North Dakota
NDSU Foundation plans new pregame party in Frisco for Bison fans
FRISCO — The party leading up to the Bison’s attempt to win their 10th national title in 14 seasons is a little different this year.
In past years, the NDSU Foundation has hosted a pep fest in the Frisco area.
This year, they are hosting a tailgate party instead.
“Change is good. I think it is going to allow for some more kids and family time,” said Todd Clark, a North Dakota State University fan from West Fargo who is in Frisco for his sixth title game.
“Because it is a night game, I think it makes a lot of sense to get everybody there right before the game instead of 24 hours before that,” former Bison Steve Sershen said.
Fans will take over a soccer field next to Toyota Stadium on Monday, Jan. 6, ahead of the 6 p.m. kickoff. The event at Dr. Pink Field is a free, family-friendly tailgate party that will include games, kids events, a DJ and food and drinks.
The gates open when the tailgate lot opens at 1 p.m. and goes until 4 p.m.
The traditional team walk will take place at 3:15 p.m., right next to the tailgate party.
“The strength of the Herd is the Bison and the strength of the Bison is the Herd, so how do we make sure we do a pregame event that gets everybody together and ready to go into that stadium and absolutely destroy Montana State and make sure everyone is there?” Bethany Hardwig with the NDSU Foundation said of the mindset behind the change in the event.
After the Bison punched their ticket to Frisco, the NDSU Foundation conducted a survey. With the game being on Monday night for the first time, they wanted to know when fans would be in town.
Hardwig said many people would be driving down and arriving Sunday afternoon or early Monday, and the NDSU Foundation wanted an event that those fans could attend.
“That they don’t feel like they missed the thing was really important to us,” she said.
Attendance at pep fests in recent years noticeably declined as Bison Nation spread out across the Frisco area to enjoy their favorite watering holes and restaurants.
“The Bison are a huge part of what we do on that football field, so making sure people are gathered, ready and hyped is our obligation to our team,” Hardwig sad. “Our team has made it this far — Are we ready to yell loud and get them the rest of the way?”
Matt Henson is an Emmy award-winning reporter/photographer/editor for WDAY. Prior to joining WDAY in 2019, Matt was the main anchor at WDAZ in Grand Forks for four years.
North Dakota
North Dakota voters to decide single-subject requirement for future constitutional amendments on June 9
BRECKENRIDGE — Coaches, teammates, friends and family gathered in the south parking lot of Breckenridge High School for another state tournament sendoff.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
This year, it was Troy Berndt taking the ceremonial convertible ride. He is headed to St. Michael-Albertville High School for the Minnesota Class A State Track and Field Meet on June 4-6.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
He will be running in the third heat of the 400-meter prelims, scheduled for 4:52 p.m. June 4. There are seven athletes in each heat, 21 total, and nine will advance to the finals at 6:20 p.m. June 5.
The top two finishers in each heat advance, along with the next three best times. Berndt’s personal best time of 50.67 has him seeded 13th, but the 10th-, 11th- and 12th-seeded runners are less than five hundredths of a second ahead of him. The eighth- and ninth-seeded runners are also close, at 50.33 and 50.39, respectively.
Berndt dropped nearly seven-tenths of a second from his previous personal best at the Section 6A West Subsection Meet on May 21, running 51.35, and shaved another 0.68 seconds off at the Section 6A Championships on May 28 with a time of 50.67. If he keeps lowering his time, he will have a shot at reaching the podium against the best runners in Class A.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
Results and photos will be available online immediately following the race June 4 and in the June 10 print edition of the Wahpeton Daily News.
Corbin Lee is a sports reporter for the Wahpeton Daily News and Richland County News-Monitor. Corbin can be reached by calling (701) 291-3551 or emailing corbin.lee@wahpetondailynews.com.
On this day in 1971, Rugby repeated as North Dakota’s high school sand greens golf champion behind medalist Dwight Stempson’s winning performance.
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:
Rugby Repeats As Sand Greens Golf Champion
RUGBY, N. D. — Rugby repeated as North Dakota high school sand greens golf champion here Wednesday, posting a four-man total of 293 strokes for 18 holes.
Led by medalist Dwight Stempson’s medalist 36-35 — 71, the Panthers were eight strokes ahead of runnerup Stanley, which had a 301. Following were Garrison 311, Beulah 315, Leeds 322, Ashley 323, Bottineau 328, Pembina 329, Tioga 332, Parshall 341 and Hettinger 342.
Stempson and teammate Bruce Carlson each had one-under par 71s, but Carlson was unable to be at the regional and wasn’t qualified for individual honors.
Rounding out the Rugby totals were Delwin Wilson 40-37 — 77 and Dennett Hutchinson 35-39 — 74. Gary Kirchoffner, 41-39 — 80, was Rugby’s fifth entrant with the best four-of-five scores counted.
Runnerup Stanley was led by Steve Springan’s 34-38 — 72 and Joe Springan’s 36-38 — 74. Their two-man total of 146 strokes was good enough for the doubles title. Two strokes back with a 148 was the duo of Stempson and Wilson. Stan Saathoff and Mike Stepina of Garrison each had 76s for a 152 total and the Ashley combo of Steve Maier (76) and Dave Kretschmar (78) was fourth with a 154.
Stempson was the driving contest winner with a distance of 280 yards. Chris Knutson of Garrison headed the pitch and putt competition.
Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.
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