Profiles – Page 3 – Dustin Monke

Sanders making impact for Hawks after getting another opportunity to play

Johnnie Sanders — Dickinson State senior Johnie Sanders, right, goes around Black Hills State (S.D.) senior Rob Johnson during a men’s basketball game against Black Hills State on Nov. 3 at Scott Gymnasium.

Johnie Sanders’ time at Dickinson State is already supposed to be done.

Before the 2011-12 season, Sanders had committed to spend his final year of college basketball eligibility playing for the Blue Hawks. Then, he ran into eligibility issues that forced him to bail on DSU and return to Northwest Oklahoma State, where he had played his junior season.

When DSU head coach Ty Orton gave Sanders a second chance to be a Blue Hawk last spring, he jumped at the chance.

“I should have been here last year, but things happen for a reason,” Sanders said. “I’m here this year. I’m happy that coach Orton took me back under his wing.”

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Grove is killin’ it: DHS senior goes from secondary player as a junior to senior offensive leader

Abby Grove has a certain confidence on the volleyball court. The Dickinson High senior’s poise has been built through both steady and sudden improvements. In Grove’s case, confidence is a new development — and it’s one she and the Midgets have used to their advantage this season.

“I just expect to do well and I want to do good, no matter what,” Grove said. “I figured this year might be a good year for me.”

The 5-foot-10 outside hitter, who was only inserted into the Midgets’ varsity rotation as a contributor halfway through her junior season, is at the top of her game.

Grove has a team-high 357 kills, an average of 11.2 per match and more than double any of her teammates. Senior Ali Moody is second on the team with 175 kills.

Using a powerful and directional spike on her attacks, Grove has accumulated a .308 hitting percentage while also playing well defensively. She is third on her team in digs (232) and aces (40) and has 21 total blocks.

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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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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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