Harold Brooks, 89, Ellsworth, formerly of Luverne, died Wednesday, Nov. 6 at Parkview Manor, Ellsworth. Visitation will be Friday, Nov. 8 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne. Services will be Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1:30 p.m. at St. John Lutheran Church, Luverne. Burial will be in Sunset Cemetery, Rushmore.

Luella W. Woodley, 93, Luverne, died Monday, Nov. 4, 2002, at Good Samaritan Home in Pipestone.

Services were Wednesday, Nov. 6, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. The Rev. Paul Fries officiated. Burial was in Maplewood Cemetery, Luverne.

Luella Pank was born to Edward and Emma (Hindt) Pank on Dec. 6, 1908, in Lismore. She graduated from Luverne High School in 1928.

She married Ray C. Woodley on Oct. 10, 1929, in Alvord, Iowa. After their marriage, the couple farmed by Magnolia; and later in South Dakota. They began farming north of Luverne in 1945. In 1953, the couple moved to Luverne. She worked at Goehle Hardware, Production Credit, and later, at State Farm Insurance, all in Luverne. The couple moved to Centennial Apartments in Luverne in 1977. She moved to Good Samaritan Home in December 1999.

Mrs. Woodley was a member of Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne, the RSVP, and Luverne Senior Citizens. She enjoyed knitting and crocheting.

Survivors include one son and daughter-in-law, Edward and Jeanne Woodley, Luverne; one daughter and son-in-law, Mary Ann and Harold Hustad, Pipestone; 10 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; one brother, Marvin (Charlotte) Pank, Flandreau, S.D.; one brother-in-law, Gordon Tobiason, Magnolia; and two sisters-in-law, Amanda Woodley, Le Mars, Iowa, and Naomi Woodley, Lockport, Ill.

Mrs. Woodley was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Ray, in 1986, an infant daughter, one brother, Fred Pank, and one sister, Lauretta Tobiason.

Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Name and place of residence: Daniel Kopp, Luverne

Family information: Wife, Pamela, and children, Kara Jo, Candace, Tony and Natalie

Occupation: Plant operator for Agri-Energy Ethanol Plant, Luverne

Education: Magnolia High School diploma and Pipestone Vo-tech two-year degree

Community activities and involvement: Member of Grace Lutheran Church, Luverne.

Qualifications for service: Luverne School Board member for 7 years.

If elected, what should voters expect you to accomplish during your term as school board member? In other words, if elected, what issues will be important to you?

"If elected, my main goal would be to keep our children's education first and foremost in mind, also keeping in mind where the money comes from: the taxpayers. The District of Luverne, as far as I'm concerned, has a good education system, and I will work to keep it that way."

Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth junior quarterback Curt Schilling pitches the ball to a runner during Saturday's Section 2 Nine-Man championship game against Nicollet in Hills. Nicollet scored 24 unanswered points and fought off a late rally by the Patriots to post a 31-20 win.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth's attempt to repeat as the Section 2 Nine-Man football champion came up short during the section championship game played in Hills Saturday.

Entertaining Nicollet, the state's third-ranked team, No. 4-ranked H-BC-E expected to be in a tight battle for the right to represent the section in the state tournament.

The game was tight for three quarters, but a 24-0 scoring run by the undefeated Raiders during the second and fourth quarters led to a 31-20 victory in the end.

Nicollet, 11-0 overall, moves into the state quarterfinals on Saturday. The Raiders host Chokio-Alberta-Herman-Norcross. H-BC-E’s 9-1 season is complete.

Like many big games, Saturday’s was decided by field position and turnovers.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, they came up on the short end of the stick in both areas. H-BC-E turned the ball over four times in the game (three fumbles and one interception). The Raiders didn't score any points off the turnovers, but they did benefit from the field position that resulted from the miscues.

“We just turned the ball over too many times,” said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. “We lost two fumbles and one interception in the first half alone. If we hadn't turned the ball over, we might have been on top at halftime.”
Instead, the Patriots trailed 16-7 at the intermission.

Neither team could generate much offense early in the game as the first three offensive series turned into three-and-out possessions.

Nicollet received the third punt of the game, taking over on the 50-yard line at the 7:43 mark of the first quarter.

The Raiders advanced the ball 28 yards in seven plays before running back Tony Hulke scored at the end of a 22-yard run on the eighth play. Mattias Hellblom added the extra point for Nicollet, making it a 7-0 game with 4:08 left in the opening period.

The teams exchanged punts as the first quarter progressed, and H-BC-E took over on the 50 following the boot by Nicollet.

On the third play of the ensuing series, Patriot senior tailback Chris Reid broke free for a 42-yard touchdown run. Zach Wysong added the extra point to knot the score at seven with four seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Nicollet scored nine unanswered points to gain a 16-7 advantage by halftime, but the situation could have been worse for H-BC-E if not for some big stops produced by the Patriot defense.

After forcing Nicollet to punt four plays after Reid’s touchdown, H-BC-E fumbled on the third play of its next possession and Raider Mike Rosin recovered the loose ball on the Patriot 17. Hellblom missed a 30-yard field-goal attempt four plays later.

H-BC-E fumbled on the first play of its ensuing possession and Raider Paul Nourie recovered on the Patriot 23. The outstanding field position was squandered once again as Reid picked off a pass in the end zone two plays later.

The Patriots ended up paying a price for giving the Raiders excellent field position too many times. After forcing the Patriots to punt four plays after Reid's interception, Nicollet’s J.J. Hornung blocked the kick, and the ball rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The play gave Nicollet a 9-7 edge at the 5:37 mark of the second quarter.

Nicollet forced the Patriots to punt late in the first half, giving the Raiders the ball on H-BC-E's 44 with 52 seconds remaining. Five plays later, Nourie tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jamie Wagner. Hellblom's extra point made it 16-7 with 14 seconds left in the half.

Neither team could get anything going offensively to start the third quarter, but the Raiders did get some good field position when they gained possession of the ball on the H-BC-E 41 after a punt by the Patriots with 1:20 remaining. Nicollet covered 41 yards in seven plays with Wagner scoring on a six-yard run with 11:00 left in the fourth quarter. A Nourie-to-Rosin conversion pass made the tally 24-7.

H-BC-E lost the ball on downs at its own 46-yard line five plays into its next possession, setting up a five-play drive by the Raiders. Wagner, who hauled in a 42-yard pass on the third play of the possession, capped the march with a two-yard touchdown run with 7:06 left to play. Hellblom added the extra point to make it a 31-7 difference.

To H-BC-E’s credit, the Patriots didn't give up.

The Patriots mounted a 65-yard scoring drive that was capped by a two-yard run by Dusty Seachris with 4:39 remaining. A conversion pass fell incomplete, leaving the Raiders sporting a 31-13 cushion.

Seachris recovered a fumble on the Raider 32 during the first play of Nicollet’s next possession, and Patriot quarterback Curt Schilling hooked up with Tyson Metzger for a 32-yard touchdown pass on first down. An extra point by Wysong made it a 31-20 game with 4:24 left to play.

H-BC-E got the ball back on its own 26 with 2:29 left, but the possession ended on downs when a fourth-and-seven pass fell incomplete one minute later.

Nicollet was able to run the remaining 1:29 off the clock to ice an 11-point win.

Although the Patriots came up short, Ellingson was proud of the way his team rallied late in the game, and with its play throughout the season.

“We got two quick scores at the end, but we still were two scores down. Being four scores down is too much to overcome,” he said. “We would have liked things to turn out differently Saturday, but our kids had an undefeated regular season, which is something they really can be proud of. They weren’t expected to go undefeated during the regular season, but they did it.”

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 143 rushing yards, 118 passing yards, 261 total yards, eight first downs, four penalties for 20 yards, four turnovers.
Nicollet: 154 rushing yards, 81 passing yards, 235 total yards, 10 first downs, four penalties for 25 yards, two turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 16-78, Jesse Leuthold 6-26, Wysong 2-34, Schilling 2-7, Seachris 1-2.
Passing: Schilling 9-24 for 118 yards.
Receiving: Metzger 4-52, Wysong 2-58, Brant Deutsch 1-13, Leuthold 1-minus 5.
Defense: Schilling 14 tackles and one fumble recovery, Reid three tackles and one interception, Leuthold eight tackles, Cody Scholten eight tackles, Pat Nelson three tackles and one sack, Seachris one fumble recovery.

Luverne's Lexi Heitkamp reaches the finish line at the end of Saturday's Girls' Varsity Class A race during the Minnesota State Cross Country Championships in Northfield. Heitkamp, a seventh-grader, led Luverne to a 12th place effort as a team by placing 33rd individually.

By John Rittenhouse
Two teams and one individual from the Star Herald coverage area wrapped up the 2002 cross country season and the Minnesota State Championships staged on the St. Olaf College campus in Northfield Saturday.

The Luverne girls and Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton boys made their initial appearances at the state meet as teams, and Luverne senior Jake Studer made his second consecutive appearance at the state classic as an individual.

According to the coaches of the athletes involved, the local runners represented the area well.

The H-BC-E-E boys, who won their first section title the week before, placed sixth in a 16-team field.

Luverne’s girls, the Section 3A runners up, finished 12th out of 16 complete teams. Studer placed 62nd individually in a 159-runner boys' field.

“We had a good meet,” said Luverne coach Bruce Gluf. “I'm not disappointed at all by the girls placing 12th as a team, or Jake placing 62nd individually. All our kids had a fantastic year, and there’s not a lot of people who can say they have run at a state cross country meet before.”

The LHS girls can be proud of their efforts as a team.

Their 148-point total placed them 18 points ahead of East Grand Forks, which finished 13th as a team with 266 counters.

Luverne was within striking distance of placing 10th as Winona Cotter (232 points) and Lake City (246), teams finished 10th and 11th, by outscoring the Cards by 16 and two points respectively.

Since the Cardinal girls and Patriot boys were involved in team competition, every runner on the squad received two official places. The overall place they were awarded is based on where they finished in the complete field. The adjusted place is based on where the runners finished among all other runners involved in the team competition.

A seventh-grader set the pace for Luverne at the state meet. Lexi Heitkamp, who became Luverne's top runner during the late stages of the season, placed 33rd overall with a time of 16:22.

“Lexi ran a great race,” Gluf said.

Heitkamp's adjusted place is 16th, and that number counted towards Luverne's team tally along with sophomore Amanda Saum, freshmen Kelsey Dooyema and Victoria Arends and junior Sadie Dietrich.

Saum's adjusted place was 26th, Saum 60th, Arends 69th and Dietrich 77th.

Saums placed 48th overall with a time of 16:35. Dooyema placed 96th in 17:18, Arends 106th in 17:28 and Dietrich 116th in 17:43.

Sophomores Jessica Willers and Brianna Studer ran without influencing the team scoring.

Willers had an adjusted place of 109th and an overall place of 150th with a time of 20:11. Studer had an adjusted place of 110th and an overall place of 151st with a time of 20:15.

Jake Studer completed his high school cross country career at the state meet.

Studer, who placed 58th at state as a junior in 2001, finished 62nd overall with a time of 18:08 Saturday.

“Jake finished a little back from where he did last year, but 62nd is not too bad,” Gluf said. “I thought Jake ran a smart race. He went out hard and had enough left to pass some people at the end.”

Studer won't be a part of the LHS program next season, but all seven girls' varsity runners and some promising young boys coming back has Gluf feeling optimistic about Luverne’s cross country future.

“We had a great year, and that goes for both our girls and boys. We showed a lot of improvement from the junior high level on up, and it was because the kids had a great work ethic. I can't say enough about these kids,” he said.

The H-BC-E-E boys also have reason to be proud of their season and their performance at the state meet.

The Patriots nipped Blue Earth Area (191-192) to place sixth as a team. H-BC-E-E finished 19 points away from finishing third in the team standings as La Crescent (172 points), Perham (180) and Eveleth-Gilbert (185) were teams that were in striking distance of the Patriots at meet's end.

“We finished sixth as a team out of 16 teams, and we were 19 points out of third place,” said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. “I'm extremely proud of our guys for placing sixth. You always want to finish higher, but we could easily have done worse and dropped out of the Top Ten.”

Goehle had a good idea that Staples-Motley and St. Cloud Cathedral, teams that finished first and second in the Class A standings with 77 and 127 points respectively, would finish one and two. After offering that, he added that places three through 10 would be up for grabs.

Goehle's predictions proved to be fairly accurate as 52 points separated the teams that placed third through 10th.
Along with leading his team to a sixth-place finish, sophomore Tyler Bush became the second H-BC-E-E runner to earn all-state status during the course of the race in as many years.

Bush, the Patriots' top performer all season, placed 15th individually out of 159 runners. The top 25 finishers in the race make the All-State Class A Team.

Brad Haak placed 14th at the state meet last year to become the first Patriot to make the all-state team.

Since H-BC-E-E was competing as a team, Bush’s adjusted place (which is the place an individual finished compared with all other members of 16 teams involved in the varsity race) was ninth.

Senior Zach Hadler, sophomore Kale Wiertzema, junior Todd Alberty and sophomore Greg Van Batavia made contributions to H-BC-E-E’s team tally.

Hadler’s adjusted place was 33rd in 18:08. Wiertzema (43rd in 18:20), Alberty (51st in 18:27) and Van Batavia (55th in 18:29) affected the scoring with their adjusted finishes.

Overall, Hadler, Wiertzema, Alberty and Van Batavia finished 60th, 76th, 87th and 92nd respectively.

Junior Lee Jackson and sophomore Derek Haak ran without influencing the scoring.

Jackson, who ran an 18:40, finished 66th in the adjusted standings and 108th overall. Haak, who ran a 19:47, finished 104th in the adjusted standings and 150th overall.

Considering all of his runners, with the exception of Halder, will be back next year, one would think Goehle is looking forward to the 2003 season.

The coach, however, has a different take on the situation.

“Right now we're spending most of our time being thankful for making it to state this year, instead of looking ahead to next season,” he said.

“There is a lot of time between now and next season, and we can put next year on the back burner for now. Besides, just because you were good one year doesn't necessarily mean you will have one the next year. The potential is there, but it will take a lot of hard work to get back to state.”

Here is a look at the final Class A girls' and boys' team standings from the state meet.

Class A girls: New London-Spicer 109, Staples-Motley 118, United South Central 152, Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI 164, St. Cloud Cathedral 172, Minnehaha Academy 190, Hermantown 195, Mesabi East 201, Paynesville 207, Winona Cotter 232, Lake City 246, Luverne 248, East Grand Forks 266, Visitation 268, Minnesota Valley Lutheran 286, Northland-Deer River 379.

Class A boys: Staples-Motley 77, St. Cloud Cathedral 127, La Crescent 172, Perham 180, Eveleth-Gilbert 185, H-BC-E-E 191, Blue Earth Area 192, Warroad 202, Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI 213, Plainview 224, Annandale 235, Minnehaha Academy 260, East Grand Forks 266, United South Central 283, Mayer Lutheran 350, Duluth Marshall 350.

Name and place of residence: Jody Hinrichs, Ellsworth

Family information: Wife, Merrily, and children, Jordan, 12, Amber, 10, and McKenna, 3.

Occupation: Cashier at Phillips 66, Luverne

Education: Ellsworth High School graduate in 1990.

Community activities and involvement: Member of the Ellsworth Optimist Club.

Qualifications for service:

If elected, what should voters expect you to accomplish during your term as school board member? In other words, if elected, what issues will be important to you?

"Keeping the Ellsworth school system open. I'll do what's in the best interest of the staff and student body."

Name and place of residence: Rhonda Groen, Ellsworth

Family information: Husband, Ken, and children, Tara Austin, Jenna Groen and Marla Groen.

Occupation: Banking

Education: Ellsworth High School graduate in 1978 and Nettleton College in 1979.

Community activities and involvement: Member of Zion Presbyterian Church and member of the Optimist Club.

Qualifications for service: Lifelong resident of Ellsworth.

If elected, what should voters expect you to accomplish during your term as school board member? In other words, if elected, what issues will be important to you?

Name and place of residence: David Goedken, Adrian

Family information: Wife, Eileen, and five stepchildren, Josh, Tom, Nick, Tim and Heidi Nolte.

Occupation: Domeyer Implement and farming

Education: Ellsworth High School and Canby Vo-Tech

Community activities and involvement: Optimist Club member, co-chairman of "Pennies for Playground," and Knights of Columbus.

Qualifications for service:

If elected, what should voters expect you to accomplish during your term as school board member? In other words, if elected, what issues will be important to you?

"The issues that are important to me are the disciplinary actions that are taken at school. Every student should be treated equally. [It's also important to me] to make sure all students would receive a good education, to make sure the school remains financially sound and to keep up the good sports program."

Name and place of residence: Lynn DeBerg, Ellsworth

Family information: Husband, Marlan, and children, Megan, 21, Devon, 17, and Weston, 13.

Occupation: Registered Nurse in Luverne Community Hospital; employed there since 1979.

Education: Ellsworth High School diploma in 1978, Southeast Area Vo-Tech practical nursing degree in 1979, and Presentation College, Aberdeen, S.D., associate degree in nursing in 1988.

Community activities and involvement: Choir director at Bethany Lutheran Church. Taught confirmation class for the last three years at Zion Presbyterian Church, Ellsworth, where she is the youth group leader. She and Marlan belong to the Ellsworth Optimist Club.

Qualifications for service:

If elected, what should voters expect you to accomplish during your term as school board member? In other words, if elected, what issues will be important to you?

"My priorities would be a safe environment for all students. Second, I would like to see an emphasis on education after high school, and more counseling toward that goal. Third, I would try my best to have fair treatment of all students."