Beloved southeast Minnesota sportscaster Pat Lund dies

Members of Minnesota's broadcast community are mourning the death of longtime Rochester-area sports director Pat Lund. 

Lund died this past week after along battle with an illness, according to KTTC-TV. 

Lund retired in 2020 after 30 years covering sports at KTTC, which is southeastern Minnesota's NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television. The station called Lund a sportscaster whose "impact and legacy reached thousands of high school athletes, their families and communities big and small." 

According to the Post-Bulletin, Lund was a Rochester native who got his broadcast career started at Mayo High School, where he was a sports anchor with Spartan scene TV. He studied broadcast journalism at St. Cloud State University. 

Fellow Rochester station ABC 6 paid tribute to Lund with quotes from his former colleagues, including one who called him a "legend for local sports." 

A cause of death has not been announced. 

News of Lund's death has sent shockwaves through Minnesota's TV and prep sports communities, with dozens of reports, anchors and local teams paying tribute to Lund on social media.