By John Rittenhouse
Rock County drivers dominated the hobby stock competition during a pair of race nights at Huset's Speedway.

The Labor Day weekend featured Sunday and Monday night races at the track near Brandon, S.D., and that proved to be a good thing for Kanaranzi's Colter Deutsch and Magnolia's Josh Klay.

Deutsch, who placed second in his heat race during Sunday's action at the track, took the checkered flag in the feature.

Klay won his heat race Sunday before placing third in the feature.

Steen's Tammy Kracht also raced in the hobby stock class Sunday, placing second in her heat and fifth in the A feature.

Klay produced a sweep during Monday's Sertoma Charities Night at Huset's Monday, winning his heat race and the feature.

Deutsch placed second in his heat and fifth in the feature. Luverne's Larry Kracht was fourth in his heat and eighth in the feature.

Luverne's Anthony Mann and Luverne High School graduate Scott Overgaard mixed it up in the sportsman class at Huset's Monday.

Mann won his heat race before finishing 13th in the feature. Overgaard placed second in the feature and third in his heat race.

Steen's David Kruger and Luverne's Chad Overgaard raced in the short track stock car class Monday at Huset's.

Kruger won his heat race before placing eighth in the feature. Overgaard came in seventh in his heat race and 15th in the feature.

During Sunday's races at Huset's, Kruger placed eighth in his heat race and 10th in the feature. Chad Overgaard was seventh in his heat race and eighth in the feature.

Hills-Beaver Creek High School graduate Darren Korthals also competed in the short track stock car class at Huset's Sunday, placing fifth in his heat and fourth in the feature.

Korthals also won a short track stock car feature race at Rapid Speedway, Rock Rapids, Iowa, Friday.

Luverne's Anthony Mann and Scott Overgaard placed second and fifth, respectively, in the sportsman class feature at Rapid Speedway. Deutsch finished second in the hobby stock feature.

Korthals was one of three area drivers who raced in the short track stock car competition at I-90 Speedway in Hartford, S.D., Saturday.

Korthals placed second in his heat and 10th in the feature.

Luverne's Jesse Akkerman won his heat race and rallied from the seventh row to place second in the feature. Adrian's Brad Klaassen placed second in his heat race and third in the feature.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton cross country coach Tom Goehle strayed from tradition during the first meet of the season in Mountain Lake Wednesday, Aug. 31.

In the past, Goehle used the Wolverine Invitational as a tune-up session for the rest of the season by entering his runners in junior varsity events only.

By fielding a five-runner squad boys' varsity squad on the 31st, Goehle broke tradition, and he probably was glad that he did.

The Patriots turned in a solid performance by placing fourth in a 20-team field with 141 points.

Mounds View won the boys' team title with 72 points. Blue Earth Area and Fairmont placed second and third respectively.

H-BC-E-E also fielded complete boys' and girls junior varsity teams for the meet. The girls finished second with 79 points. The boys placed fourth with 145 points.

"I was happy with the way we finished in both the boys' and girls' events," Goehle said. "They have some really quality teams at this meet, and I think we showed what kind of depth we had by placing the way we did. I thought we ran really well, timewise, for it being our first meet of the year."

Tyler Bush got off to a strong start for the season by placing fourth in the boys' varsity race in 16:37.

Todd Alberty finished 24th in 17:51, Zach Hadler 30th in 18:10, Lee Jackson 37th in 18:30 and Kale Wiertzema 46th in 18:56.

Cassi Tilstra won the girls' junior varsity race in 5:43.

Brittney Rozeboom finished eighth in 6:04, Amanda Tilstra 12th in 6:11, Mya Mann 14th in 6:15, Erika Fransen 44th in 6:44 and Rayne Sandoval 61st in 7:11.

Greg Van Batavia paced the junior varsity boys by placing fourth in 11:34.

Kerry Fink finished 26th in 12:47, Devin DeBoer 28th in 12:52, Derek Haak 43rd in 13:11, John Sandbulte 44th in 13:12, Adam Finke 51st in 13:24, Michael Bos 56th in 13:32, Jared Drenth 80th in 14:32, Grant Hoogendoorn 83rd in 14:42 and Justin Hinks 103rd in 18:02.

Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth senior linebacker Jesse Leuthold (41) contests a pass headed for the hands of Glenville-Emmons' Tim Westland during FridayÕs football game in Hills. The Patriots opened the season by rolling to a 43-6 victory over the Wolverines.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team made a statement during the season's first game against Glenville-Emmons in Hills Friday.

The message H-BC-E sent was clear. The Patriots still are a very dangerous team that can hurt its opponents in a number of ways.

G-E found that out the hard away Friday during what turned into a lopsided win for H-BC-E.

The Patriots scored two touchdowns on special teams and kicked a field goal, they scored one defensive touchdown and three offensive touchdowns (two by run and one by pass) during the game. When the final gun sounded, H-BC-E celebrated a 43-6 victory.

"This was a good game to have for our first game," said a pleased Dan Ellingson, H-BC-E's head coach. "We got a chance to look at a lot of different people in different positions. It was a good game to build some confidence in."

The Patriots, who outscored G-E 43-0 before yielding a late touchdown, took control of the contest at the earliest possible moment.

H-BC-E won the coin toss and chose to receive the ball to start the game, and senior Chris Reid stunned the Wolverines by returning the kick 75 yards for a touchdown. Zach Wysong then added his first of four extra points for a 7-0 cushion.

The Patriot defense took advantage of the early momentum when Wysong picked off a G-E pass and returned the ball inside the G-E 20-yard line.

The good field position wasn't wasted as quarterback Curt Schilling tossed a five-yard touchdown pass to Tyson Metzger to make it a 14-0 game 2:34 into the contest.

G-E, which turned the ball over six times in the contest, did so again during its second possession as Reid intercepted a pass. The turnover led to a 24-yard field goal by Wysong with 2:58 remaining in a first quarter that ended with H-BC-E sporting a 17-0 cushion.

The Patriots increased their lead to 23 points early in the second quarter.

Reid, who ran the ball 17 times for 118 yards in the opener, dashed 30 yards for a touchdown with 9:27 left to play in the second stanza. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving H-BC-E with a 23-0 lead it took into the second half.

The Patriots settled the issue by scoring 14 points in the first 7:11 of the third quarter.

After forcing G-E to punt to start the second half, H-BC-E put together a drive that was capped by a 14-yard scoring-burst by Jesse Leuthold at the 9:03 mark of the third quarter.

Wysong, who added the extra point after Leuthold's run, returned a G-E punt 52 yards for a touchdown and kicked another extra point to make it a 37-0 game with 4:49 left in the third period.

The Patriot defense came up with another big play in the fourth quarter when Drew Spykerboer scooped up a G-E fumble and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown with 5:19 left to play.

G-E answered Spykerboer's six-pointer with 35-yard touchdown run from Seth Buchanan with 1:39 remaining in the game.

Ellingson was proud of the way H-BC-E played Friday, but he expects a bigger challenge when the Patriots host Southwest Star Concept tomorrow.

The Quasars rolled to a 49-20 win over Lyle-Austin Pacelle in their opener.

"SSC has a very good quarterback as well as their top two receivers and linemen coming back. They'll be a good team, so we'll have to play pretty well to win," he said.

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 196 rushing yards, 42 passing yards, 238 total yards, eight first downs, five penalties for 30 yards, two turnovers.
G-E: 150 rushing yards, 21 passing yards, 171 total yards, three first downs, two penalties for 10 yards, six turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 17-118, Schilling 2-27, Leuthold 2-15, Wysong 2-12, Lee Jackson 4-12, Travis Broesder 2-11, Dusty Seachris 1-1.
Passing: Schilling 6-14 for 42 yards.
Receiving: Metzger 3-14, Broesder 1-15, Kyle Sammons 1-12, Reid 1-1.
Defense: Schilling 10 tackles, Wysong two interceptions, Reid one interception, Leuthold five tackles and one interception, Clint Roozenboom, one tackle and one interception, Spykerboer one tackle and one fumble recovery, Chris Gaul two tackles and two sacks.

Shirley Mundahl, 75, Luverne, died Sunday, July 28 at Mary Jane Brown Home. Visitation will be Tuesday, July 30 from 2 to 8 p.m. with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m. at Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne. Services will be Wednesday, July 31 at 10:30 a.m. at St. John Lutheran Church, Luverne, with Rev. Gary Klatt oficiating. Burial will be in Maplewood Cemetery.

Luverne senior Stephanie Morgan keeps a ball alive during the 2002 volleyball debut against Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster in Luverne Thursday. Morgan led the Cards with 11 kills during a 3-2 victory.

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne volleyball team opened the 2002 campaign by posting a 3-2 home victory over Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster Thursday.

The Cardinals, a young team that has one girl playing the same position (setter Brittney Williams) from the 2001 season, seemed to be out of sync at times during the match.

Luverne, however, came up big when it had to against a senior-dominated SV-RL-B team. When the two-hour match was complete, the Cardinals and their fans were able to celebrate a season-opening win.

"It definitely was played like it was our first match of the season," said LHS coach Mary Jo Graphenteen. "I thought we could have won this match in three (games), but SV-RL-B is a scrappy team. They dug up a lot of balls, and we really had to scramble a lot to win."

Luverne got off to a good start in Game 1 when it turned a 4-3 edge into a nine-point cushion (12-3) with an 8-0 run. Tara Boomgaarden served the run, which featured a pair of ace deliveries by the server, and two kills and one ace tip by Emily Oksness.

The Raiders climbed within five points (12-7) of the Cards as the game progressed, but a pair of ace serves by Oksness and a tip from Boomgaarden capped a 15-7 win.

A 7-0 run featuring two kills by Stephanie Morgan, two ace serves and two service points by Brittney Williams and a point from Boomgaarden gave the Cards a big lead in Game 2.

SV-RL-B, however, scored the next 13 points before Luverne put together a 5-0 surge (two points and one ace serve by Williams, and one point and one ace serve by Morgan) that left the Cards facing a 13-12 deficit. The Raiders then recorded the next two points to prevail 15-12 and knot the match at one game each.

Luverne responded to the situation by rolling to a 15-0 win in Game 3.

Morgan served a seven-point run that featured three ace serves, one kill by Taylor Nelson and one ace tip by Oksness. Callen Bosshart served a six-point run during the game that was spurred by a pair of ace tips from Boomgaarden.

Luverne seemed to be in control of the fourth game when it turned a 9-7 edge into a 13-7 cushion with an ace block by Nelson, an ace serve from Cassie Pap and one ace tip and one service point from Boomgaarden.

Although the Cards needed to score two points to win the match after their 4-0 run, they were outscored 9-1 during the rest of a game that ended with SV-RL-B boasting a 16-14 win.

Luverne scored the first four points of Game 5 and led 10-1 when Bosshart served a six-point run featuring one kill and one ace tip by Boomgaarden, and one kill and one ace block by Morgan.

SV-RL-B scored the next point, but a point from Williams, followed by a three-point run served by Morgan, clinched a 15-2 win for LHS.

Morgan led the Cardinals with 11 kills in the match. Boomgaarden added eight kills, Pap and Nelson recorded seven each and Oksness chipped in six.

Boomgaarden served a team-high 18 points from the line. Morgan had 14 points, while Bosshart and Williams served 11 and 10 points respectively.

Williams also had 24 set assists.

"We did a lot of positive things in the games we won," Graphenteen said. "Serving hurt us in the games we lost. We missed 14 serves in the two losses. It's hard to get anything going in the game of volleyball when you miss that many serves. The good news is a lot of the unforced errors we made are the type of mistakes we can improve upon in practice."

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne tennis team opened Southwest Conference play by splitting a pair of matches.

The Cardinals lost a one-point decision in Redwood Falls Friday before nipping Marshall by one point at home Tuesday.

Luverne, 4-3 overall, plays in Springfield today before hosting Sioux Falls Roosevelt and Lincoln Friday and Monday respectively.

Luverne 4, Marshall 3
Luverne's veteran players came up big during Tuesday's home win over the Tigers.

Three LHS seniors posted singles wins and a junior led a doubles team to victory in a hard-fought match.

"Our senior leadership showed through in singles," said Cardinal coach Greg Antoine. "Then Jenny (Braa) and Nikki (Van Dyk) played hard through three sets to win our fourth point in doubles."

Van Dyk and Braa played in the No. 1 doubles slot, where they secured a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Gracie Henderson and Amanda Herrmann.

Becky Antoine, Rachel Tofteland and Gabe Van Dyk won two-set matches at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 singles.

Antoine notched 6-2 and 6-0 wins over Heather Buesing, Tofteland handed Rachel Henderson 6-2 and 7-5 setbacks, and Van Dyk prevailed by 6-1 and 6-1 tallies over Kayla Pruitt.

MarshallÕs Diana Naatz topped Brittany Boeve by 6-2 and 6-3 scores at No. 4 singles.

The TigersÕ No. 2 doubles team of Ellie Ahmann and Nicole St. Aubin saddled Lexi Jauert and Andraya Gacke with a pair of 6-2 setbacks. MarshallÕs Stacy Christopherson and Rachelle Kunde upended Samantha Gacke and Alyssa Klein by 6-1 and 6-4 scores at No. 3.

"The thing I would like to see now is for us to be more aggressive. We've got to start taking it to our opponents instead letting them take it to us," Antoine said.

RWV 4, Luverne 3
The Cardinals came up one point short when they opened Southwest Conference play in Redwood Falls Friday.

The teams split four singles matches, but RWV took two of three doubles tests to win the battle.

"We played really well, especially in singles," said Cardinal coach Antoine.

Tofteland and Gabe Van Dyk notched wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles respectively. Tofteland secured 6-3 and 6-4 victories over Linda Gano. Van Dyk topped Alecia Prins by 6-2 and 7-5 tallies.

RWVÕs Kate Maland downed Antoine by 6-2 and 6-4 scores at No. 1 singles. Host Lisa Goodthunder saddled Boeve with a pair of 6-0 setbacks at No. 4.

Although the Cards went 1-2, Antoine said his doubles teams benefited from two days of practice prior the match.

"Our doubles teams used what we did in practice very well. We worked a lot on our cross-court and alley shots for two days in practice, and we did a much better job. It was good to see that our practice paid off," he said.

Luverne's Braa and Jauert bested Olivia Schoffman and Amanda Malecek by 6-2 and 6-4 tallies at No. 1 doubles.

RWV's Karissa Rothmeier and Kristin Malecha downed Nikki Van Dyk and Samantha Gacke by 6-4 and 6-1 scores at No. 2. Lily Madsen and Devyan Morris posted 6-0 and 6-1 wins over Klein and Andraya Gacke at No. 3.

By Lori Ehde
Area women have a new way to get in shape since the opening of Curves for Women Tuesday.

Dubbed the "30-minute fitness and weight loss center," Curves is a weight-loss program exclusively for women using both aerobic and resistance exercise.

Located in the north side of the former Smith Furniture building, it's designed around eight resistance stations separated by aerobic recovery stations.

With audio prompts instructing exercisers to move from station to station, each workout is guaranteed to last no longer than 30 minutes.

"That's what makes this so attractive to so many people, especially to working women," said Georgie Pfaffinger, who co-owns the Luverne franchise with her husband, John.

"They can easily fit it in their schedules, before work, at noon or whenever. They're in and out of there in 30 minutes."

Women who already run or bike can supplement their aerobics programs with the Curves resistance training.

She said this is a popular option, because Curves makes them stronger and burn calories more efficiently.

What sets the Curves machines apart from those in standard fitness centers is that they move on hydraulic resistance, and the faster they're worked, the more resistance they offer.

"The harder you work, the more workout you get," Georgie said. "But older women who aren't able to use weight machines can operate these on a slower pace."

New members are weighed and measured and their progress is tracked monthly. Those meeting exceptional goals are publicly rewarded.

Since March, members at the Blue Earth Curves (where the Pfaffingers live) have lost 2,000 inches and nearly 400 pounds among nearly 300 women.

Inches are the preferred measurement at Curves. "You'll lose more inches than weight, because muscle weighs more than fat," Georgie said.

Curves has become the world's largest women's fitness and weight loss franchise, and was named by Entrepreneur Magazine the third-best franchise worldwide.

In the past five years, 3,500 Curves franchises have started in communities nationwide. Another 1,000 have started this year alone.

Curves members can work out in any Curves nationwide. The Luverne franchise, bought by the Pfaffingers, was one of the last available in the state of Minnesota.

It's popularity, Georgie said, is largely due to its women's only status.

"Women are more comfortable in our environment and feel guys aren't looking at them," she said. "Early morning ladies brush their teeth and come in, without having to worry about what they look like."

In Luverne, the Curves dŽcor is distinctly feminine with pink and lavender throughout, and Georgie said the women-only rule fosters a casual, playful workout among exercisers.

"It's like playtime for women," she said. "ItÕs their time away from their husbands and kids, and they seem to have a great time."

The Pfaffingers hired Deb Meyer, Rock Rapids to manage the Luverne business, and four additional part-time employees have also been hired.

Club hours are from 6 to 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 3 to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays itÕs open from 8 to 10 a.m. The phone number is 449-8000.

Curves is leasing the space from Lori Ketterling, who purchased the Smith Building from Glen Gust. Ketterling's business, Final Touch, will occupy the front part of the building.

West Nile virus antibodies have been found in a 72-year-old Rock County woman by the South Dakota Health Department, according to Nobles-Rock Public Health Service.

Case information was reported to the Minnesota Department of Health Tuesday and blood samples were forwarded to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, for confirmation. Results from Atlanta may take several weeks.

The woman was hospitalized with symptoms including low blood pressure, body rash, dizziness, headache, slight neck pain and slight nausea. After no signs of encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, the woman was released.

"This case of West Nile virus was not unexpected," said David Neitzel, epidemiologist from MDH specializing in diseases transmitted by mosquitoes to humans, in a press release.

"We have been monitoring the state closely and have known that the potential was there since the virus first appeared in the state in July."

Nine dead birds and 256 horses from southwestern and central Minnesota have tested positive for West Nile. This means that the mosquitoes responsible for the transmission of West Nile Virus to birds and horses are present in southwest Minnesota.

Minnesota likely will not experience anything close to the number of cases that occurred in Louisiana, Mississippi or Texas, according to Neitzel.

He reiterated the threat of any one person becoming ill from West Nile virus is extremely low. Most mosquitoes don't carry the virus so most people bitten by a mosquito have not been exposed. West Nile cannot be spread by contact with an infected person.

Fewer than one out of 150 people infected will become severely ill. Of those infected, most people will have no symptoms at all or mild symptoms.

Symptoms typically appear three to 15 days after being bitten and can include headache, high fever, muscle weakness, stiff neck, stupor, disorientation, tremors, convulsions, paralysis and coma. Severe cases tend to occur more frequently in the elderly.

While the mild symptoms can mimic the common cold and flu, staff at Luverne Medical Center say they havenÕt had requests to be tested by those suspecting they have the virus.

West Nile Virus first appeared in New York City in 1999 and has now been found in 41 states. By 2002, West Nile had affected 480 people, resulting in 24 deaths nationwide.

People who have questions about West Nile virus may call Nobles-Rock Public Health Service at 888-807-8099 or 372-8256 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

To reduce risk of being bitten, Minnesotans should:
Protect themselves with mosquito repellent containing no more than 30 percent of the active ingredient DEET. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends products containing no more than 10 percent or less of DEET for children.

Wear long-sleeve shirts and long pants if you have to spend time in an area where mosquitoes are biting.

Avoid outdoor activities at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes feed.

Eliminate possible mosquito-breeding sites on and around property - including items such as old tires, buckets, clogged rain gutters, birdbaths, cans and other containers and anything else that can hold a small amount of water.

By Jolene Farley
After 30 years on the Hills Fire Department, Fire Chief Alan Top will hang up his helmet. Top retires as fire chief in November, but plans to remain among the ranks of the firefighters until next year.

Top shared thoughts on what motivated him when he joined the fire department at 24 years old in 1972.

"Every kid wants to be a fireman, right?" he said "The excitement, the adrenaline rush. The guys on the department - we're a pretty tight knit group."

Top said the frequency of fire calls has decreased since he joined the fire department.

"I don't know if it's that people are more aware of fire prevention or what it is," he said.

With 25 men currently on the Hills Fire Department and 12 men on the First Responders, Top said the department could use a few more volunteers.

An ongoing problem for many departments is a lack of volunteers during daytime hours.

The Hills Fire Department welcomed six new volunteers this spring. The volunteers completed 150 hours of firefighter training and also attended First Responder training.

Top is thankful equipment and training has improved during his years as a firefighter.

"When I first joined we had a small pumper and tanker and a very minimal rescue truck," he said. He added that a state instructor would come to Hills for only one evening a year to train the firefighters.

The department now has a fire hall, two pumper trucks, a tanker, a rescue truck and a grass fire rig, and firefighters are offered many hours of education.

"People have been real supportive for a small community," he said. "The equipment we have is very good. We are very appreciative of that."

Top said rescue calls are tougher than fire calls because when the pager goes off, they know someone is hurt.

"You always think the worst," he said. "Most of the time you get there and it's not the worst. A lot of times people just need to be calmed down."

But the calls when that isn't the case are difficult. A look of sadness passes over Top's face as he remembers an incident 25 years ago when two people were killed in a train wreck. "It was ugly," was all he said.

"You know every call you go to, you know the people," he said. "You deal with their sadness. You hurt for the people, because you know most of them. Those are the kind of calls you go home and you donÕt sleep for the rest of the night."

One evening on a happier call about 20 years ago, fire department volunteers delivered a baby west of Hills. Two women were passing through the area, and one of them went into labor. After the delivery, the fire department had a baby quilt made with Hills Fire Department stitched on it and "delivered" to the hospital.

No Hills firefighters have been killed or seriously injured in the line of duty, but Top and his fellow firefighters sympathize with the New York firefighters who lost their lives on Sept. 11 during the terrorist attacks.

"We felt like the rest of America," he said. "You felt for the families, even the families that weren't firefighters."

Top hopes he made the fire department a fun, friendly place under his leadership.

"I think someone else that's younger could do a better job now," said Top. "It's harder and harder to get up in the middle of the night."

He went on to tell a story of how he and another fireman used to be the first people at the fire hall after a fire call.

He told his friend. "It must be a sign of age, we're not as fast as we used to be at getting to the fire hall. We're getting beat out."

Top said it is time to let some of the younger members of the department who are full of enthusiasm and new ideas take over the department. "It's time to turn it over and let them go."

"It's going to be hard. What's really going to be tough is when I hear a fire siren. It's going to be hard for me not to be a Looky-Lou, wanting to go out there and run the show."

Top will always carry with him the deep friendships he developed with his fellow firefighters.

"You are counting on the guy behind you and in front of you all the time," he said. "I want to make sure the guy behind me knows what he's doing. He could save my life or I could save his life. I think it comes out in the friendships."

Top speaks fondly of his fire fighting years overall.

"It's been a pleasure. It's the greatest organization I've ever belonged to. I would recommend it to anyone," he said.

"It is some of the hardest work ever done with the most gratification you'll ever have."