St. Cloud students give football reprieve

St. Cloud State's football team no longer will be facing the possibility of playing the final game in the program's history in Saturday's NCAA Division II playoffs.

University students approved an increase in student fees this week that will save athletic programs, including football, that had been facing elimination.

"In the short term, I'm not going to cut any sports," St. Cloud State President Earl H. Potter III said at an afternoon news conference.

Results of the election were announced Wednesday. Students, in a record school turnout at the polls, approved a $1.74 increase in athletic fees per credit, topped out at 12 credits, for three fiscal years starting in 2012.

The increase will provide about $1.3 million in additional funding for the athletic program. SCSU's athletic department was facing a deficit of $550,000 in 2012 and $600,000 in 2013.

The school was considering three options to trim the budget, one of which was elimination of the football program. The Huskies (9-2) will play host to Hillsdale (Mich.) College on Saturday.

DENNIS BRACKIN

Highlights of the meet include the 18th renewal of the Minnesota Festival of Champions, which has the best race horses bred in the state. In the planning stages is Fillies Race For Hope, a breast cancer awareness fundraiser.

Dates will be announced when the stakes schedule is released in January.

Canterbury Park President Randy Sampson said the track will hold racing on the same number of days in 2011 as it did this past season.

The daily purse structure is expected to remain similar to the 2010 season when an average of $120,000 was paid to horsemen.

"We remain optimistic about the future of horse racing in Minnesota and want to make sure there are opportunities for horsemen to run their horses. Keeping a 62-day meet does that," Sampson said.

Division II volleyball Top-ranked Concordia (St. Paul) lost the first set to Minnesota State Mankato but went on to beat the Mavericks 21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-11 in the NCAA Division II Central Regional tournament in Marshall, Minn.

Megan Carlson, Cassie Haag and Emily Palkert all reached double-digit kills for the No. 2-seeded Golden Bears, with Palkert leading with 18. Concordia (27-4) will play Metro State in the semifinals on Friday.