Double Take: Area athletes juggle multiple sports | News, sports, jobs

“I was like no way. “I don’t want to play tournaments in the summer,” Lundeen remembered.

He and his parents were skeptical of the idea, considering how much time the family spent at Rice Lake.

Lundeen played baseball with his friends as a child, but he never really liked the sport. Despite his reservations, he ended up playing with kids on the Minot High team that summer, including Kellan Burke and Easton Panasuk, and fell in love with it.

Lundeen also began pitching in the front yard of his friend Mackley Morelli, who was playing catcher at the time.

Maicee Burke of Adam Papin/MDN Minot High runs in a 100-meter heat at the 2023 NDHSAA State Track and Field Championships last May.

“He would come down in his catcher’s gear and I would probably throw to him twice a day. It was great fun,” Lundeen said.

Eventually, he caught the attention of Ben Magnuson, then Bishop Ryan's head baseball coach. Magnuson thought Lundeen was good enough as an eighth-grader to apply for college.

“I was still really banged up, but I just had a good arm and was able to find the zone.” Lundeen said.

This season he played for Bishop Ryan in the regional championship game.

Lundeen's other passion is golf. He credits his family for developing his love for sports because they gave him lessons at a young age.

“My uncles on both my mother’s and father’s sides were great golfers.” Lundeen said. “I play golf with them a lot. And then my family started getting more involved. I progressed from there.”

Lundeen placed fifth in his region as an eighth-grader, his first year of high school golf. This experience led him to devote more time to sports.

It also presented Lundeen with a dilemma. Which sport should you continue in?

“In my eighth grade, I didn’t know if I could do it.” Lundeen said. “I decided to play both and then make a decision in my first year.”

Coach Magnuson convinced Lundeen that he could do both, but also stressed the importance of communicating which practices he would attend or whether he would play games. There was another rule: When the golf game was over, Lundeen had to be all-in on baseball.

The hardest part about playing multiple sports for him was academics and not being able to fall behind with all the class time he missed for games and tournaments.

Communication with coaches is a key challenge for female athletes who play multiple sports in the same season. But it can work, according to Minot High School girls soccer head coach Matt Pfau. He sees Maicee Burke competing at a high level both on the field and on the track.

Burke is both co-captain of the soccer team and a standout sprinter on the Majettes' track and field team, having qualified for the state finals in several events.

“We had a good relationship with the track and field coaches. They understand that the kids are getting good training in football.” said Peacock. “You can just take them when they're in a relay to work on handoffs and getting off the blocks for 25 to 30 minutes, and then they send them to football.”

He owes his success to the ease of working with the athletics coaches.

“You have to commit to staying healthy and not push yourself too hard by trying to attend two practices a day. Maicee was really good at controlling that and doing the one exercise.”

Burke is focused on qualifying for the state track meet as early as possible because condition is the most important thing to her in track and field.

“It takes a lot of communication” Burke said. “I usually go to soccer, and that’s where I usually train for track and field.”