Pillager

Seven rural Northern Minnesota teams and nearly 90 student-athletes in total will compete Tuesday-Wednesday, June 9-10, 2026, on courses in and around the Twin Cities.

Area athletes to watch at the 2026 meet include Aitkin junior Ashley Asmus, Ely sophomore Violet Udovich and West Marshall seniors Emily Marquis and Markelle Pederson.

Speakers from Bemidji, Cass Lake-Bena, Pequot Lakes, Pillager, Walker, Laporte, Cherry, Mountain Iron-Buhl, Red Lake County, UNC, Staples-Motley and Crookston took home hardware.

The qualifiers span 27 Northern Minnesota teams and all 13 categories. Over 30 are repeat qualifiers, including five medalists and one reigning champion.

Detroit Lakes will compete at state Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, and five Northland athletes from Detroit Lakes and Pillager will also compete individually.

Events this week include the Hubbard County Fair in Park Rapids, "Willy Wonka" in Pequot Lakes, Smokey Bear Day at Itasca State Park and an author brown bag in Brainerd.

The region will be well represented in the Class A meet, with 69 entries; Northern Minnesota has five entries in the 2A meet.

The festival features groups from Central Lakes College including Raider Concert Winds, Raider Jazz Collective, Central Lakes Jazz Orchestra and Central Lakes Wind Symphony.