Sports

Augsburg 2020 Sports Season Outlook

Dominick Ingram, Sports Outlook

Amid this pandemic and time of uncertainty for the sports world, the Augsburg community has several reasons to remain optimistic about the future of their football team. The season has
been postponed to the spring, but that hasn’t stopped this team from bouncing back from a down year. The Auggies are poised for a great year with many returning players and the hiring of a new coach.

Augsburg University Athletic Hall of Fame member, Derrin Lamker, was hired as head football coach in December of 2020, making him the 15th in Augsburg football history. Lamker is considered one of
the top high school coaches in Minnesota, leading the Osseo Orioles to the Minnesota Class 6A state championship in 2015. Lamker has a great resume, winning three conference titles and two
section titles. Lamker was recently at Edina High School, where he brought the Hornets to their third state tournament appearance in school history.

Coach Lamker is determined to lead Augsburg team to success, stating “Augsburg is a special place, and I look forward to leading the Auggies back to the top of the MIAC (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) in the near future.”

Along with a new coach, the Auggies have several returners looking to build off of their successful seasons last year. Sophomore Shaquille Young is one of these returners. Young had a stellar debut season on the defensive line for the Auggies, finishing fourth on the team with 42 tackles (16 solo), 4.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three blocked kicks. He
is looking to be a leader for the defense next year even though he is only a 2nd-year player. Quran Al-Hameed also had a great first year as a transfer junior, recording 722 yards (80.2 yards per-game) in a total of nine games to go along with eight rushing touchdowns.

Even though Augsburg’s season was put on hold, that hasn’t stopped them from preparing for the upcoming spring season. With new additions to the coaching staff and personnel, they are looking
forward to making a new name for themselves in the MIAC.