John’s Journal: Female Football Official Looks To The Future

--In this photo (left to right): Marc Fioravanti, Leah Berard, Dan Pelletier, Fred Harris, Nate McNaughton.

The beginning of Leah Berard’s career as a football official could never have been predicted. If things go the way she wants, that career will take her to the National Football League, which would be sort of a full-circle route from how she started.

Berard, a native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, who lives in St. Paul, is in her sixth year as an MSHSL football official. She also works college games in the Missouri Valley Conference. The first sport she officiated was rugby, which took her around the world as one of the top rugby officials on the planet.

Oddly, weirdly, unbelievably, it was a well-known NFL officiating fixture who helped set her on the path of working football games.

Berard played rugby while a student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and went on to become a rugby official. Mike Pereira -- a longtime NFL official, vice president of NFL officiating and since 2010 an NFL rules analyst for Fox Sports – happened to be watching a televised rugby match that Leah was working and something caught his eye.

In the fall of 2016 Berard received an email from Referee magazine, a national publication for officials. The email said Pereira had contacted the magazine staff and recommended that they write a story about Leah. For Berard, this couldn’t have been more out of the blue.

“They said he liked what he saw and he wanted Referee to interview me,” Leah recounted. “I said, ‘THE Mike Pereira?’ That’s why I ended up choosing football.”

She calls that moment her inspiration to become a football official. She’s been trying for years to reach Pereira and thank him but has not received a response.

“To be honest, I knew I wanted to do something after rugby, a new challenge,” she said.

Leah has always liked physical challenges. When a friend suggested she try playing rugby in college, she said, “The first time I stepped on the field I knew, ‘Yep, this is the sport I’ve been looking for.’ I can hit people legally, this is great.”

After college she became certified to officiate rugby in 2006.

“It just turned out that I had the skill set for it,” she said. “I realized I loved officiating and I was good at it.”

When she decided to try officiating football, she reached out to people she thought could help her. The first to reply was Dan Pelletier, a veteran referee from St. Paul. He became one of her mentors and this year is Leah’s fourth season as a member of Pelletier’s officiating crew.

“With her background in officiating rugby, she started in a little bit of a different place than a lot of new officials do,” Dan said. “She already had some good experience and just needed to learn the game. She’s worked really hard at it and picked it up quickly.

“She spends a lot of time studying film and going to camps and she’s doing all the right things. We’re happy to have her. She’s an asset and she helps us be a better crew. I’m proud of her and happy for her.”

Berard is a back judge on her high school crew and a side judge in college games. She said she enjoys the atmosphere at the games; she was so busy during her own high school days that attending football games wasn’t something she did on a regular basis.

“Because I played other sports in high school I didn’t go to a lot of football games,” she said. “It just wasn’t a regular thing and I wasn’t really paying attention. … It’s cool now to see the kids get excited, the cheerleaders, the bands, all that. And the camaraderie of our officiating crew is great.”

The NFL currently employs three female officials. Sarah Thomas was the first, hired in 2015, followed by Maia Chaka in 2021 and Robin DeLorenzo in 2022.

“I think when Sarah Thomas came into the NFL, I was coming to the realization that I was starting to look for something else outside rugby,” Leah said. “I want to go to the NFL, for sure. That’s definitely the end goal. My college white hat says, ‘You’re on a rocket ship.’ I know how to officiate, I just need to see more snaps. You can’t really rush experience.

“With football it’s hard. In rugby I was traveling year-round and doing it every weekend. It’s played all around the world all year round. It’s hard in football to get that experience. I look at my calendar and see only three games left. That’s the biggest bummer in football.”

No matter what the future holds, Leah has a firm foothold in football, saying “My life is set up to be a referee now.”

--If you are interested in becoming an MSHSL sports official or fine arts judge, go to this link for more information: https://www.mshsl.org/who-are-you/officiating

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: Surgeries, Screws Can’t Stop Thief River Falls Tennis

Stephanie Dagg and Ingrid Anderson, senior tennis players from Thief River Falls, know how fortunate they are to be part of the team. The Prowlers are playing at the Class 2A state team tournament this week after winning the Section 8 championship, and that is historic. Not many teams make it to state in any sport, and the Prowlers are plenty proud, as they should be.

For Stephanie and Ingrid, however, the gratitude goes beyond what happens at the state tournament. Both have endured serious physical issues, and both have had surgical screws inserted into their skeletal structures. Wheelchairs and crutches are also part of their stories.

When Stephanie was in eighth grade, her father just happened to look at her back as she sat in a chair. It was hard to pin down, but something didn’t look right.

“It wasn't painful or anything,” she said. “My dad said, ‘OK, we should get this checked out just in case.’ ”

After seeing their family doctor, they were sent to a specialist in Fargo. Stephanie was diagnosed with scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine. Her spine curved at about 60 degrees, and she needed surgery to correct it and hopefully ensure no serious problems as she continued to grow.

She had surgery over the holiday break, which gave her extra time to recover without missing school for too long. She stayed home for three weeks and wasn’t allowed to do any physical activity for six months.

“But then, after the six months, I was cleared to do everything and I haven't had problems since,” said Stephanie, who also is a track and field athlete.

Ingrid’s issues were more recent, involving her hip joints. She had started experiencing hip pain in seventh grade. She was a dancer with good flexibility but athletics can be hard on lots of joints, including the hips.

She, too, went to a doctor in Thief River Falls. The first possible diagnosis was a torn labrum. MRIs and other tests followed before a doctor in Fargo discovered she had dysplasia in both hip joints; that meant her hip sockets weren’t fully covering the ball portion of the upper thighbone, which can result in the hip joints becoming partially or completely dislocated. Like Stephanie’s spinal issue, it was serious stuff.

And here’s another problem with double hip dysplasia: You can’t have surgery on both hips at the same time. Otherwise you’d be flat on your back for months and months.

Ingrid had surgery on her right hip at Mayo Clinic in Rochester in March 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic started to surge. On the day of her surgery, school was cancelled due to Covid.

“I woke up and my mom's like, ‘Hey, school is canceled.’ So I couldn't have gone to school anyway.”

She began walking with a crutch three weeks after surgery, admitting, “You're supposed to wait until six weeks.”

Her left hip went under the knife in August 2020. In both cases, four-inch screws were put in place to hold everything together.

Ingrid’s screws were later removed, while Stephanie still has some screws in her back.

Appropriately, Stephanie and Ingrid stand side by side in the team photo that’s part of the state tournament program. In Tuesday’s Class 2A state quarterfinals at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center, the unseeded Prowlers fell to second-seeded Edina 7-0. Thief River Falls then defeated Visitation 6-1 in the consolation bracket and will meet Mounds View on Wednesday in the fifth-place match.

Singles and doubles competition will be held on Thursday and Friday. The Prowlers, who will be represented in singles by senior Brooklyn Broadwell, have moved back and forth between Class 1A and Class 2A; their last trip to state came in Class 1A three years ago.

Second-year Thief River Falls coach Shawna Spears said Stephanie and Ingrid are “definitely hard workers. To be stuck on the sofa for how many months recovering, then to come back and work so hard to earn a spot. They’re great.”

It was hard to sit and wait for the healing process to be completed.

“I couldn't sit up or walk for a long time and I sat and watched my team compete when I was in a wheelchair and on crutches,” Ingrid said. “Now I'm sprinting and running. And I look normal, I think.”

Indeed. Normality is everywhere. Young athletes, training, working, competing, being part of the team.

To miss out on tennis “would have been heartbreaking,” Ingrid said. “I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be so close to my team, or my coach.”

Asked about playing at state, Stephanie put it very simply.

“It's a dream come true.”

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: Remembering Rochester Lourdes Coach Myron Glass

A legendary Minnesota high school girls basketball coach passed away over the weekend. Myron Glass, who led Rochester Lourdes to eight state championships and a record of 719-143 in 31 years as the Eagles coach, was 78. He coached several sports at Lourdes from 1968 until he retired in 2014.

I wrote about Myron and his teams many times over the years. It was always a treat to talk with Myron, who had an easy smile. Among his trademarks were cowboy boots, a calculator wristwatch and meticulous game preparation. In the story below, from January 2004, I focused on Myron’s preparation.

Myron Glass Is A Man With A Plan

Lourdes High School was founded in 1941, and the rafters of the school gym provide evidence of ample athletic glory. The oldest banner celebrates the 1949 state football champions; another hails the boys' state track champs of "957," with a fallen digit that didn't cling as well as the others.

Myron Glass is taking a first-time Lourdes visitor on a tour. They walk down a narrow corridor, the walls thick with plaques, trophies and framed newspaper clippings. They enter the "old gym," built in the 1940s, replaced as a game site in the '80s and now a practice haven with memories resonating from every hunk of hardwood and brick.

"There's a lot of history here," Glass says as a band of grade-school girls' basketball players file out in a high-pitched refrain of "Hi, Mr. Glass . . . Hi, Mr. Glass . . . Hi, Mr. Glass . . ."

They know Mr. Glass is the coach of the Lourdes girls' basketball team. They attend his summer camps and watch their big sisters play for him. He's the high school math teacher who owns the cowboy boots and the calculator wristwatch . . . and the state tournament.

The Eagles have won seven state titles. That's in seven trips to the championship game, including last season's Class 2A crown. That is perfection under Glass.

This month Glass, 59, added to his history by becoming the third girls' basketball coach in Minnesota history to win 500 games. The coaches above him still are at it: Mike Dreier (559) at New London- Spicer and Carol Visness (537) at Kittson Central.

Dreier's teams won Class 2A titles in 1997 and 2002 and played in five other title games, losing to Lourdes in 1991 and 1993.

Master planner                                       

When Lourdes beat top-ranked Breck 35-22 to win last season's title, much was made of the Eagles' preparation. Glass explained that he and assistant coaches Mike Carroll and Tracy Kidd were up until 2:30 a.m. preparing an eight-page game plan on how to beat Breck.

The media oohed and aahed at this, at how Glass worked long into the night, like a crazed scientist, on his master plan for the biggest game of all.

A few minutes before Lourdes played host to Zumbrota-Mazeppa in an early January Hiawatha Valley League game, Glass handed the visitor a stapled document. It was an eight-page game plan on how to beat Zumbrota-Mazeppa.

And there it was, the secret to all that success. As Carroll, who has been with Glass since 1985, explained, "Myron prepares for every game like it's a state championship game."

It's a simple plan, really: prepare, prepare, prepare and leave little to chance. Glass keeps a file on every coach and every team he has faced. Zumbrota-Mazeppa was no different. The game plan, every word typed in ALL CAPS mode, went beyond thorough:

KEYS: 1. NOT LETTING THEM DICTATE THE OFFENSE WHICH THEY WILL DO WITH THEIR 1-4: 1-3-1 AND BALL CONTROL INSIDE OFFENSE. 2. EXECUTION ON OFFENSE. WE HAVE TO HIT THE OPEN PLAYERS. BOUNCE PASSES TO THE POSTS. 3. BLOCK OUT ALL THE TIME. THEY WILL BE QUICK.

ZUMBROTA'S TRENDS: THEY WILL FRONT THE POST. THEY WILL GO UNDER THE PICKS ON DEFENSE. WE CAN BACK DOOR.

OUT OF BOUNDS DEFENSE: 2-3 ZONE. THEY COULD STAY IN THE 2-3. WE HAVE TO GO 1-3-1 THEN. THEY WENT INTO MAN TO MAN AFTER THE 1ST PASS IN LIKE WE DID 2 YEARS AGO.

Four of the eight pages contain diagrammed plays carrying labels such as 1-4 WITH A SCISSORS OFF THE POST and #2 IS A DOUBLE PICK FOR A CUTTER FIRST AND THEN THE POST COMES TO POST.

Also included are scouting reports on Zumbrota-Mazeppa's top six players. The entries include SHE WILL SHOOT FROM THE OUTSIDE. WE HAVE TO SEE IF SHE CAN HANDLE THE BALL AS WELL AS THE OTHER GIRLS and SHE IS THEIR BEST FREE THROW SHOOTER. SHE WILL NOT MISS. WE CAN NOT FOUL HER.

"Myron pays so much attention to detail that all the big stuff comes easy," said Kidd, a 10-year assistant to Glass.

Glass said it's all part of his first love: teaching.

"I have them read it. If I tell you, you won't remember much. But if you read something, you will remember. It might mean only one more steal, but one steal can win a game."

'A huge honor'

Glass' milestone victory was celebrated in a low-key manner, which was fine with the low-key coach. Before the tipoff of victory No. 501 against Zumbrota-Mazeppa, he was presented with a ball signed by the current players and a $500 travel voucher for the lifelong bachelor's annual Canadian fishing trip.

"It's a huge honor," said senior guard Steph Knell. "We're proud to accomplish that for him."

The Eagles have averaged just three losses per season in Glass' 21 years as coach, and that includes a 10-12 record in 1983-84, his debut and only losing season. In the 19 years since, Lourdes has had four or fewer losses 17 times.

The Eagles take an 11-2 record into tonight's home game against Triton. They are ranked third in Class 2A behind New London-Spicer (13-0) and Breck (10-3).

"I have a definite appreciation for Myron's system of play," Breck coach Ray Finley said. "It's a system that requires a lot of discipline and patience to perform and execute, and also to compete against."

Glass' success is all the more remarkable because he didn't play the game. He was cut from the basketball team at Minneapolis South, and worked his way through St. Cloud State as a non-athlete who worked at a Minneapolis gas station during summers, weekends and holidays.

After graduating, he interviewed for teaching jobs at Albany, at a Minneapolis junior high and Lourdes.

"As soon as someone offered you a job, you took it," he said.

Lourdes made the first offer, and Glass has been there since. At times he thought about applying for jobs elsewhere, including some colleges, "but that never seemed to be high on my priority list," he said.

He and boys' coach Rich Decker make Lourdes the only school in the state with 500-game winners in basketball. Decker took Kenyon to state in 1980 and Lourdes in 1999 and 2000.

Before games, Glass tapes ankles. During games, he watches the action like a man watching for a bus. There is no yelling, no stomping and hardly any standing. As he puts it, "We tell the kids to play to the best of their ability. Even if we lose, that's all we can do."

Knell said Glass rarely becomes agitated.

"He won't scream or make you feel bad about yourself, but he will definitely make his point," she said.

Oh, Glass has made his point. More than 500 times, in fact, including that remarkable 7-0 record in state championship games.

"We take it one game at a time," he said. "And we prepare for every game the same way."

He's a man with a plan.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

 

John’s Journal: Oh Baby, What A Season For St. Charles Girls Soccer

 

--In this St. Charles/Lewiston-Altura team photo, coach Taige Puetz is on the right (holding her son Slater) and coach Amelia Crouley is on the left (in stocking cap).

The head coach’s baby was coming, the plan was in place and everything looked to be good for the girls soccer team from St. Charles/Lewiston-Altura. And then, of course, everything went sideways.

That’s how the story began. How it’s ending is a perfect capper to a strange, challenging, unforgettable season as the Saints will play in the state tournament for the first time in history this week.

The unseeded Saints (13-2-2) will meet third-seeded St. Paul Academy and Summit School (9-5-3) in the Class 1A state quarterfinals Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Eden Prairie High School. The winner will advance to the state semifinals at U.S. Bank Stadium on Nov. 2.

For St. Charles/Lewiston-Altura, the star of the team wasn’t even born when practice started on Aug. 15. Second-year head coach Taige Puetz was due to give birth a few days later, and she and junior varsity coach Jarett Schiebel had put together a plan in which Taige would miss the first week of practice before returning. But things changed when Taige’s doctor said they needed to induce delivery early. When that process took longer than planned, her son Slater was born via Cesarean section in Rochester on Aug. 16.

 “I underestimated the recovery from a C section but I was still determined to get back,” Puetz said. When Slater was brought home from the hospital, his big sister Sarah, 11, and dad Justin were elated. The soccer team visited the coach’s family and everyone was thrilled. A week after delivering Slater, Taige watched from a lawn chair when the team scrimmaged Winona Cotter as the Aug. 25 season opener vs. Lake City approached.

Then came another twist when Taige’s doctor called and said tests showed that Slater may have cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that can cause problems with breathing and digestion. The diagnosis was confirmed and Slater’s care team at the Mayo Clinic jumped into action. “They took us under their wing immediately,” Taige said.

With the first game of the season that same night, the coach sent a text to the players, saying she might not be herself. “They were so great in supporting me without overwhelming me,” she said.

Now, however, the situation was really complicated. The head coach, still recovering from surgery, with a baby that needed more than the usual newborn care, and plenty to focus on for her and her family outside of soccer. Oh, and then Taige found out that her surgical incision was infected. Another trip to the hospital ensued. It was chaos as the season loomed.

Taige had been sending email updates to her colleagues at school, including one teacher who is a former head girls soccer coach for the Saints. When Amelia Crouley realized how dire the situation was, she texted Taige, “What can I do? Do you need me to step in and coach?”

Crouley had coached the Saints for seven seasons, beginning in 2011. She stepped down because she had young kids and her husband was in graduate school. “It was too much for our family,” she said.

Puetz and athletic director Scott McCready discussed the situation. “Scott asked, ‘What do you want to do?’ I said I need to take a little time, I need to heal, and the girls need stability.”

Taige was happy when Amelia stepped up.

“We’ve been trying to get her involved. She coached the program before, she’s great with the girls, she’s super knowledgeable.”

As a formality, Taige resigned as head coach and Amelia took on the role. Taige went to practice and told the girls that she was resigning but not actually resigning, and that Amelia would take over until she was ready to come back.

“A few tears were shed,” Taige recalled. “Amelia went right into practice, she’s intense, and I kind of smiled and said to Jarett, ‘They’re in good hands.’ ”

The Saints won nine of their first 10 games, including a 1-0 victory over rival Dover-Eyota. Their losses came against Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa 3-2 in the second game of the season, and to Winona Cotter 3-1 late in the season. They played late-season draws with Dover-Eyota and Rochester Lourdes (which won the 1A Section 2 title).

St. Charles/Lewiston-Altura made history by winning the Section 1 title with victories over La Crescent-Hokah and Winona Cotter, locking up the program’s first trip to state.

Taige wasn’t totally absent for very long. But the chance to stay home and focus on Slater and her own health was important.

“Even after two or three days I felt great,” she said. “We were in a good spot with Slater and his care team at Mayo. There are lots of treatments. We knew we could handle this.”

Taige and Amelia, listed as co-head coaches, have strong soccer backgrounds. Puetz was a member of the first girls soccer team at St. Charles when she was a seventh-grader and she went on to play at St. Cloud State. Crouley played soccer at Winona State.

“To have soccer knowledge and do it together was awesome,” Taige said. “Whenever we had to make game adjustment, we'd look at each other, say the idea and it was, ‘Oh my gosh, I was just thinking about that.’

“Amelia has truly become an extremely good friend of mine. I've never had more fun coaching in my life and it's because of how much fun we have together and respect each other.”

Indeed, the season could not have gone much better.

“We get along extremely well and have so much respect for each other,” Amelia said. “We work really well together, we each have different strengths. Taige brings an added dimension of fun. I don’t think the girls understand how lucky they are.”

Puetz said, “I’m so thankful for Amelia and Jarett. It was super challenging to stay home as a mom and hold it together with everything going on. The girls were so great. There were times at home when I was feeling down and out, and they sent me super nice texts. For them to go out of their way to do that was so great. I’m super proud of everything they’ve accomplished.”

Expectations for the team were high going into the season, with an experienced group of players returning.

“I knew this team was special,” Puetz said. “(A state berth) was not guaranteed, but we knew they had the potential to do great things this year.”

Crouley was impressed with the team immediately.

“The first game I saw the girls play I was like, ‘Whoa, this could be a really be fun season,’ ” she said. “I knew we had the most talented players we’ve had in a long time.”

Has it been magical? It’s hard to argue.

“Taige and Amelia have worked together like magic,” said McCready. “It's really amazing in my mind just how all of this has worked out based on the total chaos for about 10 days in August.”

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: Officials Return To The Game They Love

High school officials, the men and women who wear the stripes, blow the whistles and keep fair, safe play foremost in their minds and actions, come from all sorts of backgrounds. Some become officials at a young age, some a little later. They are committed to the sports and activities they love and they want to ensure that current student-athletes have the best possible experience.

Those are among the reasons that Dan Barnett returned to officiating football this year. He was away from the game for six years because he was away from the state.

Barnett, 40, who lives in Mankato, had been a football coach before he joined the officiating ranks in his mid-20s.

“I love football and I love being around it,” he said. “Maybe this is a little less frustrating and I don’t have a crazy amount of time invested in it.”

When he took a job in Colorado, he moved west and didn’t get involved in officiating because he had no connections to any officials there. He came back to Minnesota earlier this year and it didn’t take long to resume his officiating career, thanks to some friends in the game.

He talked to Scott Haefner, a football official, executive board member of the Mankato Area Officials Association and frequent mentor to young officials. He talked with Jed Falgren, a longtime football and basketball official who is president of the Mankato association.

“I ran into Jed at his daughter’s wedding and somehow it got brought up,” Barnett said with a laugh. “He said, ‘We need a sub.’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’ ”

During a game in St. Clair on Oct. 7, Falgren observed from the sideline and Barnett was in the umpire position; that’s the official who is positioned behind he defense.

“I think for the first couple of plays, I definitely had to shake the rust off,” Barnett said. “I felt like after the first quarter, ‘I’m back, I got it, I’m good.’ ”

Falgren said he was more than happy to help Dan return to the game, especially with all sports facing a shortage of officials.

“I hope I had a little bit to do with it,” Jed said. “He talked about coming back. Scott mentioned Dan was thinking about it and we needed to work on him.

“I am excited. He’s going to be a great addition. He has a football mind, he was a player, a student of the game. I was real pleased at how natural he looked at his first game down in St. Clair.”

Earlier in the season, Barnett observed the officials from the sideline during a game in New Ulm. Falgren, who was a crew member stationed on one of the sidelines, and Barnett had discussions throughout the game.

“He was asking tons of great questions all through the game. We could tell he was pretty good,” Falgren said.

Falgren also took a break in his officiating career. He began working games when he was a University of Minnesota student in the mid-1980s. In the early 1990s a growing family gave him a reason to step away from officiating. He returned in 2015.

Like all officials, Barnett and Falgren would love to see more people join their ranks.

“I’ve talked to a couple buddies, trying to gauge their interest,” Dan said. “I have two younger brothers who live in Minnesota and I’ve talked to both of them.”

--If you are interested in becoming an MSHSL sports official or fine arts judge, go to this link for more information: https://www.mshsl.org/who-are-you/officiating

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: One Step At A Time, One Foot In Front Of The Other

Luke Klassen jokes about his hair … or current lack of hair. The good news is that his hair will come back. The cancer? That can stay away.

Luke is a senior at Mountain Lake High School who has been part of the Wolverines cross-country team since seventh grade. When he was diagnosed with cancer during the summer, his life was turned upside down and he thought his final season as a high school cross-country runner – he had been named a team captain -- would not happen.

But what happened was and is amazing. One day after being diagnosed with mixed germ cell cancer on June 11, he had surgery to remove a tumor from his groin area. Tests showed that cancer cells had spread to his chest and lymph nodes. Between then and Sept. 15, he underwent chemotherapy treatments in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, sometimes becoming so sick from the drugs that he could hardly stand. And yet …

Luke never stopped running. He has competed in every cross-country meet on the schedule this season. He hasn’t always competed with his varsity teammates, sometimes running junior varsity or junior high races. But he never stopped running. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other.

That’s how important his teammates, his friends, his coaches and cross-country is to him.

After running in the varsity race at the recent Buc Invite in Bue Earth, Luke told me, "I don't know how I would have made it through without this team and this sport."

Only four months had passed from Luke’s surgery until this week’s meet in Blue Earth. Shiny scalp aside, Luke looked strong as he ran. And he looked exactly like a team captain before and after, leading his teammates in stretching exercises and cheering for teammates who competed in other races before and after he ran.

“Luke has been the most faithful, inspired, inspirational person through all this,” said Mountain Lake coach Kyle Blomgren.

After Luke learned of his diagnosis, he went to Blomgren to tell him the bad news. That turned out to be an important meeting.

“I just knew it would be really hard,” Luke said. “Because I knew it would break his heart hearing that news. I didn't even know if I'd be able to get out of a chair for who knows how long because of this.”

Luke told the coach the diagnosis, thinking that the illness would never allow him to be the kind of team leader he wanted to be.

Blomgren’s response was not what Luke expected to hear. The coach talked about other ways to be a leader.

“He said, ‘Well, how are you going to lead then? What are you going to do?’ And we talked about it. We said even if I have to be in a chair on the sidelines, we’re going to lead and be involved and be a part of the team. And that was super inspirational to me.

“Here I was, going into it knowing I was just going to break his heart. I said, ‘I'm so sorry.’ And when I walked out, he had encouraged me a lot, which was really great.”

Among Luke’s teammates is his only sibling, Zach, who is one year younger. Their parents, Chad and Esther, along with extended family, friends and folks the Klassens may never meet, have offered support every step of the way.

T-shirts were sold. Fundraising events were held, with some proceeds being donated to Ronald McDonald House, which housed the Klassens for free while Luke was undergoing several five-day rounds of chemotherapy. An event called Luke 5:19 (after a Bible verse), held on Luke’s 18th birthday in August, saw people running or walking laps from noon until 5:19 p.m., with pledges coming in as nearly 400 miles were completed.

Luke’s mom is a breast cancer survivor, and Esther feared for what her son would be subjected to during treatments for what doctors considered Stage 3.1 cancer.

“I know what chemo is, so to willingly subject my child to what I had endured was hard,” she said. “I just thought, ‘Wow, how can we put a 17-year-old through that? So I asked the oncologist, ‘What if we do nothing?’ She paused for a long time and looked at us to make sure what we were asking and she said the tumors will grow, they'll build up in his lungs and he'll suffocate and he'll be gone before he graduates from college.”

Luke said, “It was super gruesome and dark, obviously. But that put a good perspective on everything. I might be feeling like crap but I told myself I can endure this; I can't endure drowning in my own lungs.”

The decision to continue running came with the blessing of Luke’s care team, which included some experienced runners.

“They said being able to stay active in some way, keeping yourself somewhat moving and keeping yourself in good spirits was so important,” Chad said. “It doesn't just help you make it through mentally but your body even reacts better.”

One of the most astonishing races that Luke ran came at a home meet in Mountain Lake. It was held on a Friday, which was always the second day of Luke’s five-day chemo sessions.

As the Klassens were making the two-hour drive to Sioux Falls on Thursday, Luke asked his parents about competing in the race the next day. 

“As a mom,” said Esther, “I just wanted to wrap him in bubble wrap.” She told her son they would ask his oncologist, “And if she approves,” she said to Luke, “I will drive you all the way back home.”

Luke completed that day’s chemo, got the OK to run, they returned home and the next morning he was running with his team in their home meet during his senior year. Afterwards it was back to Sioux Falls to continue with treatments.

There were plenty of rough patches, including two platelet transfusions and one blood transfusion. On the first day of cross-country practice, Luke nearly threw up. “I ran the warm-up and was shaky and unsteady and had to immediately run to the bathroom and hold myself with the toilet for a little bit,” he said.

On several occasions, the effects from chemo meant trips to the emergency room in Windom. But running, the simple act of running, was always there as a goal, a beacon. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other.

Luke’s goal in each competition was simple: Finish the race.

“I love this sport,” he said. “It’s something I’m passionate about, but I couldn't do much more than finish (early on). But once the chemo ended, I was able to start doing more immediately. The very next race, which wasn't even a week later, I already felt like I could actually race. I saw someone and I wanted to catch them. And I did. I didn't collapse.”

A year ago Luke was usually the No. 3 runner for his team. In cross-country, the places of the top five finishers for each team are combined to tabulate the final results. His goal this season is to return to the top five. He was the Wolverines’ No. 6 varsity finisher at the Buc Invite. The individual winner was Luke Miest of St. James. Zach Klassen was Mountain Lake’s top runner, in fourth place, and Luke was 31st in a field of 44 runners.

Luke has a clean bill of health and undergoes tests every two months to make sure the cancer hasn’t returned. Those intervals will get larger as time goes on; eventually he will be tested once a year throughout his life.

The Klassens know they can never repay everyone for all the good deeds that have come their son’s way.

“We've seen that communities want to fight with someone and they love to get behind someone who is fighting,” Esther said. “Because life is hard.”

Luke’s attitude was a big factor in his battle. There were times in the hospital when he couldn’t stop vomiting, times when his blood pressure was worrisome, times when he had a dangerously high fever.

Esther recounted one of those times, saying, “There were like 10 of us in the room trying to help him. And then he just laid back and said (jokingly), ‘Well, that wasn't too bad.’

“He was really kind to all the nurses, which isn't always the case with every patient. Nursing is a tough job. He asked about their days. He thanked them for things.”

As strange as it may sound, Luke knows he was lucky. His cancer is highly treatable and he received tremendous care and support

“My cancer is really, really rare but it dies fast to the chemo,” he said. “Chemo kills it really well.”

Meanwhile, Luke continues to run. He also continues to lead. He’s looking forward to the track and field season, where he focuses on the 400- and 800-meter distances. He was an alternate on his school’s 4x800 relay team that placed eighth at the Class 1A state meet last spring. Wouldn’t a chance to run at state next year be a great way to cap his high school career?

“Running kept me going,” he said. “It gave me something to get up and do every day.”

One step at a time, one foot in front of the other.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org 

John’s Journal: Minnesota’s First Family Of Cross-Country

--The Gerbers (left to right): Josh, Dan, Steve, Kris and Lyle.

The Simley Invitational is a long-standing cross-country event, having been held for many years at Simley High School in Inver Grove Heights. The 2022 event, however, could have carried a different name: The Gerber Family Invitational.

Three generations of Gerbers were involved in Saturday’s meet. Here’s the rundown …

--The starter was Steve Gerber, one of the most experienced cross-country and track and field officials in the state.

--The timing company, Wayzata Results, is owned and operated by Steve’s son Josh.

--The Simley coach is Steve’s son Dan.

--Among the runners was Steve’s grandson, Lyle, running for Richfield.

--Lyle’s dad (and Steve’s son), Kris, was there as a parent.

Steve and Josh have worked at the same meet many times, but Saturday’s event was the first time so many family members were together at a competition.

“With Danny coaching and my grandson running, it’s probably unique,” Steve said.

The Gerbers are a sports family. In addition to his cross-country and track officiating duties, Steve is a veteran scorekeeper and table official, including many state basketball and volleyball tournaments. His sons grew up as runners, even though that wasn’t Steve’s first sport.

A graduate of Brooklyn Tech in New York City, Steve was a swimmer until early in high school.

“I got tired of swimming and a friend said, ‘Why don’t you come out and run?’ We did a lap around the park and I thought that was pretty easy. But they said, ‘No, you have to go around three more times.’ ”

Fast forward to today, and Steve is one of several veteran officials who enjoy watching their grandchildren run.

“Greg Utecht (from Apple Valley) was watching his grandson (at Simley on Saturday),” Steve said. “A couple weeks ago, I was watching my grandson at a meet in Farmington and Tom Thorkelson (St. Peter) was watching his grandson. We’ll been officiating forever and now we’re watching our grandkids compete.”

Dan Gerber, who teaches social studies at Simley, is in his seventh year as head cross-country coach. He has worked for Josh’s timing company on occasion, and seeing his dad the starter and brother the timer at a meet is normal.

“With my nephew racing at Richfield. that’s been a pretty unique experience,” Dan said. “I’m trying to coach my athletes and all of a sudden I see my nephew go by and I holler, ‘Go Lyle!’

“It’s been a lot of fun. Typically I don’t see all these generations of Gerbers around. It’s a neat experience.”

When the Gerbers were comparing their individual schedules in August, they realized that they all would be together at the Simley meet.

“Any time I can do a meet with my dad, I enjoy that,” Josh said. “That happens quite a bit. This was the first time my nephew running in a meet I was timing. And if my mom was home, she would have been there, too.”

Steve’s wife, Suzi, missed out because she was on a trip to California. Which is OK, because there will be more reunions.

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: Football Means Tradition At Moose Lake-Willow River

WILLOW RIVER -- When a new school in Moose Lake was being planned a few years back, a question was raised: Should we also build a new football field next to the new school, a shiny and modern place to play?

The answer was resounding: No flippin’ way.

That’s because for about as long as anyone can remember, the Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels have been playing football on a spectacular throwback field tucked into a neighborhood on the edge of Willow River, surrounded by pine trees and bathed in tradition and success.

The team practices in Moose Lake but game nights are the big draw 11 miles away in Willow River. The two small communities south of Duluth, just off Interstate 35, have their own schools, which have come together to form cooperative sports teams since 1984.

The Rebels football team has been one of the state’s best for a long time. They have played in 15 state tournaments since 2000, including Class 2A state runner-up finishes in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

A 43-14 Homecoming win over Mesabi East last week pushed the Rebels’ record to 4-1. The loss came in the season opener against Class 4A Hermantown. Moose Lake-Willow River plays at Braham this Friday.

Dave Louzek, who is in his 24^th year as head coach of the Rebels, said success was not a sure thing in the early days.

“We really struggled to get numbers out for football, especially from Willow River,” he said. “Our numbers were way down and morale was a little bit low. We were able to build up numbers to having 65 or 70 kids come out for football and from there it’s built a lot of fun into the program. And it's just taken off since then. The kids are having fun out here and that's kind of the key to playing well.”

During halftime of the Homecoming game, previous Rebels football players were recognized as they stood on the field, representing the program’s tradition. Another tradition takes place before home games, when the Rebels silently walk the one block between the Willow River school and the football field. It’s quite a scene: the Rebels, in single file, cleats clacking on the edge of a narrow asphalt street, with red and blue banners hanging from telephone poles and bearing the Rebels’ “R.”

Louzek loves his team’s home field and said it can be even more spectacular on foggy nights.

“Every once in a while you'll get a night where the fog comes rolling in. And with the pine trees, the lights and the stands are full, it’s great.”

The field is special in other ways, too. All the fans who want to sit in bleachers do so on the home side of the field; lots of folks stand around the perimeter of the field (with the option of stepping back into the pines to take important phone calls). There are press boxes on each side of the field. And there is no track, which allows everybody to be extremely close to the action.

“That's the best part of this field, there's no track separating the fans from the game,” said Louzek. “The fans are literally right on top of you, right on top of the field and they see everything that we're doing coaching-wise, and I love having them right there. They see how we treat the kids, and we treat them well and get them to work hard for us. I love that everybody is part of the experience.”

Indeed, during the second half of the Homecoming game, with reserves on the field, a mom leaned over the front of the metal bleachers and asked several first-string players to gather together on the sideline as she snapped a photo.

The Rebels of 2022 are a talented group, led by a rough-and-tumble ground game and a quick-to-the-ball defense. They average 313 rushing yards per game, led by Jaxsyn Schmidt’s 150-yards-per-game average and eight total touchdowns in five games. The Rebels have scored 19 rushing touchdowns and the defense has yielded only four grounds TDs.

“It's definitely a work in progress,” Louzek said of this season. “But we always expect to compete for a section championship. We expect to get into the state tournament. We graduated a great group of seniors last year, just like we do every year. But we never talk about rebuilding, we always talk about reloading.

“And now it's this group's turn, and you saw the former Rebel players out there (at halftime). They played in Prep Bowls, they played in state semifinals, they played in state quarterfinals. And these kids know it because we talk about it. And so they have to live up to that legacy. And most of all, now, it's their turn. This year is their turn to leave their part of the legacy.”

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org  

John’s Journal: Honoring The Pioneers Of Title IX

 

ERSKINE – The crowd cheered as the athletes were introduced. One by one, their names were announced inside the gym at Win-E-Mac in this northwest Minnesota community, and the cheers resounded as the athletes shared high-fives and hugs with each other.

Mary Strom Schmidt, Denise Johnson St. Michel, Ilene Kiecker Reierson, Julie Bergman Kees, Amy Schimanski Renier, Deanna Haagenson, Nancy Bensen Tradewell, Nola Johnson Hanson, Pam Aanenson, Lori Osland Hole, Ruth Thompson Vetter, Naomi Thompson Hillgartner, Deb Johnson Carey, Beth Strom Fortin, Darlene Johnson Dierkes, Mary Nornes Espeseth, Tami Youmans Ose. And coach Nancy Andree.

The fact that these were not current athletes did not quiet the cheers one bit. These were pioneers, the first female athletes to represent their schools when Title IX opened the door to athletic equality for females in 1972. Back then, these athletes competed for McIntosh-Winger and Erskine schools. Now, as the 50^th anniversary of Title IX is marked, they were stars once more at their modern, merged school.

They were honored during a sweet ceremony prior to a varsity volleyball match on Thursday, with the Fosston Greyhounds taking the short ride west on U.S. Highway 2 to meet the Win-E-Mac Patriots. Fosston came away with a 3-0 sweep, but everyone cheering for either team would agree that the best moment of the night came before the first serve was served.

As the 19 women gathered at one end of the gym, members of both current teams – teenage girls who know little of the 1970s – went down the line, congratulating each of the pioneers with a double high-five. And the smiles were bright on both ends of those connections.

“It was just really neat to be a part of it,” Fosston coach Sarah Dryburgh said. “It was a very special night. It was neat to see these pioneer women and how excited they still were, giving each other high fives. For us to be a part of that, I think it was very special for our girls.”

The event was organized by Win-E-Mac activities director Brady Langemo, with lots of help from folks in the community who helped get word to the athletes from the 1970s. One of those who helped connect Langemo to the women was Pam Aanenson, who now lives in Tennessee. Pam had already visited McIntosh earlier in the summer and didn’t plan on attending Thursday’s event. Her plans changed when she started receiving messages from former teammates and friends on Wednesday evening, asking her to be there. She drove 20 hours and she was there.

The women who were honored played volleyball and basketball at their schools (Andree was the first volleyball coach at Erskine).

Times were different then. Today, things like uniforms, schedules and facilities are the same for girls and boys. Back in those early days, the old boys club didn’t want to share gym space or time or attention with girls. Back then, finding basics like uniforms and transportation for girls was a hurdle. Thank goodness those days are ancient history. And there’s really not much wrong if today’s athletes don’t know a lot of those details.

“They honestly had no idea what Title IX was when we first brought it up,” said Win-E-Mac volleyball coach Tanya Hamre. “So we started to explain it to them and they're like, ‘So it's a pretty big deal.’ And my mom was one of the first ones, too. It's pretty cool for them to know the people who first started this.”

Dryburgh said, “Our team talked a little bit about perspective this week; you know, kind of seeing the big picture and not getting so caught up in the now. And (Thursday’s event) just went so well with what we've been talking about. For us to be a part of that, I think it was very special for our girls. And I think they'll be able to really take something away from that and just kind of tie it all together.

“I even think about when I played in high school 25-30 years ago, how much it's changed and how much more competitive it is. These girls train harder and the game has been lifted and become more competitive. You see that history and how much they get to reap those benefits. I think it was really neat for them to kind of have a little bit of that background tonight.”

--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org