SPORTS WRAP
With a strong show of community support, From the Heart and Soul Run is returning to Owatonna on May 4.
Over the years, the event has raised money for local families dealing with cancer. Organizer Beth Svenby said there was an outpouring of encouragement to continue after announcing the 2022 event would be the last.
“The emails and text messages that I received saying, ‘This is such a good thing for our community. What kind of help do you need in order to get it back up and running?’ These are the families that really need your support. Really it was the conversation and the impact of others that led us to start it up again,” said Svenby.
Even when the plan was made a couple of years ago to sunset the event, she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel.
“That was a tough call,” Svenby said, “and I struggled with that decision personally because of the reason behind the start of the race. We wanted to continue to support those families on their journey with cancer, which my mom was at one time. So, there was a personal connection to it.”
Last fall, the run was held in connection with the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener held in town in October, but Svenby believes a stronger number of runners will participate in the spring.
In the past, several groups have held fundraisers to supplement the money raised from the run itself.
Recipients
Three local families will benefit. Sawyer Wobig was diagnosed with a form of leukemia in January 2023 and is in remission. She gets daily and weekly chemotherapy and makes regular trips to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.
Joe Nelson was diagnosed with stage three Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2022. Previously, he battled Ulcerative Colitis. Complications from medication led to shoulder and hip replacements. During recovery, he discovered swollen lymph nodes.
Tracy Granquist has dealt with jaw and neck cancer since August 2023 and will need an aggressive form of chemotherapy.
Change for 2024
May 4 will have a kids’ run and 5K. There will not be a half marathon.
“If we need to bring that back in the future we will, but for this year we’re just going to run that 5K. That’s the majority of our registrants anyway,” Svenby said.
She likes the family-friendliness of a 5K. People can walk and push strollers.
Registration is through Anderson Race Management. There are links at visitowatonna.org and the From the Heart and Soul Facebook page.
Owatonna’s Hype Guy
His goal is to get you dancing in the bleachers. Eric Hancock handles the music and technology of the videoboards at the new Owatonna High School. He gets plenty of help from the students to keep the crowd engaged.
“I have never seen student sections like we had this year. We have some guys… One of the big ones is Luke Webber. He runs that student section in the gym, and I don’t know who did it for the fall in football, but they would have the entire section dancing to stuff I would play,” said Hancock.
Hancock runs Rockin’ MN DJ and Entertainment in addition to working for the athletic department as the hype guy. He’s been the stadium voice for lacrosse for a few seasons and has announced all the home wrestling meets this winter, also filling in for John Connor on several basketball games.
Booster clubs worked with several local videographers to create the pre-game videos that ran during football, basketball, wrestling, and adaptive floor hockey.
“That was the best event we had here all year. If you can watch a video back on it, especially of the first goal. No one knew what I had ready to put up on that board, and I had the Minnesota Wild horn ready to go, and I cranked that volume. The place erupted when Jesse Fonner scored,” said Hancock.
Fans of visiting teams convey a steady message.
“Keep it going. We’re having a blast. This place is amazing. We heard that from everyone. Every kid, every student that would come in from other schools. Oh man, this place is incredible,” said Hancock about what he’s heard from opposing teams.
Game night for him involves arriving hours before the opening tip. He uploads information on opponents and graphics or video clips while preparing iPads for that night’s scoring crew.
Look for new features in the fall.
“You’re going to see a huge change on the video board. More stuff is live video now, more active video, instead of a lot of still pictures like we had during football. Now I’ve got a lot more live-action stuff. And we’ll be incorporating a new camera that will allow us to actually put fan stuff and the crowd on there. We can zoom in on action on the field, and we can put it right up on the board at the same time,” he said.
Hancock worked at KRFO while attending OHS and is very comfortable on a microphone but is still a little surprised to be in his current role.
“All those years ago, there’s no way they would have given me the access I have now. I guess you grow up a little bit,” he said.
Out to the ballpark
Tickets are available for the Huskies’ baseball game versus Red Wing at Target Field on Saturday, April 20. The game follows a 1:10 p.m. Twins game against Detroit. The high school game should start around 4:30 p.m. Contact Huskies’ coach Tate Cummins at owatonnabaseball@live.com for ticket information. Be sure to order tickets this way to benefit the OHS baseball program.
Rebel Alliance
The OHS robotics team has their second competition of the season March 21-23 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Rebel Alliance finished 11th out of 55 teams in Duluth early this month. Advisor Nathele Beadell says it was a learning experience.
“We found out what worked well and what we needed to change on our robot. We believe we have the issues we encountered fixed,” said Beadell.
The team tested out their design modifications on Saturday.
“We were pleased with how the robot performed,” said Beadell.
The upcoming competition can be live-streamed at thebluealliance.com/event/2024iacf.
