BEMIDJI -- Up until about a month ago, Logan Jensen was planning on staying home for college. Now, he’s destined for the East Coast.
“I was just going to stay local and go to tech school,” the Bemidji High School senior said. “Everything kind of fell into my lap and it all came together.”
Jensen held a signing ceremony at BHS on Wednesday, making official his plans to attend Paul Smith’s College in New York state and join the Nordic skiing and fishing teams.
“Skiing and fishing is what I spend 90% of my time doing,” Jensen said. “It’s very, very fortunate and I’m very excited. … It’s all been a part of my life for a very long time.”
Jensen is a three-time state participant in Nordic skiing with the Lumberjacks. He saved his best performances for last, capturing the Section 8 individual title and earning all-state honors by placing 24th at the state meet in 2021.
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite his successes, the uncertainty of the season largely contributed to his future plans.
“I did some biathlon this summer to train for skiing because we didn’t know if there would be a Nordic season for high school,” Jensen said. “I found out from (my coach), and then I started talking to the coach (at Paul Smith’s) and found out they had a fishing team.”
Jensen, who even spent time distance learning from inside a fish house last winter, was happy to see things develop quickly. He’s also entering into a skiing program with world-class trail systems and facilities. Even though the school, located in Paul Smith, N.Y., is 20-plus hours away via car, Jensen is looking forward to making a mark out east.
“It’s quite far from home, but it’ll be good,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll (get to) know people out there from sports and everything. It’ll be fun.”
And, of course, Jensen is looking forward to being pushed and challenged at the next level.
“It’ll be exciting,” he said. “There’s a lot of big competition over there, a lot more people. It’ll be fun to see where I can take myself and see where I can go.”
