Thirty-one years in, Mabel-Canton volleyball coach Lonnie Morken still has the same nervous/excited reaction to Day 1 of the volleyball season. Day 1 was Monday, Aug. 12, with fall sports beginning around the state in girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, girls swimming and diving, football and boys and girls soccer.
It’s the anticipation of it that does it to Morken. And the Minnesota Hall of Fame coach wouldn’t want it any other way. “I’ve never gone a season without getting butterflies on that first day,” said Morken, whose team has advanced to the Class 1A state tournament the past two years.
“There’s just a lot of great emotion in the gym on that first day, and that goes for the coaches, too. There were a lot of anxious kids in there, excited and hoping for a great season.” The 53-year-old Morken liked what he saw from his players, which was expected.
After all, this is a veteran group, with all of its starters returning from a team that won the Section 1, Class 1A title and then finished fourth at state. ADVERTISEMENT The Cougars’ top player is the coach’s daughter, fabulous senior setter Sahara Morken. That is Lonnie’s youngest child and come November, he’ll have coached one of his kids for the final time.
For many, it begs the question: Will this then be it for him as M-C’s head coach? The answer is no. Coaches that continue to get butterflies on the first day of practice generally aren’t ready to hand things over. That generalization applies to Lonnie Morken, too.
“I am not retiring at the end of this season,” Morken said. “I definitely do not see myself doing that. I still love this.
” • At Pine Island, Rafal Konik has one of the top boys soccer programs in the state. Konik, a native of Poland, has coached his Class 1A Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa team into the state tournament the past three years. Early last November, the Wildcats just missed winning the whole thing, falling to St.
Paul Academy and Summit School 3-2 in the state championship match. Monday, on a glorious day to be outdoors with the temperature hovering in the low 70s, the slightest of breezes and nary a cloud in the sky, Konik got a look at his team for the first time this season. ADVERTISEMENT It was a beautiful thing, all of it.
“The kids were excited; it was fun for them to see their friends for the first time,” said Konik, whose son Seth Konik is a senior on the PIZM team. “They were chatting and showing off the (soccer) stuff they’d learned over the summer. And I was excited to see how all of the players looked, to see what they’d worked on in the off-season.
It’s always nice when some of the younger kids surprise you with some new skills and how they’ve gotten stronger.” The soccer field isn’t just the PIZM players' happy place, it’s their coach’s, too. Rafal Konik is made for directing high school soccer teams.
“I love it,” he said. “It allows you to build a team and see kids develop. It is so fun and to see it happening in a small community.
I’m working with great kids and it’s cool to work with their families. I have high hopes for this season. I always have them.
We want to get better each game.” • Rochester John Marshall boys cross country coach Mike Sonnabend showed up for Monday’s first practice damaged goods. He recently broke his collarbone in a fall from his bicycle.
It means he won’t be running with his cross country guys any time soon. But bicycling next to them might soon be in the offing. Whatever, he was also in a good mood Monday.
That had everything to do with that first practice. His runners showed up as motivated and eager to get going as he’s seen them in years. What they are hoping to do is repeat as Rochester city champions, a distinction they earned last year.
ADVERTISEMENT “Day 1 was really good,” Sonnanbend said. “The turnout was good and the kids were motivated to be there, especially our older guys who really wanted to get the season going. They want to defend their city championship.
These guys are more serious than usual.” They got “going” with a 6-mile run Monday. Sonnabend intends to up the ante Tuesday, with a run at Soldiers Field followed by a swim in the Soldiers Field pool.
• At Century, Karen LaDue is directing its girls soccer team. LaDue has high hopes for this group. The Panthers finished 8-1-2 in the Big Nine Conference last year and 10-5-3 overall.
LaDue is expecting something similar this season and what she watched Monday did nothing to dissuade her. “The kids have improved,” LaDue said. “I think we have more firepower which is always fun.
But Monday was a good day to kind of get our feet wet and just get everyone together. We (recall) where we were at last year and now figure out what we have to do going forward. I think the players’ soccer knowledge is there.
” • There was one person in southeastern Minnesota who wasn’t where we’d seen him the last 47 years. Instead of in the Stewartville gymnasium for his typical 10-hour first day of practice, teaching all Tigers grades how to bump, pass and spike, Hall of Fame volleyball coach John Dzubay was in his kitchen. ADVERTISEMENT Dzubay retired at the end of last season, five state championships under his belt and his 1,039 career wins more than anyone in Minnesota history.
So, instead of coaching volleyball Monday, Dzubay instead was following another one of his passions, baking blackberry pies. “I wasn't sure whether to pick up the phone,” Dzuaby told a reporter, “because my hands were full of flour. I made four pies yesterday and I’m making five today.
I know what’s for dinner — blackberry pie and ice cream.” Dzubay says he was doing fine without volleyball in his life for the first time in forever. “I’ll miss it once the season starts,” he said.
“But I’ve not been thinking about it much. That first week of volleyball practice, that is always really tough.”.
