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FOUR ORIOLE ATHLETES SIGN

TO PLAY COLLEGE SPORTS

Spring will soon arrive, and with it the end of high school for local seniors. For four soon-to-be S-B Alumni at least, that end will also be a beginning, with Jade Fredrickson, Blaine Brenner, Bo Chwala and Jake Schneider recently signing to play college sports in their post-high school plans.

Fredrickson will run track and field for the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, while Brenner will wrestle for the University of Minnesota and Schneider along with Chwala will head to Minnesota State University at Moorhead to play football. So why each choice? Brenner started things out.

“There’s a few other schools I went to,” he said of the college search, adding that when he went he thought that the U of M has a nice campus and good coaches . “I just knew right away,” he said. Then it was on to Chwala.

“I chose Moorhead because…they made us feel like family,” Chwala shared, saying the coaching staff had been “straight up” and told him everything he needed to know. “I went out to visit there and it just felt like the right place,” he said. Next up was Schneider.

“I chose to go with Moorhead because they were very straightforward,” he said, “and I was already familiar with their campus.” Last was Fredrickson.

“The beginning of my recruiting process I didn’t connect with a lot of the coaches,” she said, “but then when I got contacted by River Falls I just felt a really good connection with the coach and team-wise it felt like the better option for all the places that wanted me to run (for them),” she said. So what are the above college-bound athletes in store for? We made a short remote web visit to see what the individual campuses each have to offer.

Starting with the University of Minnesota, the campus spanning Minneapolis and St. Paul with additional locations elsewhere in Minnesota has over 150 undergraduate majors for campus freshmen to choose from, including Occupational Therapy, Nutrition, and Sports Management.

As to Minnesota State University at Moorhead, academic and other perks for Chwala and Schneider include a 19 to 1 Student – Faculty Ratio and an average class size of 26, with classes taught one hundred percent by professors. So what of River Falls, also called the “City on the Kinne” by locals?

Regarding UW-River Falls, the school once known mainly for teaching and agriculture has branched out somewhat, with some 70 subjects to choose from, major-wise. In addtion, we hear that the City on the Kinne has some excellent city-maintained bike and running trails within its vast and interconnected city parks system, which should provide ample opportunity to practice outside of class while maintaining social distance protocols, if still necessary by this fall. Congratulations to all four signees!

Jade Fredrickson

Blaine Brenner

Bo Chwala

Jake Schneider

All photos above by Avery Vait.