LARIMORE – Kal Triplett has firsthand watched Colter Thorsell grow as a Larimore Polar Bear.
The Larimore head coach has seen him thrive on the football field, in particular.
A dominant performance against Midway/Minto on Sept. 9 helped the senior running back claim this week’s Athlete of the Week honor in flying colors. And it wouldn’t be difficult to see how he achieved such a feat in the polls.
As head coach, Triplett has started to recognize the need to feed Thorsell the ball even more. Even injuries haven’t swayed Triplett’s viewpoint any differently.
“Last week, he was injured during the Four Winds game, so he didn’t get to play, so that actually kind of hurt us a lot, but yeah,” Triplett said. “It’s just a matter of finding out how important he is to our team and giving him the ball and making sure that he has opportunities to make plays.”
Against Midway/Minto, Thorsell returned to the fold and grounded and pounded his way through any Mustang defender that wished to have a go at him. Thorsell finished the game with 194 rushing yards (14 carries) and two rushing touchdowns.
The kicker, however? All of Thorsell’s production came during the first half. The Polar Bears defeated the Mustangs, 74-8.
Thorsell’s ability to move around offensively and take on a hefty workload has helped the senior find a heightened role on the team.
“Colter is a guy that started the year as our fullback, and he’s a player that, I just realized, we have to get the ball more to because he’s, physically, one of our strongest kids,” Triplett said. “He’s a tough runner, so he kind of took over the main role as our running back.”
As a senior, Thorsell has prioritized growing as a player on the field and developing as an athlete away from it. Given his drive to continually make strides athletically, Thorsell’s role as a team captain stands out even more.
“Colter is a health freak,” Triplett said. "He has been living in the weight room for the last three years. He watches what he eats. He watches what he puts in his body. He is a kid who is well aware of, you know, his physical being. It’s impressive to see that from a high school kid.”
The Devils Lake Journal hosts the “Athlete of the Week” contest weekly. Athletes nominated and/or given the award are based on the athlete’s performance from the prior week. Ballot nominations are submitted by coaches from Saturday morning to Monday at 10:00 a.m CDT. Finalist voting starts Monday at noon and ends Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. CDT. The ballot winner will be featured in a profile for the publication.
The following programs can nominate an athlete for the award: Lake Region State College, Devils Lake, Langdon Area/Edmore/Munich (Football, Volleyball), Cavalier (Football), Larimore (Football), Midway/Minto (Football), Nelson County (Football, Volleyball), North Border (Football), Benson County (Football, Volleyball), Four Winds/Minnewaukan (Football, Volleyball), New Rockford-Sheyenne (Football, Volleyball), North Prairie (Football, Volleyball), North Star (Football, Volleyball), Dunseith (Volleyball), Harvey/Wells County (Volleyball), Rolette (Volleyball) or St. John (Volleyball).
Voting results:
– Colter Thorsell, RB/LB, Larimore: 67.8% (40 votes)
– Desidy Schwanke, Middle Hitter, Lake Region State College: 32.2% (19 votes)
– Carson Brown, RB/MLB, North Border: 0.0% (0 votes)
– Jacob Steele, RB, MLB, Cavalier: 0.0% (0 votes)
John Crane is a sports/general assignment reporter for the Devils Lake Journal. Feel free to contact John via work phone (701-922-1372), cell phone (701-230-4339), email (jcrane@gannett.com), Instagram (johnbcranesports) or Twitter (@johncranesports) with any story ideas.
