The Heart O' Lakes Conference couldn't keep Ulen-Hitterdal out forever.
At least that's what athletic director Kent Henrickson hoped.
"We'll keep applying," he said four years ago, "and hopefully they'll get sick of hearing from us."
After two failed attempts, U-H, a Class 1A independent of late, was admitted into the HOL for boys and girls basketball and volleyball beginning in 2003-04.
The approval likely had less to do with perseverance than it did with the Spartans' sparkling new $7.5 million gymnasium addition.
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A lack of top-notch facilities had previously been the only stumbling block to admittance in the HOL. It's also the reason Moorhead Park Christian was denied entrance.
"A lot of people go to those (HOL) games and you have to have room to accommodate them," said Henrickson, who also approached the Pine to Prairie Conference and attempted to start a new league with other area schools. "We have as nice a facility as anybody."
Now comes the hard part: competing. U-H will be the smallest school in the league.
Success might not be that far off, however. The Spartans boys basketball team is 2-2 this season against HOL teams.
"Next year, going in there, we probably won't come into the tournament undefeated, and our record won't be as good as it would have been, but our kids will be ready to play," Henrickson said. "They'll face that competition night in and night out, and I think it'll bring the quality of our program up."
Moorhead swimmers maintain
Letdown? What letdown?
Despite graduating Jeff Schneider and Jared Peters, the two best swimmers in school history, from the best team in school history, the Moorhead boys haven't missed so much as a scissor kick.
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The Spuds are 3-0 in duals and have finished in the top two of every invitational.
"Turning the corner happened last year," coach Pat Anderson said. "What's surprising about this season is how they're hanging on. It'd be easy for them to let down. They haven't let that happen."
Last year Moorhead went 9-0, won its first section title, placed fourth in the state and had the Class 2A swimmer of the year in Schneider.
This year, senior veterans Paul Evenson, Lars Seljvold and Kevin Chamberlain, along with junior Fargo North transfer Ron Hehn, are continuing the program's dramatic resurrection.
"It's really been rewarding to watch," said Anderson, in his fifth season. "We still don't get our due down in the Twin Cities a whole lot, but to turn a program around as quickly as this one has been a great experience."
Readers can reach Terry Vandrovec at (701) 241-5548 or vandrovec@forumcomm.com
