Hibbing to rejoin Sea-Range in '08

Dan Moberg's yearly crusade finally came to fruition.

The Hibbing football coach's annual plea to move the Bluejackets out of the North Country Conference and into the Sea-Range Conference usually had fallen on deaf ears -- until last month.

That's when Sea-Range activities directors voted 5-2 to bring Hibbing into the conference beginning in 2008. Last year the vote was 4-3 against the Bluejackets.

"We want to go in there and be competitive," Moberg said. "When we play these bigger schools [in the North Country Conference], we just can't keep up. If we can be competitive and win a couple games, the kids will want to play football."

Moberg says the football program's numbers are well down from past years. The school reports a 2007-08 enrollment of 752, down from 921 in 1995-96.

"Everyone thinks of Hibbing as huge school," Moberg said. "We don't have the numbers that we used to."

Victories have been rare, too, in recent seasons. The Bluejackets are on a 14-game losing streak headed into tonight's North Country Conference home finale against Duluth Denfeld and have lost 16 straight conference games.

Moberg credits new activities director Tim Scott with influencing the Sea-Range's change of heart. Scott, the Bluejackets baseball coach, took over his new duties on Sept. 10 and made the Sea-Range vote his first priority.

"He took the bull by the horns and talked to [conference ADs] personally," Moberg said.

Scott believes the move will benefit Hibbing. The Sea-Range is comprised of Proctor, Hermantown, Eveleth-Gilbert, Cloquet, Ashland, International Falls and Hibbing's main rival, Virginia.

"We just thought it was a good fit for us at this time," Scott said. "We found it tough to be competitive right now. I think [other ADs] recognized this was a good fit.

"Not only from a competitive standpoint, but from a rivalry standpoint, it's good for everybody."

Hermantown coach Daryl Illikainen agrees. He said he supported Hibbing on previous votes, partly because one more conference team means one less road trip for his team. The Hawks drove to Mound-Westonka last week to play a nonconference game.

"I was all for it last year when it didn't pass," Illikainen said. "I thought, 'What a great thing for area football.'"

Obviously, not every coach and AD felt that way. Two schools still voted against the proposal.

But, as Moberg told a fellow conference coach, with numbers and school interest dwindling at the Iron Range school, this was the only feasible choice.

"I said, 'Do you lose us when we join another conference or when nobody wants to play football in Hibbing anymore?'" Moberg said.

northwestern to getnew football field

Homecoming was a bit different for Northwestern students this fall as the school's football game last week was played at Ole Haugsrud Field in Superior, about 25 miles west of Maple.

That's because the school's football field looks more like a mud bowl due to a construction project. The gridiron is the staging area for removal of dirt from the area where a 123,000-square foot high school addition is being built.

"The football field just happens to be where all the action is," district superintendent Gregg Lundberg said.

The Tigers' other three home games have been played at Malosky Stadium on the Minnesota Duluth campus.

Though this fall's schedule has been disrupted, administrators are confident that the improvements will be worth the hassle. In addition to more classroom space, the school's new wing will include a gymnasium and auditorium.

And, once the clean-up is under way next spring, officials expect approval for a new football field to be constructed.

"It's more expedient and cost effective to redo all the facilities at the football field," said Paul Staffrude, the district's business manager. "It's better for us to just build a new football field next spring."

NOTES

Stan Karich resigned Monday after 10 years as coach of the Duluth East softball team. Karich posted a record of 129-87 and had 15 former players go on to play collegiately. Karich plans to continue coaching youth leagues during the summer and promote the game of softball.

* Cloquet senior Montana Vichorek went over the 1,000 career dig mark Monday against Washburn. With 19 digs, Vichorek reached 1,007 total digs in her volleyball career.

RICK WEEGMAN covers prep sports for the News Tribune. He can be reached at (218) 723-5302, (800) 456-8181 or e-mailed at rweegman@duluthnews.com