ranked No. 2 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll, was the runner-up in 2015. During the regular season, the Bears had two victories over St. Paul United (3-1 and 3-2) and a 1-0 victory over Proctor/Hermantown.

                (No. 5) Section 2A New Prague (17-9-1) vs. (No. 5) Section 7A Proctor/Hermantown (19-7-1) — 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17: This is a rematch of the season-opener that Proctor/Hermantown won 3-1. New Prague is in the state tournament for the fifth time, but first since 2008. In its state tournament debut in 2004, the Trojans were the Class A runner-up. New Prague was ranked No. 7 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. In addition to Proctor/Hermantown, New Prague also faced tournament entrant Northfield and recorded a 3-0 victory. Proctor/Hermantown has qualified for the state tournament for the third time and first since 2014. In 2010, Proctor/Hermantown also had a co-op with the Marshall School in Duluth. The Mirage finished No. 6 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. In addition to playing New Prague, Proctor/Hermantown also played St. Paul United during the regular season, losing 5-1.

Class AA Quarterfinal Highlights

            Section 3AA Eastview (18-6-4) vs. (No. 2 seed) Section 6AA Edina (19-7-1) — 11:00 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 18: The unranked Lightning of Eastview are making their second consecutive state tournament appearance. After losing to eventual state champion, Hill-Murray, in the quarterfinals, Eastview went on to finish as the runner-up in the consolation bracket. Eastview, located in Apple Valley, was ranked No. 17 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. During the regular season, Eastview tied (1-1) and lost (5-2) to Lakeville South. Edina is in the state tournament for the second consecutive season and sixth time overall. In 2015, the Hornets took the third-place trophy with a 3-1 victory over Lakeville South. Edina was the big-school runner-up in 2010 and ’11. The Hornets, ranked No. 3 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll, lost to Hill-Murray (2-0) during the regular season and split two games with Eden Prairie. They also had a 4-1 victory over Maple Grove in the season opener and a 4-2 loss to Lakeville South during the holiday break.

                Section 7AA Forest Lake (18-7-3) vs. (No. 3) Section 2AA Eden Prairie (19-7-2) — 1:00 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 18: Forest Lake is making its third state tournament appearance and first since 2013. The Rangers also qualified in 2001. Forest Lake, ranked No. 14 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll, did not face any other Class AA entrants during the regular season. Eden Prairie is making seventh state tournament appearance. The Eagles’ best finish in that run were big-school titles in 2006 and ’08. The Eagles were ranked No. 4 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. In addition to splitting two games with Edina during Lake Conference play, the Eagles defeated Lakeville South 3-0 in the season opener and lost to Maple Grove 3-1 before the holiday break. Eden Prairie also played Hill-Murray, losing 4-1 in the second game of the season.

            Section 8AA Sartell/Sauk Rapids (21-7-0) vs. (No. 1) Section 4AA Hill-Murray (27-0-1) — 6:00 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 18: Sartell/Sauk Rapids defeated Roseau 2-0 in the section final to qualify for its first state tournament appearance. The Storm’N’Sabers were not ranked in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll and didn’t play any Class AA entrants during the regular season.  Hill-Murray has been a tournament regular in recent seasons. The Maplewood-based school is making its fourth consecutive state tournament appearance and fifth overall. The undefeated Pioneers were top ranked in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. During the Pioneers’ undefeated regular season, they defeated Eden Prairie (4-1), Lakeville South (3-2), Edina (2-0) and Maple Grove (4-1).

                (No. 5) Section 1AA Lakeville South (20-5-2) vs. (No. 4) Section 5AA Maple Grove (20-5-2) — 8:00 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 18: Lakeville South is making its second consecutive state tournament and fourth overall. In 2015, the Cougars finished fourth in the big-school field. Lakeville South finished at No. 12 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. During the regular season, Lakeville South had a tie and a victory over Eastview during South Suburban Conference play. The Cougars also had losses to Eden Prairie and Hill-Murray. Maple Grove qualified for its first state tournament following a 4-1 victory over Centennial in the Section 5AA championship game. Maple Grove was ranked No. 5 in the final Let’s Play Hockey poll. During the regular season, the Crimson had a victory over Eden Prairie and losses to Edina and Hill-Murray.

Schedule

            Consolation semifinals in Class A will be played at 10 a.m. and noon on Thursday, Feb. 18 at Ridder Arena. The consolation championship will be played at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Ridder Arena. In Class AA, the consolation semifinal games will be played at 10 a.m. and noon on Friday, Feb. 19 at Ridder Arena. The consolation championship will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20, at Ridder Arena.

            The Class A championship semifinals will take place at the Xcel Energy Center on Friday, Feb. 19 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The championship semifinal games for Class AA will be played at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday at Xcel Energy Center.

            The Class A third-place game will be played at 9 a.m. on Saturday, February 20, at the Xcel Energy Center, and the Class AA third-place game will follow at 11 a.m. Both championship games will then be conducted in one session starting with the Class A game at 4 p.m. The Class AA title game will begin at 7 p.m. 

Webcast and Television Coverage

            All eight quarterfinal games will be webcast live on Prep45.com. There is a daily charge of $6.97 or a three-day rate of $14.97. The championship semifinals and championship games for both classes will be broadcast live on KSTC-TV, Channel 45, as well as on other broadcast and cable outlets throughout the state. Those televised games will also be streamed live by Prep45.com.

Tickets and Special Promotions

            Tickets for the 2016 State Girls’ Hockey Tournament will be available one hour before each afternoon or evening two-game session at the respective venues. Tickets cost $17.00 for adults and $11.00 for students for all championship sessions, and $12.00 for adults and $8.00 for students for all consolation sessions.

(story via mshsl)

Five NDSU VB Players to Participate in U.S. Women’s National Open Tryouts

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-- Five North Dakota State University volleyball players -- Brianna Rasmusson, Hadley Steffen, Mikaela Purnell, Emily Miron and Jessica Jorgensen -- will travel to the U.S. Olympic Training Center to take part in the U.S. Women's National Team Open Tryouts starting on Friday, Feb. 19 and running through Sunday, Feb. 21.

The tryout will evaluate approximately 231 athletes from 88 colleges from across the country for spots on the U.S. Women's National Team, the U.S. Collegiate National Teams program and U.S. Junior National Team. Miron earned one of 36 spots on the 2014 U.S. Collegiate National Team, while Megan Lambertson was selected to the 2012 U.S. Women's National A2 Team Program.

Bison Athletic Hall of Famer and AVCA Division II Player of the Year Janet Cobbs Mulholland a was member of U.S. National Team from 1989 to 1994, to playing on the Bronze Medal American team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

U.S. Women's National Team head coach Karch Kiraly and his staff will direct the tryout process. Kiraly is a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and U.S. Olympic Hall of Famer. The tryout will involve four sessions with three waves per session. Friday's first session goes from 2-8 p.m. MT, while Saturday's sessions are at 8 a.m. (focus on serve/receive and individual work) and 2 p.m. (middle-centered and out-of-system focus). The tryout concludes at 8 a.m. Sunday with tournament style play, along with 16-18 athletes selected by the staff to participate in a "USA" training session.

All sessions of the tryout will be streamed live. USA Volleyball will use #USAVTryout as the tryout hashtag for photos, notes, quotes and stories posted to its social media platforms Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram under the handle @usavolleyball.

Selected athletes will be notified by early March. USA Volleyball will announce the selections by the end of March once all roster spots are confirmed.