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Bloomington Sun-Current – Thursday, March 22, 2012 – www.minnlocal.com
In the Community, With the Community, For the Community
Former Jefferson basketball coach is honored by MSHSL The Minnesota State High School League is celebrating 100 years of state basketball tournaments. First boys’ tournament was held in 1913. State boys tournament competition was limited to a one-class, eight-team format until two classes were added in 1971. Now, there are four state tourney classes. The 2012 Class 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A tournament games will be conducted March 21-24 at Williams Arena, Target Center and Concordia University. The MSHSL announced its Top Five State Boys Basketball Tournament Coaches list in conjunction with the 2012 tourney. This list was compiled with the assistance of a committee of basketball historians and experts from around Minnesota. The League chose longtime Bloomington resident and retired Jefferson coach Jack Evens as one of its five state tournament coaching legends. Evens coached Jefferson boys basketball squads for 26 years before retiring 15 years ago. The Jaguars made eight state appearances under Evens’ direction and won four championships in 1976, 1982, 1986 and 1987. His career coaching record of 554-193 ranks among the 10 best in state boys
GREG KLEVEN Bloomington Sports Editor
basketball history. Evens coached Steve Lingenfelter and Kevin Lynch at Jefferson High. Both players went on to star in college and play in the NBA. The Jefferson coach has been the recipient of numerous coaching honors. He received one of his most prestigious awards in 1994 when he was elected to the Minnesota Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Jefferson’s current head boys basketball coach is Jeff Evens, son of Jack. Jack Evens joins an impressive list of state tournament coaching standouts. Other top five coaching selections were Jim Hastings (Duluth Central), Butsie Maetzold (Hopkins), Bob McDonald (Chisholm) and Ken Novak Jr. (Hopkins). The State High School League made a great decision picking Jack Evens as one of its top five basketball coaches in the history of the tournament.
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Jack Evens and his assistant Jake Lynch won numerous conference, section and state tournaments with homegrown talent. All of their Jefferson players had Bloomington zip codes for addresses unlike current high school teams that have athletes from all over the Twin Cities metro area listed on their respective rosters.
Changes in the game Evens is still a close follower of the high school game. “I attend most of Jefferson’s home games and quite a few state tournament games,” said Evens. “I’ve noticed several changes in the game since I retired from coaching. “The three-point shot has become more of a part of the game and coaching has improved as well. Also, there are now many summer camps and leagues that allow players to improve their skills.” Evens did his part making sure players learned fundamentals of the game. He started Bloomington’s first traveling basketball program. Jack is staying busy during his retirement days doing volunteer church and community work. I’ve known Jack Evens for over 30 years and he has remained a class act on and off the court.
All in the family Another wrestler from the Ness family in Bloomington has attained NCAA All-American honors. University of Minnesota freshman Dylan Ness placed second at 149 pounds in the NCAA tournament last weekend in St. Louis, Mo. Ness, a former Kennedy all-state performer, reached the NCAA finals before losing 4-1 to top-seeded and unbeaten Frank Molinaro of Penn State Saturday
Flyers FROM PAGE 30 Williams supplied three goals and four assists in the tournament. He is the team’s career assists leader in that category with 80. The Flyers scored six times in the third period to pull out a 9-4 victory over Brainerd-Pillager in the quarterfinals. Kreidler supplied four goals and one assist. Williams and ninth-grader Alexei Dickinson had two goals and three assists each. Senior Nicholas Nieson and ninthgrader Jacob Yancy collected one assist apiece.
night. Ness finished the season with a 24-9 record and helped the Gophers place second as a team in the nationals with 117.5 points. Penn State was champion with 143.0 points. Placing behind Penn State and the Gophers were Iowa (107.5), Cornell (102.5) and Ohio State (68.5). Jayson Ness, Dylan’s older brother, was NCAA champion at 133 pounds during his senior season in 2010. He also received the NCAA’s Outstanding Wrestler Award that year.
Congrats to Jungwirth Another local resident to be congratulated is former Bloomington Lincoln high school coach and physical education teacher Judy Jungwirth. Jungwirth received the Special Merit Award during the 26th annual Minnesota Girls and Women in Sports Day Feb. 1 at the Minnesota State Capitol. Jungwirth was instrumental in forming a Women’s Hockey League in the late 1970s. That league conducted hockey clinics for women teaching them how to play and providing competitive opportunities. The Women’s Hockey League has now grown to 81 teams and over 1,300 women. This movement helped create momentum for the addition of high school girls hockey in Minnesota. Jungwirth was also a member of the University of Minnesota M Club Board and helped push through an initiative to present letter awards to women who participated in intercollegiate athletics prior to Title IX. Jungwirth also played professional fastpitch softball. Jungwirth coached high school teams at Lincoln High and in the Bloomington Athletic Association. Kreidler scored the Flyers’ lone goal during an 8-1 loss to the Robins in the semifinals. The Robins went on to defeat Dakota United 7-2 in the title game. South Suburban goalie Christopher Reichel made 24 saves. The Flyers settled for fourth-place honors. South Suburban lost 8-5 to AnokaHennepin in final-round action. Kreidler led the Flyers’ offense with three goals and two assists. Williams and freshman winger Andrew Mortinson scored one goal each. Goalie Reichel stopped 13 shots. “Sophomore Daniel Schmitz did a good job at defense for us this season and Reichel played well in goal,” said coach Slinden. “I was very happy with the way our season went.”