Many may remember former River Falls Wildcat swimmer Ellery Ottem. Ottem was a freestyle state champion and broke every single girls’ individual school swimming record.
Ottem is now a sophomore at the University of South Carolina and is a double major in neuroscience and biology and has been a mainstay on the Dean's List. She’s hoping to be a physician’s assistant upon graduation.
"She's thriving and doing very well," said her mom Kelly during a recent interview at Junior's Restaurant in River Falls.
"They (South Carolina) have a newer coach from Florida (Jeff Poppell)," said Eric Ottem (Ellery's dad). "They are getting better and better each year."
Ellery Ottem competes in the 500, 200, and 100-yard freestyle races, along with a couple relays. Ottem swam the second-fastest 500-yard freestyle in South Carolina Gamecock history earlier this season.
The SEC Swimming and Diving Championships just finished this past weekend in Athens, Ga. Ottem was a part of South Carolina's 400-yard freestyle relay team finishing ninth with a time of 3:15.07. Their relay time was also the second-fastest 400-yard relay time in school history.
Ottem also finished 21st in the 500-yard freestyle (4:43.74) and 41st in the 100-yard freestyle. As shorter big-time collegiate sprinting swimming events go, less than one second is the difference between second place and 41st place.
"Some of the best swimmers in the world swim in the SEC," said Kelly.
Ottem and her Gamecock teammates are hoping to qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships March 19-22 in Seattle.
Bobby Knight Chair Throw Connection
This week is the 40th anniversary of the infamous game when former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight slung his chair across the floor during a game against Purdue after being called for a technical foul just over five minutes into the game. He was given a second technical foul by referee Fred Jasper and then a third after being ejected from the game, once again, five minutes into the game. Knight who passed away a little over a year ago at the age of 83, had three national titles under his belt, 902 wins, and arguably, was on the proverbial "Mount Rushmore" of college men's basketball coaches.
Steve Alford was a sophomore guard for the Hoosiers during the chair-throwing game. He and Knight would end up winning a national title two years later when Alford had a game-high 23-points, including seven threes in the national title game against Syracuse.
Alford is in his seventh season as head coach at the University of Nevada where former Prescott Cardinal Jordan Malmlov is playing guard.
"He (Coach Alford) tells us about the chair all the time," said Malmlov, "and he's also told us about how he got kicked out of seven practices and how Bobby Knight would yell at him every day."
So, is there any of "The General," Bobby Knight, in Alford's coaching style?
"One hundred percent there is," said Malmlov. "It's not a lot of comfort and it's more tough love, but Coach Alford is a cool guy and he cares about people but his way of motivating is very old school."
Malmlov's mom, April Todd, moved to Lake Tahoe, Nev. during his junior year of high school. Malmlov followed her after graduation to nearby Reno, on the campus of the University of Nevada. Malmlov, the all-time leading scorer in Prescott basketball history with 1,906 points, tried out for the Division-1 Mountain West Conference program and made the practice squad his freshman year.
"I learned more in two months from Coach Alford than I did my whole life just on offensive flow and where to be on defense," said Malmlov. "It's a lot to process. The practices are super tough."
After a grueling season on the practice squad, Malmlov earned a spot on the roster his sophomore season.
"It's just crazy how much those huge crowds can impact a game," said Malmlov. "I love it."
Malmlov will finish his four-year degree in business in just two years and is thinking of heading back to the upper Midwest to finish his graduate degree and play basketball for two more years at the Division III level.
"I'm thinking MIAC right now because a lot of those schools have the grad program I want to do," said Malmlov.
Malmlov said playing for Prescott Head Coach Nick Johnson and Nevada Head Coach Steve Alford has opened an interest in coaching for him down the road.
"There's nothing like high school basketball," said Malmlov. "College basketball is really cool, but I really want to coach high school basketball."
If you know of a local high school athlete "Moving On," doing well, and shining bright, please contact me at greg@piercecountyjournal.news for the “Property Executives Realty Moving On Report.”
If you're moving in or "Moving On" in real life, you're welcomed to contact Jeremy or Dana Cudd at Property Executives Realty.
