Let me keep from drawing this out: we won’t be celebrating a Triple Crown winner in 2012. I’ll Have Another ran an inspired race in the Kentucky Derby but he capitalized on Bodemeister running out of steam on the home stretch. Bodemeister is the horse to beat here, but it is also his race to lose. This is the shortest of all the Triple Crown races and we saw two weeks ago what he is capable of in a short track situation. The Preakness field isn’t as deep as the Derby in talent nor number. Bodemeister will only have to really compete against I’ll Have Another and Creative Cause. Creative Cause on the other hand still ran an impressive race at Churchill even being an early casualty of the choked track. He was boxed in the middle of the pack most of the race and was eventually pushed wide but still managed to break free and finish just off the lead. For me, I see the race unfolding with huge speed between these three horses. Bodemeister will be forced to show his cards early and will be pushed to try and go wire to wire. I see no other outcome than Creative Cause coming out the victor with Bodemiester second. Look for Went the Day Well to be an upset special as he continues to improve even in defeat and can definitely run with the big boys if called to do so. Sadly, we won’t see a Triple Crown Winner this year, extending the drought to 33 years since Affirmed last did it in 1978. Had Bodemeister won the Derby, we would be having an entirely different conversation.

- Will Elkins

Post Positions

Our friend Ryan Hilgemann of the Northern State sports information department has uploaded the classic Northern State vs. South Dakota State North Central Regional title game from 1998 to youtube. I attached the video (see below). I also included Jeff Bahr’s game story from the memorable game and also a story I did on the game when we did a project on the NSU men’s basketball history. It was chosen by readers as the most memorable game in NSU men’s basketball history. Enjoy.

By Jeff Bahr
BROOKINGS — In their third season in NCAA Division II basketball, the Northern State men are going to the Elite Eight.
In a battle of South Dakota basketball powers, the Wolves took charge in the final minute to shock South Dakota State 88-82 Sunday night in the finals of the North Central Regional.
With the win, Northern qualified for the Division II Elite Eight in Louisville, Ky. To qualify, the Wolves toppled a three-time North Central Conference champion and a team that had won 22 straight home games at Frost Arena.
A superb performance from three-point territory helped carry the Wolves to the victory. Northern connected on 17 three-pointers on the night, including 10 in the second half.
Ryan Miller tallied 29 points in the second half, finishing with 45. Six of Miller’s nine three-pointers came in the second half.
Dan Fischer hit four three-pointers and Ryan’s brother Jared connected on three.
That explosive shooting helped Northern conquer a team that was bigger and deeper. The Wolves played only seven men.
SDSU’s Turk Watson hit a free throw with 1:21 left to give the Jacks an 80-79 advantage.
Ryan Miller hit a three-pointer with 56 seconds left, putting the Wolves up 82-80. Fischer rebounded a missed Brian Norberg shot, and Miller hit one of two free throws with 35 seconds left.
The rebound on the missed second shot was batted to Miller, which put the Wolves in excellent shape. He nailed two free throws with 32 seconds left and got one more with 10 seconds remaining, giving Northern an 86-80 margin and the game.
“Miller was unbelievable tonight,” said SDSU coach Scott Nagy. “You get a guy on a night like that and you’re probably not going to win.”
Nagy said his team had a good night. “Our players played as hard as they can play,” he said.
But Northern’s shooting made the difference. “I don’t know any time you’ll ever win a game when the other team shoots 17 threes,” he said.
SDSU’s Kurt Meister said, “They did a lot of double-teaming on me tonight. I didn’t take it very well. You’ve got to give Northern credit. They did a great job offensively and defensively. The best team won tonight.”
Ryan Miller scored Northern’s last nine points of the game.
“He just competes like no one I’ve ever coached in my life,” NSU coach Bob Olson said. “And I think that’s rubbed off on our other players.”
“Historically I’ve played my best basketball in big games,” Miller said. “The more excited I get, I play better.”
The game also helped NSU make up for a tough 88-87 setback to the Jacks Dec. 13 in Brookings.
Olson credited Northern’s fans for helping to neutralize the Jacks and their supporters.
Northern had a good following in the crowd of 7,239, but they were still outnumbered by Jacks fans. That advantage seemed to shrink as the game reached its conclusion.
The SDSU students who had been taunting the Wolves for two nights were strangely somber at the end of the game.
The Jacks appeared to be in good position when a Norberg three-pointer put them up 73-68 with 6:31 to play.
But the Wolves were ahead 74-73 only 47 seconds later, thanks to a three-pointer and a three-point play, both by Miller.
Ross Pankratz and Dustin Undlin combined for 14 rebounds for Northern.
It was Northern’s first regional final as members of the NCAA. The Wolves are now 3-2 in NCAA postseason action. Over the last eight seasons, Northern is 34-8 in postseason play.

NORTHERN ST. (27-4): Ross Pankratz 3-8 0-0 6, Dan Fischer 5-9 0-0 14, Dustin Undlin 2-4 0-0 4, Scott Hanson 1-5 2-5 4, Ryan Miller 13-25 10-12 45, Jared Miller 3-5 0-0 9, Mark Rich 2-6 1-1 6. Totals 29-62 13-18 88.
S. DAKOTA ST. (26-3): Matt Wallace 4-8 1-3 9, Casey Estling 3-7 1-2 7, Kurt Meister 5-8 1-3 11, Michael Torrence 2-5 2-2 7, Brian Norberg 3-7 1-1 8, Turk Watson 3-9 1-2 9, Casey Walker 8-12 4-4 23, Mike Schott 1-2 0-0 2, Bill Fischer 2-4 2-2 6. Totals 31-62 13-19 82.
Halftime—South Dakota State 41-40. Three-point shooting—Northern 17-33 (Pankratz 0-1, Fischer 4-5, R. Miller 9-15, J. Miller 3-5, Rich 1-3); South Dakota State 7-17 (Torrence 1-3, Norberg 1-5, Watson 2-4, Walker 3-4, Schott 0-1). Fouls—Northern 17; South Dakota State 18. Rebounds—Northern 29 (Pankratz 8, Undlin 6, Fischer 4); South Dakota State 41 (Wallace, Meister, 7 each). Turnovers—Northern 16; South Dakota State 19. Assists—Northern 17 (Rich 4); South Dakota State 26. Attendance—7,239. Officials—John Higgins, Tom Mauer, Mike Giarratano.

BY RYAN DEAL
It was a cold winter night on March 8, 1998, in Brookings when NSU played South Dakota State for the North Central Regional Championship. The game which will live in the minds of Northern State men’s basketball fans as the best game in the history of the program.
“People bring it up all the time,” said Miller who is now an assistant coach at Division I New Mexico. “I will run into people every time I’m back. They will come to me and say ‘The most memorable game — at any level — the most memorable game I ever watched was the South Dakota State, Northern State game.’ ”
The Wolves won the game 88-82 in front a packed house at Frost Arena. Miller was simply unstoppable as he scored 45 points, including 9-of-15 from the three-point range. In the second half, he scored 29, including the last nine points of the game.
“He always played big anytime there was a big game,” former coach and current NSU athletic director Bob Olson said about Miller’s performance.
The two teams played in the regular season and SDSU won that game 88-87 in Brookings. The winner of second meeting would earn a trip to the Elite Eight in Louisville, Ky.
“There was a lot of hype going in the game,” said Miller who is a Mitchell native and older brother of Minnesota Timberwolves’ sharpshooter Mike Miller. “Very few times is there a lot hype leading up to the game and then the game lives up to that hype, very few times. It was one of those instances where it did.”
It was SDSU’s first post-season loss at Frost Arena and it broke a 22-game home winning streak. The atmosphere was electric that night with a packed house of 7,239 fans.
“I remember how intense of a game it was,” Olson said. “How much energy was in the arena that night. Before, during and after that game.”
There was also a blizzard that night, but it did not stop the fans from blowing into Frost Arena.
“I was walking to go shoot around and there were thousands of people out there,” Miller said. “They were chanting ‘Northern Sucks! Miller Sucks!’ ” A whole bunch of crazy things. It was the most electric atmosphere I have played in during my career.”
Miller and his teammates did not need any extra motivation. Not only did they lose to the Jackrabbits in the first meeting, but they felt, as Miller puts it: “Like the step-child. The school that was kind of forgotten about.”
Several of the NSU players, including Miller, were not recruited by SDSU along with some of the other North Central Conference schools.
“All of us wanted to play at Northern State, but not being recruited by those state schools; we all came in there playing with a chip on our shoulder,” Miller said. “All of us as a collected unit never got recruited by those state schools. We all went to Northern State because of that reason. When we went and played those guys, we all wanted to prove something.”
It was the Wolves third year in the Division II ranks after they moved up from NAIA. It also marked the last win of Miller’s career at Northern, along with fellow seniors Ross Pankratz and Dustin Undlin. NSU lost in the first round of the Elite Eight tournament to perennial powerhouse Virginia Union.
“That game was kind of a culmination that Northern State has arrived as a Division II powerhouse and that they are going to be reckoned with in Division II ranks for a long, long time,” Miller said. “That was kind of the game that put them over the edge.”

By Ryan Deal

Sully Buttes golfer Willie Colson will make his third straight appearance at the State B golf tournament May 21-22 as the Chargers won the Region 5B meet. Colson was a member of Sully Buttes’ state championship team in 2010.
The senior has golfed since he was four or five years old, using clubs his dad made.
“I have been golfing as long as I can remember,” he said. “My dad made me some clubs because we couldn’t find any short enough.”
He knows what it’s like to win a state title, but one thing has eluded him thus far: a hole in one.
“I’ve been close a few times,” he said. “I keep thinking one of these days it’s going to happen.”
For more about Colson and his road to the state tournament, see Thursday’s American News. — By Shawn Werre

Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer’s cousin Mark Mauer has accepted a football coaching position at Hill-Murray High School in Maplewood, Minn. Mauer, a former St. Paul high school standout, replaces former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brooks Bollinger, who resigned after one season. Bollinger, whose father Rob Bollinger was the head coach at Northern State in 1985, will coach quarterbacks at the University of Pittsburgh. Brooks, who played at the University of Wisconsin, also had professional stops with the New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.
Mauer most recently coached at Concordia-St. Paul which belongs to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. He stepped down as football coach in June 2011 after seven seasons. Mauer compiled the most victories (40) in program history.
Mauer coached the Golden Bears to the 2005 NSIC championship and earned NSIC Coach of the Year honors in the process. He also coached the team to a pair of Mineral Water Bowl appearances (2005, 2010). Under Mauer, Concordia posted three winning seasons and finished .500 or better four times in conference play.
Posted by Deb Smith