Bergren inks with Upper Iowa for basketball
RED OAK — With her college choice in mind, Red Oak girls basketball player Blake Bergren can focus on her senior season of basketball and a repeat trip to Des Moines.
Bergren made it official last Monday at Red Oak High School when she signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Upper Iowa University (UIU).
“Now to have it be official, it’s just a great feeling,” Bergren said.
Those in attendance to witness the signing included Bergren’s parents, David and Shelley, Red Oak girls basketball coach Dan Martinez, Red Oak athletic director Jeff Spotts, as well as a couple of relatives.
Bergren had considered other schools including Truman State University, Coe College, Lawrence University, Benedictine College and community colleges like Southwestern, Des Moines Area and North Iowa Area.
UIU sent letters and invited Bergren for a visit to the campus, located in Fayette, about an hour northeast of Waterloo.
“I really liked it after the first visit and the coaching staff, but I didn’t meet many of the girls that I’d be playing with,” Bergren said.
She went on a follow-up visit to meet potential teammates and liked how Upper Iowa was interested in Bergren.
“It showed they really wanted me and they really made me feel welcome there,” she said.
Nicknamed the Peacocks, UIU plays in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and is a Division II school.
Upper Iowa plays against schools from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
Bergren is one of four new signees to the Upper Iowa team. Two of the others, Madison Meier and Ashley Rosenstiel, are from eastern Iowa, while another, Brooklyn Schamens, is from Oshkosh, Wis.
At Upper Iowa, Bergren will seek a degree in exercise science, as well as pre-physical therapy.
“It was just a huge to me to know that all my hard work and effort that I put in driving back and forth to club practices have finally paid off,” she said.
Bergren has played basketball since early grade school, taking part in YMCA leagues.
In addition to being a three-year varsity starter for Red Oak, Bergren has also played club basketball in Omaha for the Midwest Trailblazers, as well as in Ames for the All Iowa Attack.
“I think just the speed of the game is different,” Bergren said. “It helped me realize how much quicker and how much faster you have to think.”
Bergren enters her senior season with 485 points scored in 49 varsity games for the Red Oak program.
Her best season was last year when Bergren averaged 12.6 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game in 25 games played.
With Bergren being one of the focal points of the offense last year, the Tigers finished 13-12 and rallied all the way to the state tournament for the first time in nearly 90 years.
“I feel like we will have some pressure, but we’re going to go out and have fun and play the game like we know how,” Bergren said. “I think we could get the job done.”
Bergren was also one of the key seniors for the Red Oak volleyball team as they made their second consecutive state tournament appearance in Cedar Rapids and third in the last four years.
“We have a majority of our team back and making it to state in volleyball will give us a lot of momentum going in,” she said.
Red Oak enters the 2013-14 season fourth in the 3A preseason poll, released by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Friday.
The new season starts Dec. 6 for Red Oak as they face a tough test in the Lewis Central Titans. The game takes place in Council Bluffs.