Sports Editorial

Welcome back to another fall semester and another season of Bison sports! I hope your summer went well and you are looking forward to Bison victories and championships.

Here at The Spectrum, we have been at it for a couple of weeks now getting ready to publish our first print issue. Interviews with coaches and players, attending the exhibition and non-conference games and watching practices are getting the staff and I ready for the upcoming fall season.

I would like to welcome back our staff writers from last season. It is great to have them back as we got to know each other well last spring and that did not scare them away. Andrew Haugland has now been at The Spectrum for three years and has covered a little bit of everything for us in that time. Savannah Lussier is back, too…well, almost. She is still working on her summer internship and we will support her and anxiously wait for her return to our staff. New to us last spring, Bennett Johnson is back and cannot wait to get back to covering Bison baseball…well, that is a ways off so we will keep him busy with other projects until then. The sports section welcomes a newcomer to our ranks this fall. Blake Engebretson comes to us from Velva, N.D., and is studying journalism. New blood is always a welcome site here at The Spectrum. Blake gets the big assignment of the fall, Bison football! Welcome, Blake, to The Spectrum and press row at the Fargodome.

The saying goes that “hope springs eternal.” Here on campus, it is the fall that brings the hope, excitement and exuberance of another school year, a new influx of high school graduates and more Bison victories and championships.

In all the interviews I and other Spectrum staff writers conducted this summer, one theme was prevalent, experience and enthusiasm. It was a lot of fun listening to the student-athletes and their coaches as they projected confidence heading into their respective seasons and the measured impatience as they wait for the competition to begin.

This fall should be a fun one. The football team will begin the defense of yet another FCS National Championship. Senior golfer Nate Deziel will begin his fall season as the reigning Summit League Champion. The soccer team will try to rebound from a tough season a year ago and they are already off to a good start. The volleyball team is almost as stacked as the football team is with returning players and it showed this past weekend. They are off to an impressive start, too. Cross-country and track & field return champions as well. It will be a busy fall and should be a successful one as well.

Finally, the summer was full of announcements honoring Bison athletes both on and off the field. The academic achievements, while sometimes rarely noticed or acknowledged, are phenomenal (and just as important) accomplishments. In addition, many Bison found their names on preseason pick and “watch lists” as well. Stay tuned…

Go Bison!