North Dakota

Champion Trees crowned in North Dakota in 2023

Published

2 years ago

May 8, 2024

Champion Trees crowned in North Dakota in 2023

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – There are new champion trees is North Dakota.

State Forester Thomas Claeys announced six new champion trees and one new second place champion have been added to the North Dakota Register of Champion Trees.

What exactly is a champion tree contest? The purpose of the contest, is to engage the public in forestry activities and instill a desire to protect and preserve these trees for future generations.

Below are the trees that are being recognized:

The chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) owned by Kaden Leier in Bismarck, North Dakota, is a new addition to the Register. This new state champion has a total of 103.19 points for having a circumference of 4 feet 4 inches, height of 44 feet, and average crown spread of 28 feet 9 inches. Chokecherry is the state fruit of North Dakota.

The white poplar (Populus alba), owned by Evelyn Christanto in Bismarck, ND, is a new addition to the Register. The tree was nominated by Dirk Churchill. This new state champion has a total of 310.4 points for having a circumference of 19 feet 5.5 inches, height of 60 feet, and average crown spread of 67 feet 9 inches.

The Korean maple (Acer tegmentosum) owned by Greg Morgenson in Bismarck, is a new addition to the Register. This tree was nominated by Joel Allen, with the North Dakota Forest Service. This new state champion has a total of 44.02 points for having a circumference of 1 foot 3.3 inches, height of 24 feet, and average crown spread of 18 feet 10.5 inches.

The Manchurian maple (Acer mandshuricum) owned by Greg Morgenson in Bismarck, is a new addition to the Register. This tree was nominated by Joel Allen, with the North Dakota Forest Service. This new state champion has a total of 73.6 points for having a circumference of 2 feet 9.1 inches, height of 35 feet, and average crown spread of 22 feet.

The Manchurian striped maple (Acer tegmentosum) owned by Greg Morgenson in Bismarck, is a new addition to the Register. This tree was nominated by Joel Allen, with the North Dakota Forest Service. This new state champion has a total of 68.62 points for having a circumference of 2 feet 9.2 inches, height of 29 feet 7 inches, and average crown spread of 23 feet 4.5 inches.

The three-flowered maple (Acer triflorum) owned by Greg Morgenson in Bismarck, is a new addition to the Register. This tree was nominated by Joel Allen, with the North Dakota Forest Service. This new state champion has a total of 70.646 points for having a circumference of 2 feet 11 inches, height of 29 feet, and average crown spread of 24 feet 7 inches.

The American elm (Ulmus americana) owned by the Patrick and Elizabeth Cronin in Fargo, is a new addition to the Register. This tree is the new second place state champion, and has a total of 235.75 points for having a circumference of 16 feet 4 inches, height of 87 feet, and average crown spread of 67 feet. This nomination is a welcome addition after the previous second place champion in Lisbon was infected with Dutch elm disease and had to be cut down a couple years ago.

Champion trees located on public land can usually be visited without a problem. However, if a champion tree is located on private property, officials ask that you respect the landowner and ask permission before making a visit.

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North Dakota

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Published

7 minutes ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Kalamazoo — There’ll be a new champion in the NCHC.

Will Zellers scored the game-winning goal in the third period as No. 3 North Dakota downed No. 4 Western Michigan, 5-3, Friday night at Lawson Arena. The Broncos never led and trailed all of the third period, though a late push nearly tied the game with the net empty.

“Overall in the game, I thought it was a pretty tightly contested effort. I thought they just scored too easy,” Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “You know, for us, we had a couple breakdowns, and they’re so talented, so good, they took advantage when we broke down.”

The teams finish the regular season Saturday night. Western Michigan came into Friday’s game tied with Denver in standings points and five points behind North Dakota, needing that many to get a share of the Penrose Cup it won last season en route to an NCAA championship, too.

As far as regular season results go, the Broncos will play for second seed in the NCHC Tournament, needing to outpace Denver, which plays Arizona State this weekend.

Western Michigan (23-9-1, 15-7-1 NCHC) goaltender Hampton Slukynsky made 16 saves on 20 shots in the loss while North Dakota’s Jan Spunar stopped 22 of 25 shots. It was a battle of two of the NCHC’s top netminders, and each made key stops in a tight-checking, physical game.

Zellers put North Dakota (25-7-1, 17-5-1) up 4-2 4:42 into the third period off an assist from Detroit Red Wings draft choice Dylan James.

“He kind of made a play out of nothing there,” said North Dakota coach Dane Jackson, who is in his first season as head coach after being on the coaching staff since 2006. “And that was a really nice kind of moment where you go OK, we got a little got a little leeway here, and we can just kind of play a little bit more free.”

North Dakota took a 3-2 lead into the third period with goals from defenseman Sam Laurila alongside forwards Ollie Josephson and Josh Zakreski. Defenseman Zach Bookman and forward Liam Valente scored for Western Michigan.

One too many times in the second frame, Western Michigan’s blue line let a North Dakota forward in all alone to face Slukynsky, who stopped a couple of rushes in the opening minutes of the period.

With four minutes until the intermission, the Broncos finally got burned. On a feed from linemate Anthony Menghini, Lakreski cut to the glove side of a sprawling Slukynsky and beat him with the backhand. The goal gave North Dakota the 3-2 lead, after a seeing-eye shot from Bookman along the right wall had tied it up two apiece 8:10 into the period.

“I actually thought the second period was our best period,” Ferschweiler said. “… We started to take over. We got the goal, tied 2-2, and are kind of just humming along. Four minutes left, we just hand them a goal. Blown coverage. That was inexcusable, honestly, with some of our better players on the ice.”

The opening period played out as a back and forth track meet through the neutral zone as each side settled in. Laurila put North Dakota up 1-0 with his first career goal. After Slukynsky denied him on a trio of tries earlier in the shift, he fired a shot to beat the Western Michigan netminder 4:40 into the game.

It took just a minute and 34 seconds after Laurila’s opener for Western Michigan’s top line to get it right back. A blue-collar shift from captain Owen Michaels fed linemate Will Whitelaw along the left boards, and he sprung Valente for a breakaway goal that evened up the score.

“I thought we gave it to them too easy a couple times tonight,” Whitelaw said. “And I think when you’re playing a team like that, obviously they’re gonna put it in your net. But I think it’ll be a big lesson for our group going forward.”

For the better part of the first period, the Lawson Lunatics peppered North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage with jeers, but he got his own licks in with 7:48 left in the first period as he fed Josephson right at the net for the 2-1 goal. That score held through the first period.

With 2:02 remaining and Slukynsky pulled, forward Zaccharya Wisdom pulled Western Michigan within one. He nearly had the equalizer with 40 seconds on the clock on a backdoor try, but he mistimed the shot. Mac Swanson scored an empty-netter with 20.7 seconds on the clock to clinch the win, and with it the Penrose Cup, presented to North Dakota in the locker room and then paraded around the ice.

“It’s the hardest regular season championship to win, in my opinion,” North Dakota forward Ben Strinden said. “So it’s awesome. Obviously, it’s not our end goal, but we’re going to enjoy it for sure.”

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood

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