The Michigan Tech Fishing Club was established two years ago by Jordan Pontoni and Mitchell Murphy. They both love fishing and felt like Michigan Tech didn’t have enough to offer in the way of fishing. They decided to take the initiative to start a club so they and others who are also interested in fishing could have opportunities to go out and catch some fish.

A member of the Michigan Tech Fishing Club shows off his catch.
Photo courtesy of Benjamin Limberg

Two years later, the fishing club has 73 members, 25 who are involved regularly, and is continuing to grow. The club recruits members by having booths at K-Day and Spring Fling, along with advertising every event with flyers and table tents. A lot of members have joined because they have heard positive things from current members.

The club meets every Thursday in Fisher 131 at 7 p.m. to plan for weekend events and to talk about fishing.

The club takes fishing trips almost every weekend. On Saturday, April 13 the club went to Chassel Bay to fish for crappie and perch. Eight people went on the outing, leaving at 7:45 a.m. and staying until 4 p.m., which is an average day for the fishing club. The club is usually not ice fishing in April, but the fishing all depends on the weather.

Neil Noack shows off a Northern Pike at Boston Pond during O-week 2012.
Photos courtesy of Courtney Sian

On Sunday, April 14 the club hosted a fly fishing class where they learned how to cast a fly rod. The club has fished in Copper Harbor all the way to Huron Bay, and they have attended tournaments in Wisconsin before.

A member of the Michigan Tech Fishing Club shows off his catch.
Photo courtesy of Courtney Sian

Mitchell Murphy said, “I enjoy the members and the opportunities we have to get out and explore the great landscape and fishing that the UP has to offer,” when he was asked what his favorite thing about being in the fishing club was.

Benjamin Limberg has had many positive experiences with the fishing club at Michigan Tech. He was unable to pick his favorite part of being in the club. Coming to school can be a really hard transition, so the fishing club is a way to help people get out and do things. “When you are new to an area it is hard to go fishing right away because you don’t know the spots, bait shops, bodies of water, and so on. The club really helped me with that. I learned from people who already know the area and it really helped me adjust.”

A member of the Michigan Tech Fishing Club shows off his catch.
Photo courtesy of Courtney Sian

To be in the fishing club you do not even need to have your own equipment. Limberg said, “We have a ton of gear for both regular and ice fishing, and we will be getting a boat soon; being a member gives you access to all of this. This is so nice because in college it is hard to afford the basic stuff let alone fancy fishing rods and gas powered augers, so it gives members a chance to fish even if they can’t afford the equipment.”

A member of the Michigan Tech Fishing Club while ice fishing.
Photo courtesy of Courtney Sian

A lot of people are skeptical about joining a club for fishing because they don’t want to share their fishing spots or they don’t want to have to fish with other people, but Limberg disagrees. He said, “The reason why I love being in a fishing club in the first place is the combined, fishing based knowledge of a large group of fishermen allows you all to really get out and share info, catch them, learns spots, which is what we’re after. As for sharing your fishing spots; just because some people share all their spots doesn’t mean you have to share all yours and you can learn about a ton of new hot spots without giving up all of yours.”

The fishing club at Michigan Tech is a great way to get outside, go fishing and meet people with the same interests as you. The club is always looking for new members and if you love fishing and exploring the Upper Peninsula, or just want to learn more about the sport it could be the thing for you.

A member of the Michigan Tech Fishing Club fishes in a river in the Keweenaw.
Photos courtesy of Courtney Sian

This past weekend, the Michigan Tech Men’s Tennis team closed out their regular season with three consecutive matches. The Huskies lost to Ohio Dominican and Tiffin on Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13, respectively, but were able to pick up a win against Findlay on Sunday, April 14.

Friday’s match against Ohio Dominican ended in a 7-2 loss. The Huskies earned a point each in doubles and singles. Duo Built Yumuang and Javier Oliveros picked up the Huskie’s first point with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles.

Pedro Rodriguez at No. 4 singles capped off the Huskies’ scoring. Rodriguez came back from a 6-7 loss in the first set and won the second set 6-1 to send the match into a tiebreaker. The third set was tightly contested, but Rodriguez was able to hold on to a 14-12 win.

Two other singles flights were sent into a tiebreaking third set. Oliveros at No. 2 went down 6-1 then fought back to win the second set 6-2. Unable to capitalize in the end, he lost the third set 6-4. The second was at No. 6. Jimmy Konarske started out with a 4-6 first set win but lost the second set 6-1. Ohio Dominican’s Gerardo Perez came back with all cylinders firing and swept the tiebreaker 10-1.

Saturday’s loss to Tiffin was by a closer margin. After earning only three points in singles, the Huskies lost by a score of 6-3.

The match started off in favor of Tiffin with the Dragons sweeping the doubles competition 3-0. Felipe Dos Santos/Pedro Rodriguez at No. 1 and Andrew Kremkow/Jimmy Konarske at No. 3 both fell 8-4. Built Yumuang and Javier Oliveros at No. 2 lost 8-5.

In singles, the Huskies picked up points at Nos. 1, 4 and 6 where Dos Santos, Rodriguez and Konarske each won by straight sets. Dos Santos won 6-4, 6-4, Rodriguez earned a comfortable 6-0, 6-3 decision and Konarske picked up the win going 6-0, 7-5.

Sunday’s match against Findlay marked the Huskies’ final match of the regular season. Kicking off with doubles, the Huskies found themselves down 2-1 after managing to earn only one win on the three doubles courts. Yumuang and Oliveros at No. 2 picked up the win with an 8-3 decision. The Huskies fell 8-5 at No. 1 and 8-4 at No. 3.

A much stronger showing in singles earned the Huskies five additional points to solidify their 6-3 win over the Oilers. The Huskies won by straight sets at Nos. 1, 4 and 6. Yumuang and Nick Kremkow at Nos. 3 and 5, respectively, were able to piece together third set wins each. Findlay earned their lone point in singles at No. 2 where Oliveros fell 7-5, 7-5.

The Men’s Tennis GLIAC Tournament will be held this weekend. The first matches will be held starting Friday, April 19, at the Midland Community Tennis Center in Midland, Mich. Only the top eight teams based on regular season conference winning percentage will compete.

The Huskies ended their regular season with a 6-5 conference record, 15-8 overall. While the standings have not been finalized, currently the Huskies stand tied for sixth with Tiffin with a 0.545 win percentage.
Best of luck to the Huskies as they close out their season this weekend at the GLIAC Tournament.

Amidst cold temperatures and blowing snow, the Michigan Tech Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams competed on Saturday, April 13 at the Hillsdale Invitational in Hillsdale, Michigan.

The men’s team was able to put forward an impressive showing of events, leading them to a first place finish out of nine teams with 158 points. The Huskies were able to edge Grand Valley State by 11.5 points for the win. Meanwhile, the women’s team continues to hang in the middle of their field. They placed fifth out of nine teams with 44 points.

The depth of talent on the men’s side is evident given the numerous athletes able to contribute to the overall team score.

In sprints, Quinn Parnell demonstrated his dominance in the 100 m and 200 m dashes by placing first in both events. He won the 100 in a time of 10.88 and the 200 in 21.89. This was Parnell’s third consecutive meet this spring placing first in both events.

Once again, Nathan Saliga’s performance in the 400 m dash stood out. Saliga placed second with a time of 48.91, just 0.01 seconds behind Grand Valley’s first place finisher.

The Huskies had four runners place in the top five in the 800 m run. Dylan Anderson took first in a time of 1:56.56. Teammates Jani Lane and Benjamin Kramka tied for second after both finishing in 1:58.91. Kyle Hanson rounded off the scoring for the Huskies in the event with a fifth place finish (2:00.32).

In the 3000 m steeplechase, Bradon Kampstra and Derek Brandt earned first and second place finishes for the Huskies. Kampstra won the race by a fairly large margin in a time of 9:48.58 over Brandt’s time of 10:32.47.

The Huskies earned two first place finishes in the jumping events. Nathan Hood took first in long jump with a 22’-5.25” leap, and Jevon Maddox’s 47’-1.5” score blazed the triple jump competition by nearly a one foot margin. Maddox fell 5.5” short of the triple jump school record which he set last week at 47’-7”.

Jared Berryman and Steven Saliga stood out for the Huskies in throws. Berryman earned a pair of third place finishes in the discus throw (148’-5”) and shot put (46’-3.25”). Saliga’s 155’-10” throw earned him a second place finish in javelin.

Also noteworthy were the men’s 4×400 m relay teams’ performances. The Huskies’ ‘A’ relay squad placed second in a time of 3:25.47. Maddox led the relay followed by Shawn Shove, Dylan Anderson and Nathan Saliga. The ‘B’ relay, made up of Pat Spalding, Allen Harrison, Sam McKay and Quinn Parnell, finished fifth in 3:34.19.

The women had a greater variety of athletes contribute to the team score compared to past meets. Natalie Berryman led the Huskies with 22 points. She took first in discus with a 134’-8” throw and earned a pair of third place finishes in shot put (36’-9”) and javelin (99’-9”).

Amanda Halonen put forward one of the best performances of the day on the women’s side with a second place finish in the 5000 m run. Her time of 18:31.02 was just shy of four seconds behind Wayne State’s first place finisher.

Once again, Deedra Irwin and Melanie Hoffman placed well for the Huskies in their respective events. Irwin took fourth in the 1500 m run (4:54.86) and Hoffman placed fifth in the 100 m hurdles (16.78).

The women’s 4×400 m relay team also earned points for the Huskies with a sixth place finish. Danielle Brzezinski, Melanie Hoffman, Deedra Irwin and Elizabeth Wohlford completed the relay in 4:12.71.

Up next for the Huskies will be the Al Owens Invite in Allendale, Mich. this coming weekend. The meet will be a two day event taking place Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20.

Michigan Tech Cross Country and Track head coach Joe Haggenmiller announced that there will be five new members of the team next season.  There are two women and three men.

Both of the women who signed the National Letter of Intent are Upper Peninsula natives who ran track in high school.

Jamie Dompier is a Panther from Chassel High School, which is a Division Three school. At an Upper Peninsula State Track and Field Meet she set a record in the 200 yard dash with a time of 26.36 seconds, which she won. She also won the 100 yard dash with a time of 12.7 seconds. For the 400 dash she took just over a minute, with a time of 63.05 seconds.

Julia Lean is a Copper King from Calumet High School. She has had six all-state performances.  At the Upper Peninsula Division One State Track Meet in 2012 she finished second in the 1,600 and the 3,200. The mile took her five minutes and 32 seconds. The two mile took her 11 minutes and 51 seconds.

Kyle Petermann is a thrower from Clintonville, Wisc. At the 2012 Wisconsin Division Two State Track Meet Kyle got a third place finish in the discus with a throw of 160-10. He got tenth in shot put with a 48-6.5 throw. His junior year he was named the Eastern Valley Field Event Athlete of the Year. At Clintonville High School he has school records for both shot put and discus. Along with being the regional champion for discus, he also has three Easter Valley All-Conference titles for throwing under his belt.

Jason Saliga is from Leonard, Mich. and attended Romeo High School. He qualified for states two times and he finished 19th in Division One cross country his senior year with a time of 15 minutes and 41 seconds. His junior year he finished 30th in the 3,200 at the Division One State Track Meet. He earned all-state, all-region and all county-honors during his time at Romeo. Jason has two older brothers currently on the Michigan Tech Track and Field team.

Sean Pengelly from Howell, Michigan attended Hartland High School where he ran cross country and track. He qualified for states two times for cross country. His junior year he finished ninth with a time of 15:42, and his senior year he finished 27th with a time of 15:49. He has two records for the five-kilometer, at Hartland High School and Livingston County.

The Huskies are very proud to have five new athletes on the Cross Country and Track Team.

Track and field athlete Jevon Maddox broke the school record for the triple jump April 8 at the UW-Oshkosh Open.

Jevon Maddox.
Photo courtesy of MTU Athletics

Maddox’s jump of  47-7 inches landed him at second place in the meet and was also a new personal best, despite the cold and rain of the meet.

“I am proud of Jevon’s performance today,” said head coach Joe Haggenmiller. “The weather was less than ideal, but his hard work helped him excel today.”

The sophomore jumper also competed in the 4×100 meter and the 4×400 meter races at the meet.

This past weekend, the sophomore took first in the triple jump with a jump of 47-15.

Jevon Maddox competes in the triple jump. As of April 8, Maddox became the school record holder for this event.
Photo courtesy of MTU Athletics

The 2012-13 concert season for Michigan Tech’s Visual and Performing Arts department is wrapping up next Saturday, April 27, with the Michigan Tech Concert Choir and the Michigan Tech Chamber Singers performing a joint concert, “Springtime Voices,” at 7:30 p.m.

The first half of the concert will feature the Chamber Choir, “conScience,” a 12-member, student-only, auditioned ensemble, and focuses on what director Jared Anderson calls “Aspects of Imagination.”
The chamber choir’s selections will include the six chansons of Paul Hindemith, “staples of the chamber choir repertoire,” according to Anderson.

It will also have three “perspectives on love” via settings of different love poems: “Your Fragrence,” a  translation of a text by Rumi; Shakespeare’s Sonnet 64, set to music by composer Dominic Argento; and Claudio Montevedri’s “Ah! dolente partita.”

Other selections include two other settings of Shakespeare by jazz composer George Scheuring, and a setting of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday.”

The second part of the concert will feature the Concert Choir, an 85-member group split about equally between students and community members, and will feature “a real eclectic mix” of songs. The first set is a “mystical kind of set,” including “Lion of the Heart,” another setting of a Rumi text composed by J. David Moore, as well as a piece called “Past Life Melodies” by Australian composer Sarah Hawkins. The latter is a wordless piece; instead of words, the vocals consist of various kinds of sounds that tie into Aboriginal Australia.

Other selections from this part of the concert include “Sun, Moon, and Stars,” which starts with a setting of an old folk melody from Mexico; “Epitaph for Moonlight,” an experimental piece (at least in the 1960s, when it was written) about how the race to put a man on the moon would take away the moon’s romanticism; and “Sure on this Shining Night,” a piece that focuses on the imagery of stars.

They will also perform some of their songs from the planned trip to the Balkans later this year, which includes music from that area as well as some American spirituals.

The Michigan Tech Concert Choir has performed since 1980. It was originally organized by Milton Olsson as the Michigan Tech Campus Chorus, and was renamed in 1997 when it had grown to over seventy regular members.

It has toured often throughout its history, beginning in 1990 with a tour to Mexico City, and touring to a variety of locations including the Czech Republic, Austria, Brazil, Russia and China since then. “conScience” is a much younger group, founded by Jared Anderson last year.

He’s known as one of America’s most-beloved comedians and storytellers of our time, showering us with the delights of his comedy, albums and even books.

Clear out your Friday night schedule this coming May because you will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the one and only Bill Cosby perform live in Houghton!

Now don’t go off thinking that this is your typical run-of-the-mill performance. Not only will you have the chance to see Cosby’s comedy routines, but this show also will be doubling as a fundraising event with the money being sent to the Houghton Rotary and the local community.

Unlike other events, this will be held at the John MacInnes Ice Arena, which is only fitting to accompany the thousands of tickets that have already been sold.

What makes this event so special to see? Beyond the fact that it’s a fundraising event for the local community, it’s also a family-friendly event filled with laughs and memories that family and friends will be able to cherish for a lifetime. Seeing this amazing performance and helping the community at the same time is certainly worth anyone’s time.

Tickets are selling fast, so be sure to purchase yours soon. The event will be held Friday, May 17, at John MacInnes Ice Arena starting at 7 p.m.

Tickets are selling from a range of $25 to $75 based on seating location and can be bought by phone at (906) 487-2073 or by visiting (rozsa.mtu.edu).

A special thanks goes out to the Houghton Rotary, and the various sponsors that have made this event possible for the community.