Emily Mendel, who will be a sophomore at Freeman Public, prepares for her third attempt in the triple jump Saturday morning - the final day of the 2022 State Track Meet. Mendel is one of a number of local student-athletes competing on Day 3 of the track and field championships. Three have already medaled today: Freeman Public’s Rylee Peters finished 3rd in the 100 hurdles, Menno’s Ashton Massey was 4th in the event, and Freeman Public’s Dawson Munkvold was 4th in the 110 hurdles.

Freeman Academy junior Jada Koerner starts the 3200 run first thing Friday morning, May 27 — the second day of the State Track Meet. Koerner finished fifth in the opening event of the day, clocking a 12:08.09 and holding off a charging runner from Kimball/White Lake in the closing meters by just 0.02 seconds. The Bearcats also saw a medal-winning performance from Tavin Schroeder, who picked up a number of runners in the closing laps to finish third in 10:07.98.

Ground has been broken on The Hanger project at Freeman Public Schools, which will see a new wrestling/multi-use facility built in the open space immediately east of the Freeman Elementary School gym by the end of the year. Pictured at a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday afternoon are, from left: Whitney Donohue, a project associate with JLG Architects; Cody Fransen with the Freeman School Board; Freeman Public Superintendent Jake Tietje; Rylie Tschetter, Zac Sayler and Chris Sayler, representing Marion/Freeman wrestling; and Doug McCune and Kyle Higgins of Puetz Design+Build.

This photo of Freeman seventh grader Rylee Peters and Menno senior Raygen Diede was taken as part of The Courier's State Track Meet preview, but wasn't used in this week's edition. Instead, the editor opted for a photo of the two smiling on the track, which can be found on the front page of this week's issue. The May 26 edition will be available online early Wednesday afternoon and in mailboxes and on news stands starting Thursday morning. 

An excavator is used to remove huge sections of sidewalk Monday, May 23 as good progress continues to be made by Slowey Construction. Tuesday morning marked the road closure of the third and final block of Main Street being rebuilt as part of the first phase of the 2022 project, mean the downtown roadway from Fifth to Railway is now closed to vehicles. Businesses remain open and sidewalk access remains in place for pedestrians. 

Workers and equipment being used by Slowey Construction returned to work on Freeman's Main Street project Monday morning, May 23 as deconstruction of the roadway continues from north to south. Utilities are also being installed on Railway — the first street to be torn up — and soon the final block of the business district will be close to vehicles.

Nathan Epp, outgoing head of school at Freeman Academy, channels his inner David Letterman and reads a top 10 list — complete with the card flip — during his address at Freeman Academy's commencement Saturday evening, May 21. Epp's list focused on the 10 things the graduating class learned from the pandemic, which was the subject of his address. Ten seniors who made up the school's Class of 2022 received their diplomas. 

This photo shows Main Street looking north from Fourth Street as it was in 1928, almost 30 years before the roadway would be paved. The building pictured on the right is currently home to Vintage Vault Floral and Fashions. The 300 block of Freeman's downtown corridor is currently torn up as part of the city's Main Street project; workers will move the next block to the south in the days to come as deconstruction continues.

Raygen Diede, one of the state's top throwers and a senior at Menno, prepares to give the shot put a heave at the 2022 Region 5B Track Meet in Gayville Thursday, May 19. Diede won both the shot put and the discus as the Menno girls finished third in the team standings. Click here for a full recap.

Workers with Slowey Construction moved from the 200 block and into the 300 block this week as deconstruction of the downtown roadway continues. Main Street is now closed to vehicles from Railway south to Fourth Street, and when work makes its way into the 400 block, the entire business district corridor will be closed to vehicles. Pedestrian traffic on sidewalks and access to businesses remains in place.