Notebook: Coaches ask to move softball finals to U of M

The Minnesota State High School League last year went along with a request from softball coaches to extend the state tournament to three days. The first edition of the expanded tournament will be next month at Caswell Park in North Mankato.

A new request might require a little more persuasion. The Minnesota Fastpitch Coaches Association is asking to move the state softball championship games from North Mankato to Jane Sage Cowles Stadium at the University of Minnesota. Farmington coach Paul Harrington and Rosemount coach Tiffany Rose are on a committee that’s trying to make it happen.

“We made the recommendation, but we’ve kind of hit a brick wall,” Harrington said last week.

In its recommendation, the committee asked that the state tournament championship games be moved to a “major college venue,” preferably Jane Sage Cowles Stadium, which seats 1,000 spectators. In reality, the U of M stadium appears to be the only realistic option for what the committee wants to do with the championship games. The only other Division I softball program in Minnesota is at the University of St. Thomas, where softball seating capacity is listed at 150 at a field the softball team shares with the university’s soccer teams.

After making little progress, the committee is changing its approach. “We think it could be a fairness and gender equity issue because other sports have their championship games at major college and professional sports venues,” Harrington said.

State girls hockey tournaments in the late 1990s and early 2000s were held in smaller venues such as Aldrich Arena and the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena while the boys tournament was held at the St. Paul Civic Center and Xcel Energy Center. That sparked a lawsuit in 2003 and although the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction requiring the girls hockey tournament to be played at Xcel Center was denied, the event moved there by 2006.

The softball committee pointed out that MSHSL events are held at other major venues such as U.S. Bank Stadium (football and soccer), Xcel Energy Center (volleyball, boys hockey, girls hockey and wrestling), Target Center (dance team and basketball), Williams Arena (basketball) and Target Field (baseball championship games).

Target Field hosts the MSHSL state baseball championship games when it’s available. Last year Target Field was not available and the baseball finals were at CHS Field in St. Paul.

Harrington said the committee expects there will be pushback from the city of North Mankato and the greater Mankato area, which stand to lose revenue if the final round of the softball tournament is moved. He added the committee and coaches association say it would keep early round state softball games at Caswell Park because it’s likely impractical to hold the entire four-class tournament with 32 teams at the University of Minnesota.

The 2024 state softball tournament will be June 5-7 at Caswell Park. Farmington and Rosemount, first and second in last week’s state coaches association Class 4A poll, stand a good chance of being there.

True Team finals

Four teams from the Sun Thisweek and Dakota County Tribune coverage area are set for the state Class 3A True Team track and field finals Friday at Stillwater High School.

Girls teams from Lakeville South and Eagan and the Rosemount boys team advanced by winning section championships last week. The Rosemount girls team was named a wild-card qualifier last weekend. All four teams qualified for the 2023 True Team finals, with Rosemount finishing just 6.5 points behind Wayzata for the boys Class 3A championship.

Prior Lake’s boys and girls teams and Shakopee’s boys also will represent the South Suburban Conference in this year’s True Team finals.

Class 3A field events will start at 3 p.m. Friday with track events beginning at 4 p.m. The Class 1A (10 a.m.) and 2A (4 p.m.) finals will be Saturday, also at Stillwater High School.

Big Ten steeplechase champion

Zoie Dundon has learned her distance running ability translates well to a new event. The Burnsville High School graduate and University of Minnesota redshirt freshman is the Big Ten Conference women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase champion, winning that event May 11 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Her time of 10 minutes 9.56 seconds won the event by more than 12 seconds. Dundon led three Gophers in the top nine of the steeplechase.

The next day, Minnesota won the Big Ten women’s outdoor team championship, finishing almost 16 points ahead of Nebraska.

Dundon won state high school championships in the 800 meters as a junior and senior at Burnsville. She also was a state meet qualifier in cross country and played for a Burnsville team that placed fifth in the 2022 Class AA girls hockey tournament.

Minnesota finished seventh in the Big Ten men’s outdoor meet and had contributions from a couple of local state high school champions. Gary Afram, who won the state boys large-school 100-meter championship in 2021 as a Rosemount senior, ran on the Gophers’ third-place 4x100 relay team. Ramy Ayoub of Farmington finished eighth in the 400. Ayoub won the Class 3A 400 meters in 2022, his senior year with the Tigers.

Rexing advances

Owen Rexing, a Rosemount High School graduate who tied for first place in the 2022 state Class 3A boys golf tournament, has moved one step closer to qualifying for the U.S. Open.

He tied for second by shooting 2-under-par 69 at a local qualifier Monday at Troy Burne Golf Club in Hudson, Wisconsin. Rexing’s round included six birdies and four bogeys.

Rexing is one of five players who will advance to final qualifying May 20 or June 3 at one of 10 sites across the United States. Top finishers at the final qualifying sites will play in the U.S. Open beginning June 16 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Rexing is a sophomore at the University of St. Thomas and tied for third in the Summit League Championship last month.

Taking first place at the Troy Burne qualifier was University of Minnesota player Jack Wetzel, who shot 68. Wetzel and Rexing were part of a three-way tie for the 2022 state Class 3A championship. Wetzel played for Edina; also sharing the title was Nate Stevens of Northfield.

The Minnesota State High School League last year went along with a request from softball coaches to extend the state tournament to three days. The first edition of the expanded tournament will be next month at Caswell Park in North Mankato.A new request might require a little more persuasion. The Minnesota Fastpitch Coaches Association is asking to move the state softball championship games from North Mankato to Jane Sage Cowles Stadium at the University of Minnesota. Farmington coach Paul Harrington and Rosemount coach Tiffany Rose are on a committee that’s trying to make it happen.“We made the recommendation, but we’ve kind of hit a brick wall,” Harrington said last week. In its recommendation, the committee asked that the state tournament championship games be moved to a “major college venue,” preferably Jane Sage Cowles Stadium, which seats 1,000 spectators. In reality, the U of M stadium appears to be the only realistic option for what the committee wants to do with the championship games. The only other Division I softball program in Minnesota is at the University of St. Thomas, where softball seating capacity is listed at 150 at a field the softball team shares with the university’s soccer teams.After making little progress, the committee is changing its approach. “We think it could be a fairness and gender equity issue because other sports have their championship games at major college and professional sports venues,” Harrington said.State girls hockey tournaments in the late 1990s and early 2000s were held in smaller venues such as Aldrich Arena and the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena while the boys tournament was held at the St. Paul Civic Center and Xcel Energy Center. That sparked a lawsuit in 2003 and although the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction requiring the girls hockey tournament to be played at Xcel Center was denied, the event moved there by 2006.The softball committee pointed out that MSHSL events are held at other major venues such as U.S. Bank Stadium (football and soccer), Xcel Energy Center (volleyball, boys hockey, girls hockey and wrestling), Target Center (dance team and basketball), Williams Arena (basketball) and Target Field (baseball championship games).Target Field hosts the MSHSL state baseball championship games when it’s available. Last year Target Field was not available and the baseball finals were at CHS Field in St. Paul.Harrington said the committee expects there will be pushback from the city of North Mankato and the greater Mankato area, which stand to lose revenue if the final round of the softball tournament is moved. He added the committee and coaches association say it would keep early round state softball games at Caswell Park because it’s likely impractical to hold the entire four-class tournament with 32 teams at the University of Minnesota.The 2024 state softball tournament will be June 5-7 at Caswell Park. Farmington and Rosemount, first and second in last week’s state coaches association Class 4A poll, stand a good chance of being there.

True Team finalsFour teams from the Sun Thisweek and Dakota County Tribune coverage area are set for the state Class 3A True Team track and field finals Friday at Stillwater High School.Girls teams from Lakeville South and Eagan and the Rosemount boys team advanced by winning section championships last week. The Rosemount girls team was named a wild-card qualifier last weekend. All four teams qualified for the 2023 True Team finals, with Rosemount finishing just 6.5 points behind Wayzata for the boys Class 3A championship.Prior Lake’s boys and girls teams and Shakopee’s boys also will represent the South Suburban Conference in this year’s True Team finals.Class 3A field events will start at 3 p.m. Friday with track events beginning at 4 p.m. The Class 1A (10 a.m.) and 2A (4 p.m.) finals will be Saturday, also at Stillwater High School.

Big Ten steeplechase championZoie Dundon has learned her distance running ability translates well to a new event. The Burnsville High School graduate and University of Minnesota redshirt freshman is the Big Ten Conference women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase champion, winning that event May 11 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.Her time of 10 minutes 9.56 seconds won the event by more than 12 seconds. Dundon led three Gophers in the top nine of the steeplechase. The next day, Minnesota won the Big Ten women’s outdoor team championship, finishing almost 16 points ahead of Nebraska.Dundon won state high school championships in the 800 meters as a junior and senior at Burnsville. She also was a state meet qualifier in cross country and played for a Burnsville team that placed fifth in the 2022 Class AA girls hockey tournament.Minnesota finished seventh in the Big Ten men’s outdoor meet and had contributions from a couple of local state high school champions. Gary Afram, who won the state boys large-school 100-meter championship in 2021 as a Rosemount senior, ran on the Gophers’ third-place 4x100 relay team. Ramy Ayoub of Farmington finished eighth in the 400. Ayoub won the Class 3A 400 meters in 2022, his senior year with the Tigers.

Rexing advancesOwen Rexing, a Rosemount High School graduate who tied for first place in the 2022 state Class 3A boys golf tournament, has moved one step closer to qualifying for the U.S. Open.He tied for second by shooting 2-under-par 69 at a local qualifier Monday at Troy Burne Golf Club in Hudson, Wisconsin. Rexing’s round included six birdies and four bogeys.Rexing is one of five players who will advance to final qualifying May 20 or June 3 at one of 10 sites across the United States. Top finishers at the final qualifying sites will play in the U.S. Open beginning June 16 in Pinehurst, North Carolina.Rexing is a sophomore at the University of St. Thomas and tied for third in the Summit League Championship last month.Taking first place at the Troy Burne qualifier was University of Minnesota player Jack Wetzel, who shot 68. Wetzel and Rexing were part of a three-way tie for the 2022 state Class 3A championship. Wetzel played for Edina; also sharing the title was Nate Stevens of Northfield.