MOORHEAD — On Monday, April 14, over a hundred athletes from nearly every branch of Cobber athletics attended the annual banquet. Held in Concordia’s Memorial Auditorium, dozens of tables spanned the length of the gym.
Football players were seated stage right with track and field to the left. Between the two groups: tennis, golf, swimming and diving, hockey, clay target, wrestling, volleyball, basketball, with a plethora of scattered coaches.
The event recognizes standout athletes in their respected areas. This year a total of 16 awards were presented to both coaches, teams and individual athletes.
“I’m pretty honored, especially since this is my first and last year here,” said women’s hockey goalie Ashlea Arvidson. “My athletic journey here is really cool so I was very honored that I was even up for the award, let alone win it.”
Arvidson, a senior, was nominated for Female Performance of the Year after her standout display on the ice in a match against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. This performance marked a career high of 44 saves.
Monday night witnessed athletes of all walks accept their flowers with grace and humility, leaving their coaches no doubt beaming with pride.
Even women’s track coach Marvin Roeske, a man not known for his boisterous demeanor, appeared quite pleased as the girls walked up the stage for the “Team of the Year” and the “Female Golden Moment” award.
“I was really happy for them,” Roeske said. “They’re just really worthy, and they were excited and it was fun to see that joy. They’re just good kids. So it just made me feel warm in my heart to see that.”
Roeske left the event with an award of his own after being called Coach of the Year, however he feels that it’s really a team award, emphasizing that it’s strictly a representation of how the team performs. In that case, women’s track and field left Monday’s banquet with two team-of-the-year awards.
The night came to a close with the announcement of the Male and Female Athlete of the Year award. Women’s basketball senior Makalya Anderson and wrestling senior Ty Bisek both left the stage with gold-painted wooden corn cobs memorializing their achievements.
It was also announced that this was the first year that every athlete was averaging a 3.0 GPA or better.
All candidates are chosen through an online voting system that students can take part in. However, there was one category that was chosen by a campus executive board: Comeback Player of the Year, an award that focuses on an athlete’s strength in diverse situations.
Fall 2023, the start of his junior year, Nolan Morical felt like he was in the best shape of his life. However, after finding a growth on the back of his head, he was later diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer.
After a successful surgery, Morical was able to begin chemotherapy, which he completed in March 2024. Morical started competing again in 2024 and was a part of the Cobber 4×200-meter relay team that broke the school record at the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet.
“It’s an honor, man, honestly,” said Morical. “It took me three to four months to get back into the shape that I was in, but I was still doubting myself. But getting that 4×200 record was kind of reassuring, like, okay, I’m back to where I was at. Just because I went through chemo doesn’t mean that it wasn’t possible to be who I was before.”
After thanking his parents and the team, Morical received the first and only standing ovation of the night.
“Honestly, like, I just got chills and, like, almost teary, because, like, I honestly, I wasn’t expecting that standing ovation. And just, like, walking up there, just, like, I don’t know, it just—it felt really good.”
