Howard Berglund's career as an orthopedic surgeon has allowed him to stay close to sports.
The former Concordia baseball and track and field standout has been the Cobber athletic department's team physician for the last 10 years. Berglund has helped countless area athletes recover from serious injuries.
However, one surgery stands out. It's the moment everything came full circle.
Berglund, a 1984 Concordia graduate who is the only Cobber athlete to earn All-America honors in two different sports in the same season, performed shoulder surgery on Concordia baseball coach Bucky Burgau in 2007.
The surgery, which Burgau dubbed "The Million Pitch Makeover," helped Burgau hurl batting practice pain free.
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It may have even helped elongate the career of the longtime face of the Cobbers baseball program.
Talk about a thrill.
"There are countless stories of that kind of thing," said Berglund, who grew up in Carrington, N.D., and works for Sanford Health in Fargo. "It's a privilege to come back to help someone who made a big impact on me."
Burgau said Berglund was the best athlete he has coached in 33 seasons as Concordia's baseball coach.
A pitcher and shortstop in baseball, Berglund holds school records for career strikeouts (225) and innings pitched (225Xc). He is tied for the school record with 22 career pitching victories.
Berglund's success on the baseball field transferred over to track and field during his junior and senior seasons.
A North Dakota state high school champion in the javelin, Berglund earned the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference javelin title with a conference record in his first college track meet.
He wasn't able to compete with the Cobbers track and field team until the MIAC championships because of the baseball team's schedule. He finished seventh at the national meet.
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As a senior, Berglund qualified for nationals at a last chance meet. He went on to earn All-America honors with a sixth-place finish.
"I was just a baseball player who happened to throw the javelin," said Berglund, who was inducted into the Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. "... I don't think there is one memory that stood out. It was all just a really great life experience. That's what great about sports."
Berglund, who also played football and basketball at Concordia, graduated from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine in 1988.
He was a resident at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas, from 1988-93.
After a brief stay in Arizona, Berglund came back in 1994 to work with MeritCare in Fargo.
"This has just been great," Berglund said. "I can't imagine doing anything else besides what I'm doing now. I think people should have a calling in the certain profession they are in, and I've been very lucky to have this as my calling."
Heath Hotzler
