Coaches are
busy people. Especially head coaches. And those who are head coaches in
multiple sports are extremely busy. Dan Westby of Marshall High School takes it
to another level.
The guy
never takes a vacation. After Wednesday’s Class 3A girls basketball state
quarterfinal at Maturi Pavilion, Westby was asked about taking time off. You
might as well have asked him to explain the Riemann Hypothesis (uh, Google it).
Well, to be
honest, Westby did take three days off between leading Marshall to a state
volleyball championship last fall and joining basketball practice; his assistant
coaches were in charge for those three days.
But a
vacation? A real, pack-the-bags, getaway vacation? Never. Not on your life.
“No, I don't take any,” Dan said. “I
feel bad for my wife (Deb). She goes to an all-inclusive resort with her
sisters every year down in Mexico and I've never been there.”
Westby, a 1978 Danube graduate, may simply be a testament to the grindstone.
He is one of the most successful coaches in Minnesota history, in two sports. As
a volleyball coach he has won more than 700 games, and he came to state with
301 basketball victories.
Any time he is asked about winning and success
and his legacy, he always directs the discussion back to the student-athletes.
“It's such a good group of kids,” he
said after the unseeded Tigers lost to top-seeded Becker 52-43 Wednesday. “We've
got seven seniors and they've been through it a number of times. And I told
them before our section championship, ‘You guys, I'm saying this strictly from
a selfish standpoint: I want to be with you guys another week. So let's go out
there and win. That's the way I feel.’ I just wanted to be around those kids
for another week.”
The trip to state ensured that extra
week. Marshall is playing at state in girls basketball for the 13th time; winning
titles in 2001 and 2002 and finishing second in 2006, 2014, 2015 and 2021.
The Tigers’ volleyball legacy is even stronger, with 31 state appearances, championships
in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2021 and 2022, and seven runner-up
finishes.
Becker also
has been a regular at state basketball, winning titles in 2007, 2020 and 2021,
with second-place finishes in 2019 and 2022. The Bulldogs defeated Marshall in
the 2019 state quarterfinals as well as in the 2021 championship game.
“I know Dan Westby and we have a
history with Marshall,” said Becker coach Dan Baird. “Dan is going to have his
team ready. He's just an amazing coach. He's going to get his team to play hard
until the last whistle.”
First Time
At State, First Win For Stewartville
The Stewartville
girls basketball team made history by advancing to state for the first time,
and the Tigers took full advantage by defeating Grand Rapids 71-57 in the Class
3A quarterfinals. And yes, there were some jitters.
“I was a little nervous just because
we've never been to state but I think as a team we worked really well together,”
said Savannah Hedin. Teammate Keeley Steele added, “I was definitely a little
nervous but I was excited, too, so that helps and that kind of evened it out.
And then once we got going, it was just fun to get to play with all these
girls.”
Stewartville coach Ryan Liffrig said
going to state presents lots of new challenges from an administrative
standpoint.
“It was crazy,” he said. “A lot of
planning goes into it and that was new to us. I think there were times as a
coach that I was like, jeepers, I'm wanting to watch film and all of a sudden
it's 10 o'clock and you're dealing with other stuff. But I did have a lot of help
from our coaching staff, they really stepped up and took on the other roles, like
the planning of the hotel, the food. There's just so much stuff.”
A Life Change And A Coaching Change
Tim Ellefson never took a team to
state during his nine years as the head girls basketball coach at Hutchinson.
But he took that step this year, his first season as head coach at Benilde-St.
Margaret’s.
Ellefson, a math instructor who worked in Hutchinson
for 16 years, inherited a team that qualified for state last year. The Red
Knights were state champions in 2006 and 2010. In Ellefson’s first game at
state, they rallied to defeat DeLaSalle 64-53 in Wednesday’s 3A quarterfinals.
DeLaSalle
led 22-6 midway through the first half but Benilde-St. Margaret’s came back to take
its first lead of the game, 43-42, with 7:43 remaining in the second half. A
three-pointer and a layup by sophomore Kendall McGee (who finished with 19
points), followed by a layup from Michigan-bound senior Olivia Olson (25), gave
the Red Knights a 52-45 lead with five minutes left. They were in control after
that.
Ellefson said
he was ready for a change and was open to meeting with officials from
Benilde-St. Margaret’s.
“(Athletic director) Jerry (Pettinger)
couldn’t have made me feel more welcome,” he said. “I talked it over with my
family. I have 10, 12 years after this
and maybe I have time to do something somewhere else. And I didn’t want to live
in regret, not ever trying something totally different. I said, ‘Let's go for
it.’ And it's been hard, but it's been rewarding.”
The drive from Hutchinson to Benilde-St.
Margaret’s – which is in St. Louis Park – is more than an hour. The Ellefsons
moved to Carver, which is closer.
“We’re still kind of out there a
little,” Tim said with a smile. “It’s a 25-minute drive and every day I drive
to school I’m thinking of how lucky I am. I love Hutchinson, I love the
families, I love the community. That had nothing to do with it. It was just a
life change that that I decided to do. And I’m really enjoying it.”
--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
No comments:
Post a Comment