Spring sports in the Northland rarely arrive clean, and this week’s Hermantown High School varsity schedule reads like a familiar early-April balancing act — games on the board, eyes on the sky, and contingency plans never far from reach.
The week opens Tuesday with a full slate that signals the start of the outdoor push, even if winter still has a say. Hermantown’s baseball team is scheduled to host Duluth East at 4:30 p.m. at Fichtner Field, weather permitting, while the softball team travels to Bemidji for a varsity matchup the same evening. The Proctor/Hermantown girls lacrosse varsity squad heads south for a 5 p.m. scrimmage at Waconia, a long early-season trip that underscores the limited local options this time of year.
Wednesday shifts indoors and into a different arena, with the Hermantown robotics team competing at the FIRST Robotics regionals at River’s Edge Convention Center, continuing a multi-day event that runs through Saturday.
By Thursday, the schedule expands across the map. The girls golf team opens at the Bulrush Invitational, while both boys and girls track and field teams travel to Cambridge-Isanti for varsity competition. Boys tennis hosts Cloquet at 4:15 p.m., one of the few home varsity events of the week, assuming the courts cooperate. Baseball returns to Fichtner Field later that afternoon for a varsity game against Cloquet.
Friday is the most ambitious day on the calendar. The baseball team is set for a varsity doubleheader at Rock Ridge, while track and field shifts to the University of Wisconsin–Superior for another round of varsity competition. The softball team travels to St. Anthony Village for a varsity game, adding more miles to an already travel-heavy start to the season. Boys lacrosse is scheduled to face Osseo at Odegaard Park, though the start time remains to be determined — another reminder of how fluid early April scheduling can be.
Through it all, the common thread is uncertainty. Cold temperatures, wind and the potential for midweek precipitation could force adjustments, delays or relocations. Coaches and athletic staff are left to juggle field conditions, travel logistics and athlete readiness, all while trying to establish rhythm in the opening stretch of the season.
For Hermantown’s varsity teams, the week is less about perfection and more about persistence — finding windows to compete, adapting on short notice, and pushing forward through a schedule that, like the weather, refuses to fully settle.