Star Tribune
After weeks and weeks of blocking and tackling, Monticello football standout Eli Pietig is celebrating
“Playing middle linebacker is second nature for me. I’ve been playing that position all my life. I love tackling people,” Pietig said. “We have been playing good, aggressive football on defense.”
“Kadence’s poise and leadership under pressure are what makes her special and stand out,” Raiders coach Greg Ueland said. That showed in the Class 4A, Section 4 championship when Roseville (26-5) rallied for a 21-25, 24-26, 25-14, 27-25, 15-10 victory over Stillwater. A senior, Davison had 50 set assists, 21 digs, three kills, three ace serves and two blocks in the game. She has 917 assists, 271 digs, 32 kills, 33 ace serves and 36 blocks this season. “Kadence has been a confident and vocal leader for this team since the moment she played varsity as a freshmen,” Ueland said. “She is a consistent setter who sees the court so well and knows who to get the ball to, setting our team up for success.”
The Prep Athletes of the Week, clockwise from top left; Eli Pietig of Monticello, Kadence Davison of Roseville, Erik Semling of Winona Cotter/Hope Lutheran, Tenley Senden of Wayzata, Blaine Smith of Stephen-Argyle, Audrey Brownell of Staples-Motley and Zayan Oliyath of
Eagan.
The future looks bright for Semling, a freshman. Semling won the Class 1A cross-country state championship with a school-record time of 15 minutes, 23.5 seconds over the 5K course at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights. He entered the meet ranked second in the state by the coaches association. “His race was truly impressive,” Winona Cotter/Hope Lutheran coach Mike Costello said. “In two other big meets this year, he was dealing with an illness and minor injury. But he was 100 percent and really uncorked one. An amazing time and feat for anyone but extraordinary for a freshman.”
No moment is too big for Senden. The senior forward scored back-to-back goals, leading the No. 2-ranked Trojans (19-1-1) to a 3-1 victory over Lake Conference rival Edina, ranked fifth, for the Class 3A state championship. She scored at least one goal in each game of Wayzata’s season-ending 13-game winning streak. A Gophers recruit, she finished the season with 26 goals and 17 assists. “Tenley is an electrifying player with super speed who scored key goals in every state tournament game game,” Wayzata coach Tony Peszneker said.
The senior running back/linebacker is dominant on both sides of the ball. The 5-11, 192-pound Smith rushed for 268 yards on 25 carries and scored four touchdowns, leading the Storm (10-1) to a 42-14 victory over Warren-Alvarado-Oslo for the Nine-Player, Section 8 championship at the Fargodome. He scored on runs of 11, 28, 52 and 71 yards. Smith was active on defense as well, making 12 tackles. “Blaine has been consistently productive on both sides of the ball,” Storm coach Ethan Marquis said. “He is a strong player who has carried the ball well as of late for us.”
Brownell lived up to her ranking as the No. 1-rated runner in Class 1A. She won the cross-country state championship with a time of 18:17.2. Three weeks ago, Brownell established the school record with a time of 17:50.1 at the Heart O’Lakes Conference meet at Arvig Park in Perham. “She spent the season achieving goals and then setting new ones,” Cardinals coach Bruce Fuhrman said. A junior, Brownell won six of her seven races this season. “She understands the importance of logging of miles, speed workouts, tempo running, rest and other technical aspects required to become a great runner,” Fuhrman said.
The new center aims to connect the East Lake Street community with services related to housing, community safety and more.
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Mayor Jacob Frey says he plans to run for re-election next year.
“I’m preparing to do so (run) but not making any formal announcements yet,” Frey said in a text Monday.
Frey was elected mayor in 2017, defeating incumbent Betsy Hodges, after representing Ward 3 on the Minneapolis City Council from 2014 to 2018. His first term was rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, George Floyd’s murder by police and subsequent unrest that destroyed city blocks and rippled across the globe.
While a majority of City Council members called for defunding the police, Frey resisted and instead promised reform, angering a crowd of protesters that marched to the door of his townhouse days after Floyd’s murder. Minneapolis residents sided with him when they rejected a 2021 ballot measure to replace the police department with a new Department of Public Safety, and re-elected Frey.
Police reforms continue to dominate his tenure, as state and federal officials are forcing the police department into court-sanctioned monitoring due to discriminatory policing. Meanwhile, the police department continues to hemorrhage officers: The department has about 578 sworn officers, down from nearly 900 in 2019, a 36% decrease.
The Rev. DeWayne Davis, lead minister of Plymouth Congregational Church, announced plans to run for mayor on Oct. 17. Before his ordination in 2012, he worked as a congressional staffer. He co-chaired Frey’s Minneapolis Community Safety Work Group that recommended public safety reforms.
Minneapolis Council Member Emily Koski said Monday she’s “strongly considering” running for mayor. She campaigned with Frey in 2021, when she was elected to represent Ward 11 in south Minneapolis, and was considered one of his top allies on the council. But she broke ranks with Frey on his $15 million plan to replenish MPD ranks; sided with the council’s progressive majority in overriding Frey’s veto of changes to rideshare regulations; and voted against Frey’s proposal to build a new Third Precinct police station downtown.
If Koski runs, she’d be following in her father’s footsteps: Albert Hofstede was a council member before being elected Minneapolis mayor in the 1970s.
A $5 billion facility to manufacture jet fuel for airplanes is coming to Moorhead.
DG Fuels, a Washington D.C.-based energy company, announced they’re putting a sustainable aviation fuel [SAF] plant in Clay County, bringing 650 jobs to northwestern Minnesota’s border with North Dakota.
The facility, which expects to start production in 2030, will convert agriculture and timber waste into jet fuel, according to a statement from Greater MSP, a Twin Cities-based regional development organization.
“We not only want to lead the world in de-carbonizing air travel” at Minnesota-St. Paul International Airport, said Peter Frosch, CEO of Greater MSP, in an interview, on Monday. “But we want to produce that SAF in Minnesota.”
The selection of Moorhead, Frosch continued, was evidence of the concerted push from the Minnesota SAF Hub — which includes, government, universities, nonprofits and companies, including Bank of America and Delta Air Lines — to ramp up production of SAF in Minnesota.
The project is also a win for Moorhead.
“With the largest shovel-ready industrial site in the state of Minnesota, we are excited and prepared to compete on the national stage for this economic development opportunity,” said Moorhead Mayor Shelly Carlson, in a statement.
While SAF can be produced from biomass streams, including corn stover, industry experts look to perennial crops, as well, such as camelina and other oilseeds as possible sources for feedstocks.
