By John Rittenhouse
The Hills Thunder opened the 2001 amateur baseball season by dropping three straight games since Sunday, May 27.

After losing a 13-3 game to Wilmont in the home and season opener May 27, Hills was blanked 2-0 Wednesday, May 30, in Pipestone.

Hadley topped the Thunder 5-1 in Hadley Sunday.

A tight game turned into a 10-run decision when the Thunder hosted Wilmont May 27.

The game was tied at two after three innings of play, but Wilmont went on to outscore the hosts 11-1 the rest of the way to win by the 10-run rule after eight innings.

Hills' Rod Scholten drove in a run in the bottom of the second to knot the score at one, and Matt Carroll was hit by a pitch before scoring on a passed ball to tie the game at two in the second.

Wilmont led 5-2 when Carroll scored again on a passed ball after being hit by a pitch in the bottom of the fifth to make it a two-run difference, but the rest of the game belonged to Wilmont as the visitors scored one run in the sixth inning, two in the seventh and five in the eighth.

Chris Putnam had two of Hills' eight hits in the opener. Jared Lange took the loss on the hill after yielding six runs in five innings. Putnam was touched for seven runs in three frames.

Pipestone plated single runs in the second and third innings and made them stand up during a 2-0 home win over Hills May 30.

Hills was limited to two hits (one by Carroll and one by Cade Lange) in the game as well as committing a pair of fielding errors against the A's.

Adam Hansen went the distance on the mound in Pipestone.

The Thunder plated a run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead in Hadley Sunday, but they were blanked the rest of the way in a seven-inning tilt.

Hills gained a 1-0 lead when Jared Lange singled and scored on a passed ball in the top of the first.

The Buttermakers, however, scored single runs in the first two innings and added three more in the fourth to win by four.

Chad Rauk, who was two for three at the plate, took the pitching loss in Hadley, where Hills had five errors and was limited to four hits.

The 0-3 Thunder were scheduled to host Luverne last night. Hills hosts Wilmont and Vermillion, S.D., at 2 and 4 p.m. respectively Saturday.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth boys' track team turned in a stunning performance during the Section 3A Championships staged in Benson Friday.

Patriot athletes racked up nine top-eight finishes during the event to place third as a squad in a 26-team field.

The day was big one for four Patriots, who supplied a lion's share of H-BC-E's 61 1/2 team points while earning the right to advance to the Minnesota State Class A Track and Field Championships in Blaine tomorrow and Saturday.

"We had an outstanding meet," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "We have four boys advancing to state in five events, which is excellent. With places those kids provided as well as the others we picked up, we were able to place third as a team at the meet. ThatÕs outstanding."

Goehle's No. 1 goal in Benson was to qualify as many athletes as possible for the state meet.

Athletes advance to state by placing first or second individually, place first as a relay team, or meet the state-qualifying standards (they are based on the average times and distances of the fifth-place finishers at the last five state meets) that are in place for each event at the section level.

H-BC-E's boys earned the right to advance by winning three individual section titles and placing second in a pair of individual events.

Making the trip to Blaine will be seniors Chris Willers and Chris Fransman, junior Brad Haak and sophomore Chris Reid.

Reid won one section championship and placed second in another event. Haak and Willers won section titles, and Fransman placed second in an event.

Willers and Haak will be making return trips to Blaine in the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run after placing second in those events at last year's section meet.

Willers won the 400 with a time of 51.21 in Benson. Haak won the 800 with a time of 2:00.12.

Haak placed fifth in last year's state meet in the 800, but Willers was unable to advance to the finals in the 400.

Reid and Fransman will be making their first appearances at the state meet.

Fransman earned his trip to state by clearing 6-1 in the high jump to place second.

Reid won a section championship in the long jump with a distance of 20-5 3/4, and placed second in the 100-meter dash with an 11.69 effort.

Reid, Haak and Willers will be in action tomorrow when the state meet opens at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

Reid will compete in the long jump preliminaries that begin at 3:30 p.m. The finals follow the preliminaries later in the afternoon.

The running preliminaries begin at 4 p.m., and Reid will be competing in the 100, which is the sixth event on the track. The 100 finals are set for 11:55 a.m. Saturday.

Willers will run in the 400 preliminaries, which will be the 12th event Friday. The finals are slated for 2:15 p.m. on Saturday.

Haak will run in the 800 preliminaries, which will be the 16th event on Friday. The finals are set for 3:12 p.m. Saturday.

Fransman will have to wait until Saturday to compete. The high jump preliminaries begin at 9:30 a.m., with the finals to follow later in the morning.

H-BC-E made bids to qualify for state in the 800- and 3,200-meter relays before placing third in those events with respective 1:34.33 and 8:25.65 times in Benson.

Fransman, Willers, Reid and Haak ran the 800. Willers, Tyler Bush, Lee Jackson and Haak formed the 3,200-meter team.

Haak also placed seventh in the high jump by clearing 5-8.

The boys' 400-meter relay team of Reid, Jesse Leuthold, Lee Walraven and Fransman placed seventh with a time of 46.45.

Clint Roozenboom (pole vault), Bush (3,200) and the 1,600-meter relay team (Walraven, Lee Jackson, Roozenboom and Matt Buck) didn't place at the section meet.

The H-BC-E girls capped their season by placing 17th in a 24-team field at the section meet.
The Patriots used four top eight finishes to score 13 1/4 points.

H-BC-E's 3,200-meter relay turned in the best performance by breaking a school record that had been in place since 1987.

Cassi and Shanna Tilstra, Bev Wurpts and Janelle Jenniges covered 3,200 meters in 10:00.5, which was good for a third-place performance.

Their time surpassed the old standard of 10:05.8 set by Amy Feucht, Amy Bartels, BernDean Rozeboom and Michelle Boeve.

Wurpts and Shanna Tilstra also locked up individual places.

Wurpts ran 1,600 meters in 5:44.11 to place fifth. Tilstra cleared 4-8 in the high jump to place eighth.

The Tilstras, Jenniges and Erin Boeve placed seventh in the 1,600-meter relay with a seasonal best time of 4:18.15.

Boeve (long jump, 100 and 200), Connie Lewis (triple jump), Jenniges (pole vault), Brittney Olson (400), C.Tilstra (400), S.Tilstra (800) and the 800-meter relay (LaDonna Sandstede, Lewis, Olson and Jenniges) didn't place in Benson.

Here is a look at the team standings from the section meet.

Boys' standings: Montevideo 85, Luverne 67 1/4, Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth 61 1/2, Canby Minneota 58, Pipestone-Jasper 45, Westbrook-Walnut Grove-Red Rock Central 39 1/2; Murray County Central 34 1/4, BOLD 31, Renville County West 24, Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster-Southwest Star Concept 24, Jackson County Central 23 1/2, Yellow Medicine East 23, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 22, Redwood Valley 21, Windom 20, Lac qui Parle Valley 18, Benson-Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg 17, Dawson-Boyd 17, Edgerton 13, MACCRAY 10, Lincoln HI 7, Fulda 7, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton-Lake Benton 6, Southwest Christian 5, Adrian 5, Wabasso 2.

Team standings: Pipestone-Jasper 69 1/4, Southwest Star Concept-Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster 69, Jackson County Central 64, Westbrook-Walnut Grove-Red Rock Central 51, Redwood Valley 48 3/4, Luverne 48, Renville County West 46, Wabasso 41, BOLD 35.5, Tract-Milroy-Balaton 33, Edgerton 25, Yellow Medicine East 24, Lac qui Parle Valley 21, Montevideo 20, Murray County Central 20, Benson-Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg 16, Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth 13 1/4, Fulda 13, Windom 12, MACCRAY 10, Southwest Christian 8, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton-Lake Benton 6, Lincoln HI 4, Canby-Minneota 3 1/4.

By Jolene Farley
Beaver Creek Mayor Al Blank considers himself a political "greenhorn." Blank officially took office on Jan. 1, 2001.

Blank says it takes a while to become familiar with the job of mayor. The first few meetings he watched and learned.

When asked why he ran for office he said it was a pretty simple decision. "The last couple of elections I was election judge," he said. "During primary election, on the last day no one had filed, so I volunteered."

Blank feels things have gone well so far. But when asked when his term ends, he knew he had only 19 meetings left.

Blank states he has no specific goals for Beaver Creek. He feels he represents the elderly portion of the town. "I take an interest in that," said Blank.

Blank is encouraged so many young people are showing an interest in the town. "I love all the young people moving in, helping make this a great place to live."

Although one project doesn't hinge on the other, Blank hopes the proposed golf course development will bring more people to town, widening the tax base. More revenue could help with the proposed fire hall in Beaver Creek.

Blank was an over-the-road trucker for 34 years before retiring. He currently does part-time office work at T & R Electric Supply, Colman, S.D.

Blank has a large United States map marked with all the destinations he traveled to during his long trucking career. Although Blank states, "There is something great about every state," his favorite state is Utah.

He takes great pride in our country. "No matter where you are," he said, "people are getting up and going to work with no complaining."

Blank and his wife, Darlene (who worked as Beaver Creek city clerk for years), have four grown children.

By Jolene Farley
Superintendent Tom Knoll has verbally accepted a new position at Hayfield Community School, according to Hayfield School Board President Steve Boysen.

Hayfield, located about 25 miles southwest of Rochester, has 1,005 kindergarten through 12 students.

Comparatively, the Hills-Beaver Creek school district has approximately 308 students and Luverne district has approximately 1,326 students. The Hayfield district includes five towns that consolidated into one district in the 1960s.

The Hayfield School Board met Tuesday evening to ratify Knoll's $80,000 three-year contract scheduled to begin July 1 of this year.

The superintendent position had 29 applicants, which the School Board interviewed extensively, according to Boysen.

"Tom was No. 1 all the way through," said Boysen. "We are very excited." He praised Knoll's understanding of Minnesota finance and public relations.

"We did an extensive background check," Boysen stated.

Superintendent Knoll was unavailable for comment.

By Jolene Farley
Beaver Creek Mayor Al Blank is confident a new fire hall will be built in Beaver Creek in the next year.

The town has been exploring the possibility of construction for a few years now, according to Blank.

The city had "a ballot when the whole thing started" to raise the mill rate to fund the project.

The increase provides about $15,000 per year in revenue for the project, and Blank said funds collected the last few years will amount to a sizable down payment.

A special committee, including three Beaver Creek firefighters, two City Council members and one Beaver Creek Township Board representative, has been formed to pursue the project.

Beaver Creek Township has expressed an interest in sharing a facility. If that happens, the new facility would use both the land under the Beaver Creek Township Hall and the current fire hall.

"We are trying to come up with a plan that would be agreeable and still affordable," said Blank. "Nobody denies we need a fire hall; it is just how to go about doing it."

The fire department and city of Beaver Creek want to consolidate as much storage as possible into a strictly utilitarian building, according to Blank.

At one time an architect was retained by the Beaver Creek Fire Department, but plans were so elaborate and the price so "out of hand" they were discarded.

The current fire hall was a used building when the fire department moved into it more than 20 years ago.

By John Rittenhouse
Last weekend was a good one for area race drivers competing at four different tracks.

Drivers from the Star Herald coverage area won a combined four feature races and four heat events while competing in Worthington, Rock Rapids, Iowa, Hartford and Brandon, S.D.

Local talent posted a pair of feature wins during Sunday’s races at Worthington Speedway.

Kanaranzi's Colter Deutsch took top honors in the A feature in the sportsman's class, and Luverne's Jason Wohlford won the B feature in the same class.

Luverne's Josh Reisch also made an appearance in Worthington, placing second in the modified feature.

The other feature wins produced by an area driver came at Sturdevant's I-90 Speedway in Hartford Saturday.

Ellsworth's Mark DeBoer posted a heat win and a feature win in the late model street stock class at the South Dakota track.

Luverne's Jesse Akkerman and Magnolia's Larry Kracht also raced in Hartford.

Kracht placed second in his heat race before winning the feature event in the hobby stock class.

Akkerman placed second in his heat race in the late model street stock class before transmission problems led to a seventh-place finish in the 21-car feature race.

Ellsworth's DeBoer also earned places at Rapid Speedway, Rock Rapids, Iowa, and Huset's Speedway, Brandon, S.D., Friday and Sunday respectively.

DeBoer was the lone area driver to pick up a place at Huset’s, finishing fourth in the late model street stock feature.

DeBoer placed third in the feature race in the late model street stock class at Rapid Speedway.

Darren Korthals, a Hills-Beaver Creek High School graduate who now lives in Rock Rapids, won a heat race and placed second in the feature event in the late model street stock class in Rock Rapids.

Adrian’s Brad Klaassen and Magnolia's Larry Kracht produced heat victories at Rapid Speedway.

Klaassen won his heat and placed second in the feature in the sportman's class. Rural Luverne's Scott Overgaard placed fourth in the feature race in the same class.

Kracht won his heat and placed fifth in the feature in the hobby stock class. Luverne's Anthony Mann placed fourth in the feature race in the same class.

By Lori Ehde
Sen. Mark Dayton's state director, Jim Gelbmann, met with Luverne area residents Friday at the Pizza Ranch to discuss the effects of high energy prices on consumers, farmers businesses and the community as a whole.

The Pizza Ranch meeting room was nearly filled with people willing to offer their observations.

Farmers shared how fuel prices gouge their bottom line both for production costs and shipping costs after harvest.

Luverne Superintendent Vince Schaefer said rising fuel costs cut into funds that should be spent in the classroom.

Others at the meeting represented efforts to establish alternative sources of energy, such as wind and ethanol.

They asked Dayton to work toward restructuring tax incentives so that owner producers could get involved in alternative energy - not just the big energy producers such as Enron or Florida Power.

They also encouraged him to support legislation that would spend less money on military protection of oil in the Middle East and more on incentives for domestic production of alternative energy.

Luverne's meeting was a kick-off for several others around the state designed to gather residents' input on energy prices.

"As the nation begins to put a new energy policy into place, I want to be sure that we take into account the needs and challenges presented by the alarming rise in energy costs in Minnesota," Dayton said in a release issued prior to Friday's meeting in Luverne.

He is planning to arrange a Senate field hearing in Minnesota with Sen. Paul Wellstone.

The information gathered in Luverne and in other places will be used at that hearing during the upcoming energy debate in Washington.

By Lori Ehde
Elaine Fick, rural Luverne, came home Wednesday afternoon to find that her bedroom had been ransacked.

Drawers were pulled out of dressers, and their contents were strewn on the floor.

"At first I was just confused, but then it dawned on me what happened," she said.

She and her husband, Ron, were the latest victims of a new string of local burglaries. In their case, thieves made off with gift money from their recent wedding.

"I can't even believe it," she said Friday. "It's such an invasion. I'm so mad they were in here. They were just dumping everything out."

She said she's especially grateful no one was hurt, because 18-year-old Melissa Fick was likely home when the burglary was underway.

"I left for work at 1:20, and Missy came home at 2," Elaine said. "She's pretty shaken, because with Carrie's (Nelson) murder, it's pretty scary for these kids."

The Ficks have been locking their doors at night, primarily because of Missy's fears, but they weren't prepared for a daytime burglary.

"They came in and stole money out of our bedroom in broad daylight," she said. "People need to be careful and know that no one is immune to this."

Rock County Sheriff Ron McClure said that's exactly the message he's trying to get to the public.

"I've never in all my 27 years at the Sheriff's Department seen such a rash of vandalism and burglary," he said Friday. "Even though this is a very good community, it's still vulnerable."

He said the homes that have been burglarized so far are those that are not locked.

So, his advice for area residents is to lock doors - including garages - when they're not home and to lock doors when they go to bed at night.

Also, he's asking neighbors to help each other out. "If they see anything strange, give us a call, because we'll need help to get this solved," McClure said.

With the added demands of the state park murder investigation, McClure said his staff has been scrambling.

"We're trying to fill in the holes and plug the leaks in the dam," he said. "We're going to be changing some shifts to have another car out there at night."

Since May 25, the Sheriff's Department has received reports of 10 thefts and burglaries and more than 30 reports of vandalism - mostly paint balls and spray paint.

Carrie Overgaard, Luverne, of the Chamber Pots gives her best toss in the Green Earth Players-sponsored buffalo chip throwing contest. Participants were given plastic gloves to wear while handling the dried buffalo chips.

Renee Sawtelle, Luverne, gives her daughter, Cammie, a boost while watching the spotlight dancers.