Two Lake Park-Audubon, Minn., girls' basketball coaches have resigned after a pair of 17-year-old players raised allegations of sexual contact that are now being investigated by police.
Head girls' basketball coach Andrew Schwan and assistant coach Darrin Myhre resigned after being put on administrative leave on Friday, LP-A Superintendent Dale Hogie told The Forum on Wednesday.
A report issued by the St. Cloud (Minn.) Police Department today said the department is investigating allegations of sexual contact between the female students and two teachers/coaches from the Lake Park-Audubon district.
St. Cloud police Sgt. Martin Sayre said he couldn't specify what sort of sexual contact was alleged.
The accusations police are investigating were said to have occurred on Dec. 28 at the Holiday Inn in St. Cloud while the team was playing in a tournament there, according to the St. Cloud police report.
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The LP-A girls' basketball team played in a tournament on Dec. 28 and 29 in Upsala, which is 40 minutes from St. Cloud.
Sayre said that a parent called in the complaint to St. Cloud police on Monday at 12:39 p.m.
No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed. There were no search warrants naming either coach filed in Becker County or Stearns County, where St. Cloud is located.
St. Cloud police were in the L-PA area interviewing witnesses Wednesday and are still there today, Sayre said. It could take as long as a week to conduct interviews, he said.
"We're still really in that preliminary process," Sayre said.
St. Cloud is about 180 miles east of Lake Park.
Both coaches also teach grades seven through 12 in the district. Schwan taught social studies and Myrhe taught business.
Hogie said he could not elaborate on allegations the two girls raised on Friday, other than the incidents occurred in the jurisdiction of St. Cloud police and officers were in Lake Park on Wednesday conducting interviews.
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Schwan had been the LP-A head coach since the 2002-03 season. On the LP-A Web site, Schwan was also listed as co-athletic director and an assistant head football coach. Myrhe was listed as the LP-A head baseball coach.
Hogie said he accepted their resignations on behalf of the district.
Phone listings for the coaches were not available. Athletic director Jed Swegarden referred questions to Hogie.
An attorney that represents the district also is investigating the allegations, Hogie said.
"It's very difficult to determine what is fact and what is fiction," Hogie said.
He said the situation has taken a "tremendous toll" on the team and the district.
Counselors have been made available for students since Monday.
"We have some girls that are struggling emotionally right now," Hogie said. "This was someone they looked up to for a number of years, and that coach is no longer there. They're wrung out."
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LP-A's game with Frazee on Friday was postponed after the coaches were placed on administrative leave because the team didn't have any coaches. That game will be made up at 5:45 p.m. on Feb. 23.
Darrel Pederson will serve as the team's head coach for the rest of the season and Coral Lunde will be the assistant coach.
"Our primary concern now is to get some sense of normalcy back for the students at LP-A, and the girls basketball team at LP-A," Hogie said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Kerry Collins at (701) 241-5548 and
Amy Dalrymple at (701) 241-5590
