While the evaluations continued in Indianapolis the first mock draft of the offseason was put together.
In a bit of expected news, Carson Wentz was released by Washington to start the week. There's been plenty of speculation and with a career arc that could go in multiple different directions that's warranted but little, if anything, will be known beyond hypothesis for the next several weeks.
His college team also broke news early in the week with the officially announcement of the next man to handle defensive line coaching duties, Jeff Phelps. Barring any other late developments to the staff, there shouldn't be much about the team for the next few months.
Such is not the case with softball as they continue the early portion of their schedule. Super-senior Paige Vargas saw to it that some news deserved to be made as the Pitcher of the Week!
Accolades also came for 🏀 in the wake of the top-three finishes. Heaven Hamling & Elle Evans were All-League, as were Grant Nelson & Boden Skunberg! The Cheat Code was also named the Performer of the Month.
The week of competition was less heralded.
⚾️ opened with a double-defeat against UC-San Diego & the women's ⛳️ was fifth-best in Phoenix. The guys of the diamond went the distance against Arizona State Wednesday but fell a run shy. They then lost to Arizona Friday, Saturday & Sunday. In Memphis, softball was dropped by UT-SA Friday but got back on track with a pair of wins the next day and revenge over the Roadrunners, Sunday.
🤼 got the first run of postseason competition, finishing in sixth the first day leaving Sunday's set to determine the next step. Jared Franek was able to steal the show with a win in the Big 12 Title match as the team took fifth all-together.
There was also a bad finish in Sioux Falls as Kansas City knocked-off the women. The guys were able to get off that wave with a thriller against South Dakota as they kept their season going and got the big man into the comma club!
Moorhead State 🏃 also started the week with a bang as distance runner Jared Gregoire was named Newcomer of the Week.
In Sioux Falls, men's had three exciting days in their title defense. For the second year in a row they were able to get the better of Duluth and then came the wait to find out the details of their postseason. They will be off to Maryville, MO for a Saturday evening tilt against fifth-seeded Southern Nazarene University.
It was also a good week in Virginia Beach as a handful of 🏃 competitors proved they deserved to make the national meet!
And as a bit of a cherry on top, 🏈 announced it's schedule.
It was also a light week for Concordia which began with All-Conference recognition for a pair of the 🏀 men's players. The accolades continued in greater numbers for the ladies for their tremendous season!
🏃 chipped-in as Payton Selle was named Conference Indoor Field Athlete of the Year!
Not that any more evidence was needed, the Enigma added more proof to how unpredictable they can be by reeling off wins against both LA teams and Sacramento. It keeps them in decent position in the muddled mess but I still feel bad for anyone obsessing over the standings prior to Fools Day because fluctuations will happen before, during & after every game the rest of the way. The 12-game stretch will go a long way in determining where they finish but it will be the final four, possibly the final two and maybe even game 82 that will tell the whole story.
If you want to get bogged-down with every possession, every quarter, every game that's your right but that's not the smartest way to go.
Still the best but not satisfied with everyone on the roster, the Bolts made another trade, this time with Chicago for forward Zam Plante. They gave up a haul but with the opportunity they have to win now it's good to be aggressive & figure out the future when it comes.
When they got back on the ice for the latest pair of contests they showed to be no worse for the loss to the defense surrendering one score Friday & none Saturday. With the sweep they moved 10 points clear of Waterloo and will have the chance to all-but-secure the home-ice in two weeks time when they come to Fargo for three!
Reminder that scores and recruiting news are updated regularly so check back often!
Now for this week's highlights
With the blizzard and the main month for the game looming, the EDC quarterfinals went-off. Both the Davies & West Fargo girls won their match-ups easily while Sheyenne got a stiffer test from Shanley. Miriley Simon left an impression in her final home game, recording a 10-block triple-double! On the other side, the Deacon boys were the ones who got a scare from Devils Lake while Davies & North each were able to win fairly comfortably. In their matchup with Sheyenne, Jeremiah Sem dropped 32 more points. The Spartan girls got five threes in the second half from Arden Faulkner in a 15-point win over Wahpeton to advance to one of the State Qualifier games. In the other consolation semi-final Shanley got 15 pivotal points from Maggie Shorma down the stretch of a 57 - 49 win over Horace. On the championship side, Sheyenne & West Fargo got by Davies & Red River to meet in the title game for the first time with Brenna Dick dropping 28 for the Mustangs while Miriley Simon & Chloe Pfau each had double-doubles, the Bison's being of the 24/15 variety.
The Sheyenne boys had a chance to reach the precipice of the big tournament only to get a dose of March from GF Central in overtime! North secured it's spot in the finals with a 76 - 65 win over Red River as Carter Zeller also put-up a double-double & Jeremiah Sem poured in 26.
Saturday started with the ShEagles beating North by 34 and continued with the Shanley boys edging GFC 65 - 61 as Conner Kraft went-off for 29 & 10! In the battle for West Fargo, Sheyenne got at least 10 points from four players, lead by Maya Metcalf's 19 & 12 rebounds. In the process the future Dragon also surpassed the 1,000 point mark! The combined effort got the job done as they made one their magic number!
In the night-cap North took another step in their continued elevation but were still unable to best Davies and secure the top seed from the East, 73 - 58.
Then came the honors
At the girls State B Central Cass made it's way back to the championship game. In the final they faced Thompson and it took a fifth quarter for the outcome to be finalized and it was the Squirrels who got that monkey off it's back as Decontee Smith had a 31/13 performance!
Across the River Ulen/Hitterdal's ladies opened section play with a 54-53 win over Lake Park/Audubon but were chopped-down in the second round by Underwood. Likewise, Ada/Borup eliminated Rothsay before falling to Henning. Fertile/Beltrami also took care of business in the first round but couldn't go for a third as Fosston knocked them out. D/G/F's girls did advanced to the third game with convincing wins over EGF & Park Rapids but got stuck against Perham. The boys' tournament will get underway in the coming days, they also made some statements in the late going of the schedule. Moorhead was pushed to triple overtime by St. Michael/Albertville in the finale, managing to escape 74 - 71! Hawley also ended the reg on a good note, beating Ulen 76 - 72. The same goes for Fertile/Beltrami who won 10 of their last 11 and both of their final two by at least 26. D/G/F wasn't quite as hot down the stretch but still ended with a a win over Browerville. The same goes for Barnesville, by 25 over Frazee, and Ada/Borup by 41 against Crookston.
On the ice North/South & Davies each won their ways back to the championship game and for the second straight year it was the co-op that finished with the right to raise the trophy!
Moorhead's boys also had a big postseason contest, with a State playoff berth on the line. It took a pair of reschedules but in the end Roseau was no match for the Taters as they won 8 - 1! They will face three-seed Edina in the opening round Thursday at 1 pm.
It also proved to be a good weekend in the water as Dresden Adams set a Moorhead record in the backstroke at the State Meet. In the 100 fly & breaststroke Aiden Carlson took 5th & 7th.
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