Sport Stories

As I sat glued to ESPN last week waiting for the latest Brett Favre update. I also was keeping an eye on the trade wire waiting for the Twins to make a move.
A half game out of first place at the time, I expected, like many fans and sports writers, that the Twins would make some sort of deal at the deadline. Maybe adding a bat or an arm for the impending playoff race.
The deadline came and went. No Twins deal.

The International Falls 11 year old All-Star Baseball Team recently competed in the Little League State Tournament. The tournament was held at Carl Eck Park in Circle Pines.
The Falls got off to a slow start in the tournament falling to Plymouth/New Hope 16-0 in the team’s first game. The Falls got bit by the error bug committing five errors in the contest.
The Falls bats were silenced in the contest coming up with only one hit in the game. Ben Humbert, Cole Miggins, Jackson Vollom and Rylan Hendrickson each saw action on the mound for the Falls.

For most people, the world of ironman racing is something that they watch on TV on a Saturday afternoon in the summer.
The closest most people get to an ironman race is images of well-conditioned athletes with wax pencil numbers on their arms transitioning from a swim to a bike on a beach in Hawaii.
For former International Falls resident Tiffany (Gerlach) Lindstrom, nothing could be farther from the truth. Lindstrom is a 1990 graduate of Falls High School now living with her family in the Twin Cities.

The Falls High Broncos boys’ basketball team competed in its final event of the summer this past weekend at the Pacesetter MIT in St. Cloud.
The tournament format placed 44 teams in four divisions with 11 teams in each division. The tournament was a mix of all four classes in the state of Minnesota. The state currently has four divisions, A, AA, AAA and AAAA. The Broncos currently compete in the AA division. Teams from South Dakota and North Dakota also participated.

The compressor is on and the ice is in at Bronco Arena as the building plays host to the 40th Annual Falls Summer Hockey Camp.
More than 100 youngsters from International Falls, Fort Frances, Lake of the Woods area and the Iron Range participated in the two week program that will come to an end this evening.

2008 Purple Pride grant applications are due Aug. 1. Please submit to P.O. Box 933, or drop off or pick up at the High School Recreation office.

Like most 10 year olds in International Falls, Remington Veillieux loves to play sports. His favorite sport is hockey, but a rare condition has forced him to watch from behind the boards.
Remington is the son of Sherry and Ken Veillieux of the Falls and was diagnosed with hydrocephalus at a young age. Remington had back surgery when he was nine months old to help combat the disorder. Hydrocephalus or hydrocephaly is an abnormal buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain. The fluid is often under increased pressure and can compress and damage the brain.

The 5th Annual Purple Pride Golf Scramble is just three weeks away and the Purple Pride Committee is busy preparing for the event and also preparing to award this year’s grants.
The Purple Pride Fund started in 2004 in an effort to help fund co-curricular programs at Falls High School. The funds’ mission is to help maintain and support co-curricular activities as defined by the Minnesota State High School League, Falls High School and Independent School District 361.

The 2008 season came to an end for the International Falls VFW baseball team this past weekend. The Falls won one game and lost two in the Sub-District Tournament at Grand Rapids.
The Falls entered the tournament as the four seed with a record of 13-13. Grand Rapids was the No. 1 seed followed by Hibbing, Chisholm the Falls and Nashwauk.
In game one, the Falls squared off with Chisholm, winning the game 6-4.
Left hander Chad Sohlman got the start on the mound going all seven innings for the complete game victory.

The 19th Annual Up North Advanced Players Volleyball Camp handed out its awards Thursday afternoon at the Rainy River Community College gym.
Over 40 girls from International Falls and the surrounding area participated in the camp that was for girls going into grades eight through 12. Girls from the Falls, Fort Frances, Littlefork-Big Falls, Big Fork, Lake of the Woods, Indus and Virginia school districts attended the camp.