SPORTS WRAP

When the NRHEG girls basketball team took the floor at the state tournament at the University of Minnesota earlier this month a very familiar voice introduced them. Longtime public address voice for the Panthers Mark Domeier made his Minnesota State High School League basketball tournament debut.

            He did his best to stay neutral. “I think I did a pretty good job of being exuberant when Braham would score… as hard as it might be.” In the end the Bombers prevailed.

            The opportunity to sit at the microphone presented itself when NRHEG Activities Director (AD) Dan Stork spoke with league staff at last year’s girls’ tournament. “Listen. You need to get our guy up here,” said Stork to the staff.

            Shortly afterward, Domeier received an email about doing the state softball tournament.

He enjoys seeing the elite competition level while literally having a say in the matter. “You interact with kids performing at the highest level and coaches from around the state. A lot of times it’s teams that I would never see. They don’t come down to New Richland,” said Domeier.

            He believes his job is to enhance the tournament experience. That starts with getting the players’ names correct. “(Talking to the coaches) takes five minutes. And if that five minutes allows me to say a kid’s name right, it might be the only time their name is said, in the pregame,” said Domeier.

            Domeier, an English teacher, has called Panther athletics for about 30 years, though he says he was at least the third choice for then-AD Ted Pelzl to voice a neutral site basketball game. That’s evolved into announcing football, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, softball and baseball, his favorite.

            “I basically do every varsity event that I can make it to,” he said.

            He takes on the additional task of calling play-by-play on Hudl, admitting, “Certainly, I’m not neutral at home. People who listen to me know that. But on the broadcast, when the other team makes a nice play, I’m going to acknowledge that. Because these are kids and they’re doing some really wonderful things and they deserve that recognition.

            “You never know what you’re going to see any night in the gym or out in the field. I consider it an honor to be able to be there,” said Domeier.

ExCEL Award

            OHS juniors Ava Cox and Lowell Schultz received first-class treatment as top 34 finishers for the MSHSL’s ExCEL Award which celebrates students who are active in school and community events. They were recognized during the state girls basketball championships at the University of Minnesota’s Williams Arena on March 14.

            Cox is proud to have started a chapter of Health Occupation Students of America at OHS. “I feel like I’m just a busy person. I like to have a lot on my plate. Sometimes it can get to be too much. But I also like having things to do. I like the people that I meet,” she said.

            She enjoyed the choir trip around Minnesota. “Everywhere we went to do something fun, we would sing a ‘thank you’ song. The capital was more formal. We sang our full set of songs,” said Cox.

            Cox runs cross country and track. “It’s really rewarding. You put in the hard work every day at practice and then you’re able to compete and see that pay off.”

            She volunteers as a youth coach for a variety of sports, sometimes helping her siblings, “My mom pushed me to do all different kinds of sports and try to narrow down what I liked. I want to be a part of other kids doing the same thing,” said Cox.

            Schultz says the competition for ExCEL is tough. “I’m almost more impressed by the fact of winning it in the town level because I know there’s some great students at Owatonna. I have friends and peers in the junior class that I know also would have been competitive at the state level.”

            Asked why he does so much, “I get bored really easy. So, I like to keep busy… I found that sometimes what you do can be because of the people. Sometimes what you do can be because of the environment. I feel I have different things for different reasons.

            “But at the end of the day, I bring it back to my religion. I’m just trying to find what I can do to glorify God and that’s my sense going into everything,” he said.

            Schultz takes pride in the presentation of Les Misérables, especially after more family-friendly musicals the last couple of years. “This is a drama. This is a serious, heavy show. I think it worked us and challenged the entire ensemble, including me, in a way that we haven’t been challenged in the past.”

            Cross country and track bring out his competitive nature. “If I can work as hard as a I can, I’ll get somewhere. That’s always been my mentality… Once you reach the peak of a mountain, you can see farther. Even when I improve, I can always see myself farther, and that’s been propelling me my whole career,” he said.

            Schultz is a school district board representative and is working toward his Eagle Scout project. He recently qualified for the national DECA convention with a first-place finish in the state competition.

            Cox closed with, “I think it’s just such a cool thing. And to have Lowell be recognized as well and to be able to go to the state level is really cool. They were talking about how many people are in the state and how many people apply for the award… To put in perspective how selective this award has been.”