Features – Page 13 – Dustin Monke

Running down their dreams

Patricks — Dickinson State junior cross country runners and brothers Denis Patrick, left, and Daniel Patrick parents fled Sudan and Uganda for America when they were children.

More than a decade after their family fled Africa, the Patrick brothers are living the American dream as cross country runners and students at Dickinson State.

Run! The word has so many meanings for Denis and Daniel Patrick. As children, it meant escaping danger. As students at Dickinson State, running is helping Denis, 23, and Daniel, 21, build their lives in ways they never would have believed possible a little more than a decade ago. “I always tell these kids, ‘Running’s not everything, but it can get you to where you want to go,’” Dickinson State head cross country coach Mike Nekuda said.

The Patrick brothers are living by that attitude.

Refugees from war-torn Uganda and sons of Sudanese refugees, the Patrick brothers are soaking in every aspect of life and savoring the chances they have been given to make lives for themselves half a world away from where they were born.

“I look at it as a blessing,” Daniel said. “There’s not many people who get opportunities like us. We were blessed enough to get an opportunity to come here. We’re doing whatever it takes to take advantage of it. We’re using running. We love running, but we have bigger dreams than running.”

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SMALL WONDERS: Senior running backs Ewoniuk, Hecker the 1-2 punch driving Heart River

Hecker Ewoniuk — Heart River Cougars football standouts Cole Hecker, left, and Seth Ewoniuk, right,

BELFIELD — Dave Hendrickson was in his second season as Heart River’s head football coach when he heard rumblings about two small, yet exceptionally fast eighth-grade running backs.

Planning to stick around for a while, Hendrickson decided he should check out the Cougars’ junior high games.

Hendrickson barely had to watch Seth Ewoniuk and Cole Hecker to realize he had a special pair of players waiting in the wings.

“I knew, after watching film for years and years, there was no question those two were going to develop into good athletes,” Hendrickson said. “They were good already as eighth-graders.”

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Former NBA All-Star Mark Eaton speaks at energy summit in Dickinson

Everyone, it seems, wants to have their picture taken with Mark Eaton.

The 7-foot-4 former NBA All-Star center said he doesn’t mind. In fact, he’s used to it. “It’s who I am and you just kind of have to accept that and use it to your advantage,” Eaton said.

Eaton’s positive attitude, fan friendliness and rich, commanding baritone voice have made him an in-demand motivational speaker in the past five years.

He spoke about businesses eliminating internal competition on Friday morning during the 2012 Energy and Infrastructure Summit at the Ramada Grand Dakota Lodge in Dickinson. Afterward, he greeted people and, of course, took side-by-side photos with whoever asked.

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Time-tested tackles: Hawks senior offensive linemen Dynneson, O’Connor wrapping up standout careers

If Dickinson State head football coach Hank Biesiot can think of one attribute that best characterizes his starting senior offensive tackles, Carl Dynneson and Ry O’Connor, it is their consistency.

“They’re there every day, every practice,” Biesiot said. “The number one thing a football coach looks for is that consistency, that everyday thing, and those guys have been there every day.”

Every day means five years in O’Connor’s case and four in Dynneson’s.

Both players were thrust into action as true freshmen.

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Hettinger 4, Regent 2: Players, coaches and officials recall the infamous low-scoring basketball game

42 Game — This image, taken from the Hettinger County Herald, shows the lack of action that was prevalent during the District 24 boys basketball tournament game that was played Feb. 27, 1992, at Bowman’s Solberg Gymnasium. Regent, a heavy underdog against Hettinger, chose to slow the pace of the game and take advantage of its four-corners offense. What ensued was a contest that likely will never be duplicated.

Curt Honeyman knew the idea was a little crazy.

Then again, it was also so simple he wondered if it also wasn’t the perfect plan.

In the days leading up the 1992 District 24 boys basketball tournament, Honeyman preached patience to his Regent Rangers team.

“Patience to the extreme,” said Scott Sheldon, the Rangers’ sophomore guard and leading scorer that season.

Honeyman’s theory was that if the Rangers could sit in their fourcorners offense long enough, they could force the taller, more talented Hettinger Black Devils into defensive errors, put points on the scoreboard and keep the game from spiraling out of their reach.

On the evening of Feb. 27, 1992, at Solberg Gymnasium in Bowman, Honeyman sent his team onto the court with simple goals: be deliberate and patient on offense and control the tempo.

He never expected, 20 years later, people would remember the game.

Then again, he also never expected the final buzzer to sound with this score: Hettinger 4, Regent 2.

“We knew we couldn’t play with them basket for basket,” Honeyman said. “We had to try and keep the score close and keep it low. But nobody in the gym, including myself, knew that it was going to turn out that way.”