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Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
As her final high school softball season was about to begin, Kathy Crudo was finalizing plans to continue her career at the collegiate level.
With a few options in front of her, Crudo decided on Winona State University, ahead of other programs like Southwest Minnesota State and St. Cloud State.
Of the three, Winona was the last school Crudo looked at, but come this fall, she’ll be joining a Warrior squad that recently won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament, and made it to the finals of the North Central Region.
“I ended up liking the coach and I really liked their team and their team chemistry,” Crudo said.
“It’s a newer campus and there’s actually stuff to do.”
With Crudo interested in pursuing either Sports Management or Child Psychology, the fact that Winona State offers both majors was a big draw.
Soon it will simply be a matter of hitting the books and taking the field.
During her stint as a Ranger, Crudo has seen time at catcher before moving over to shortstop. She has started every game since her freshman year, and Forest Lake head coach Angie Ryan throws a lot of credit toward Crudo for making the Rangers a respected team that has aspirations of qualifying for the state tournament.
NOT JUST AN AUTOGRAPH: When Kathy Crudo made her intentions official to attend Winona State and play softball, she had support from Forest Lake coaches Angie Ryan (far left), Erin Casey, and her mother, Barb.
And when Crudo makes the leap to Division II, she is targeting a return behind the plate.
“If I can call my own signs, then yeah, I like catcher,” Crudo shared. “With dominant pitchers it’s nice because you’re always handling the ball.”
From what she’s been told by both Winona players and coaches alike, Crudo has an opportunity to step right into next season’s lineup.
“I will actually have a very strong chance at starting catcher next year,” she said. “That’s why I also want to go there, because I could start four years — I can’t sit back and watch.”
For anyone who’s seen Crudo on the softball field, the hockey rink or the tennis courts, it doesn’t take long to figure out that she does anything but sit back and watch.
“Kathy has done everything we have ever asked of her and is an athlete that we will not be able to replace,” head coach Ryan said.
“She is simply one of a kind. With her light-hearted humor and her relentless determination, she has been an extremely strong asset to the softball program over the last four years.
“She will be greatly missed and Winona State is getting a person who will help them strive to meet their goal of winning a national championship. No one wants to win more than Kathy Crudo.”
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