By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team upped its Red Rock Conference record to 3-1 with a four-game victory over Red Rock Central in Hills Thursday.

Needing a win to remain one game behind conference unbeaten Westbrook-Walnut Grove in the league standings, the Patriots were able to win three close games from the Falcons to get their victory.

The Patriots opened the match by securing a 15-11 win in the opener before pulling out a 15-13 victory in the second game to gain a 2-0 advantage.

RRC stormed to a 13-0 lead in the third game before posting a 15-2 win to get back into the match.

The Falcons scored the first five points in Game 4 and led 14-13 in the contest, but H-BC scored the next three points to prevail 16-14.

"The girls played pretty well," said Patriot coach Nicole Fey. "All the games we won were close. RRC came out hot and took the momentum right away in the third game. We fell behind 5-0 in the fourth game, but the girls fought back hard to win it. They never let up and kept on pushing each other."

Erin Boeve had a big night for the Patriots that included 28 kills and 14 digs. Tonya Leenderts also recorded 14 digs. LaDonna Sandstede was 19 of 19 serving with 11 points.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth runners joined the masses at the annual Princeton Invitational cross country meet staged near Milaca Saturday.

With more than 3,600 runners competing in the junior high, junior varsity and varsity races staged during the event, the Princeton Invitational is billed the world's largest one-day cross country meet.

A bus trek through the night to get to the course for the morning races challenged the H-BC-E runners, as did a pouring ran that fell throughout the event.

Other than the inconveniences, Patriot coach Tom Goehle deemed the meet a positive experience for his athletes.

"It's a spectacle just to see all the different team tents set up in the area and seeing that many runners competing in the same race," he said. "Some of our kids had to run in pretty nasty conditions, but it was a fun time."

Goehle said a pair of freshman girls turned in some of the best efforts in the 130-runner, two and a half mile race. Cassi Tilstra finished 11th in 16:55, and Brittney Rozeboom placed 23rd in 17:49.

The coach also was pleased with the effort by Brad Haak in the 500-runner, 5,000-meter boys' varsity race. Haak placed 18th in 17:11.

H-BC-E fielded a complete freshman boys' team that placed fourth overall with 407 points.

Tyler Bush (39th in 15:28), Greg Van Batavia (41st in 15:29), Kale Wiertzema (46th in 15:33), Derek Haak (111th in 17:08) and Jared Drenth (173rd in 19:22) represented the Patriots well during the 4,000-meter, 230-runner race.

Patriot Lee Jackson also ran 4,000 meters in the boys' sophomore race, placing 31st in 15:02.

The boys' junior varsity runners ran 5,000 meters against 500 runners.

Matt Buck led H-BC-E by placing 48th in 18:49. Nathan Fick was 85th in 19:11 and Paul Jess 417th in 22:59.

Seventh- and eighth-grade boys and girls ran two miles during their respective events.

Devin DeBoer (121st in 14:20), Kerry Fink (124th in 14:28), John Sandbulte (154th in 14:57) and Justin Hinks (206th in 18:56) mixed it up with 208 runners in the boys' eighth-grade race, while Stacy Bush finished 83rd out of 122 runners in the girls' eighth-grade event.

Nathan Mahone and Adam Finke placed 24th and 72nd with respective 13:02 and 14:10 times in the boys' seventh-grade race. Amanda Tilstra placed 50th out of 160 runners in the girls' seventh-grade run.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team prepared for its homecoming game by spoiling one for Edgerton High School Friday.

Taking on winless EHS in Edgerton, the Patriots scored 41 consecutive points in the first three quarters while spoiling homecoming festivities for the Flying Dutchmen.

The Patriots did throw EHS a bone by allowing the hosts to score a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the game that ended with H-BC-E winning 41-12 already had been settled at that point.

H-BC-E upped its record to 4-0 and 3-0 in the Southwest Ridge Conference with the victory. The Patriots, Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster lead the league with identical 3-0 marks.

The Patriots will be gunning for their fifth-straight win when they host 2-2 Lincoln HI for their homecoming tilt tomorrow.

"Lincoln HI is coming off a 30-8 win over Lakeview," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "They are playing a lot better right now than they were early in the season. They are a very good defensive team, and they have a good quarterback on offense that they like to move around a lot. WeÕll have to take care of their mobile quarterback."

LH will have to contend with an H-BC-E offense that has been putting up a lot of points in recent weeks.

During Friday's game in Edgerton, the Patriots showed off their big-play capability while scoring 41 points in the first three quarters.

"We did a good job of making big plays offensively. We had three runs of 50 yards or more in the game. Our backs did break some tackles during the long runs. We also received some good down-field blocking," Ellingson said.

The Patriot offense squandered some good field position provided by an interception from the defense by losing the ball on downs to start the game, but it made up for it by scoring 20 points with the next three possessions.

Senior quarterback David Top, who threw for 63 yards and two touchdowns in the game, helped get things rolling when he hit Brad Haak for a five-yard touchdown pass to cap H-BC-E's second offensive possession of the game. A failed extra-point attempt followed the touchdown.

Playing his first game of the season, Patriot senior Lyle DeBoer made an instant impact when he broke loose for a 71-yard touchdown run to end H-BC-E's third possession late in the first quarter. A Top-to-Haak conversion pass increased H-BC-EÕs lead to 14-0.

Chris Reid, who toted the ball 15 times while gaining 184 yards in the game, joined the offensive outburst in the second quarter. Reid scored on a 30-yard run to give the Patriots a 20-0 advantage that stood until the third quarter.

Any chance of an Edgerton rally in the second half was wiped away when the Patriots exploded for 21 points in the third period.

The Patriots received the kick to start the second half and moved in front 27-0 when Reid scored from 55 yards away. The first of three consecutive extra points by Tyler Bush followed the touchdown.

H-BC-E got the ball back moments later and moved in front 34-0 when Top and Reid connected for a 15-yard touchdown pass. The Patriots were faced with a fourth-and-two situation deep in Edgerton territory.

DeBoer recovered an Edgerton fumble as the third quarter progressed, setting up a 57-yard touchdown run by Reid that capped H-BC-E's 41-0 run.

Edgerton got three-yard touchdown runs from Jeremy Landhuis and Kyle Landin in the fourth quarter. Both scores, which occurred with H-BC-E's top defenders watching the game from the sidelines, were followed by unsuccessful two-point conversion attempts.

"We played our positions really well defensively," Ellingson said. "Edgerton is a team that likes to run a lot of reverses and other misdirection plays. We did a good job of staying at home and not letting any of those plays develop."

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 341 rushing yards, 86 passing yards, 427 total yards, eight first downs, six penalties for 60 yards, zero turnovers.

Edgerton: 166 rushing yards, 53 passing yards, 219 total yards, seven first downs, five penalties for 30 yards, three turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 15-184, DeBoer 7-99, Lee Jackson 4-28, Chris Tiesler 3-13, Jordan Scott 4-17, Travis Broesder 1-1, Clint Roozenboom 1-minus 1.

Passing: Top 5-10 for 63 yards, Curt Schilling 1-2 for 23 yards.

Receiving: Haak 2-8, Matt Buck 1-25, Roozenboom 1-23, Reid 1-15, Kevin Van Batavia 1-15.

Defense: Schilling 15 tackles, DeBoer two tackles and one fumble recovery, Reid four tackles and one interception, Haak two tackles and one interception.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth cross country program produced team and individual champions at the Murray County Central Invitational in Slayton Tuesday.

The boys' varsity and boys' junior varsity squads claimed team titles during the event.

Patriot runners also secured individual championships in the boys' junior varsity and girls' junior varsity races.

H-BC-E boys scored 65 points to lead a seven-team field in team competition.

Luverne (69), Worthington (78), Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin (83) Adrian (104), Southwest Star Concept (124) and MCC (127) placed behind the Patriots.

Brad Haak and Tyler Bush turned in top 10 efforts to lead the H-BC-E boys. Haak placed second in 17:33. Bush was ninth in 18:36.

Matt Buck, Greg Van Batavia and Lee Jackson placed 14th, 23rd and 27th in 19:14, 19:45 and 20:06 respectively to cap the team scoring for the winners.

Four individuals placed in the top seven for the junior varsity boys, who scored 20 points to best Worthington (43) and Luverne.

Kale Wiertzema won the race in 15:39, Lee Walraven was third in 16:07, Nathan Mahone fourth in 16:31 and Derek Haak seventh in 16:46.

Paul Jess capped the scoring by placing 18th in 18:11, while Jared Drenth didn’t contribute to the team tally by finishing 23rd in 18:53.

Brittney Rozeboom made it a sweep for H-BC-E individuals in junior varsity races when she won the girls' event with a time of 15:02. Becky Broesder was eighth in 16:58.

H-BC-E was one runner short of fielding a complete team in the boys' junior high race.

Devin DeBoer and John Sandbulte crossed the finish line in 6:33 and 6:47 to place second and third respectively. Adam Finke was ninth in 6:59 and Justin Hinks 20th in 9:01.

Stacy Bush placed 10th in 8:03 in the girls' junior high race.

The H-BC-E runners will compete at the Pipestone-Jasper Invitational Monday.

By John Rittenhouse
Two longtime volleyball rivals met for the first time Tuesday after joining a new conference prior to the 2001 season.

Hills-Beaver Creek and Southwest Christian, who battled each other for years as members of the Tri-County Conference, squared off for the first time in a Red Rock Conference match in Hills.

SWC continued a trend of downing the Patriots by sweeping a three-game match from the hosts. Game scores were 15-9, 15-7 and 15-10.

The win left SWC boasting a 5-1 RRC record, while H-BC slipped to 3-2 in league play.

When the match was complete, all Patriot coach Nicole Fey could to is tip her hat to the E-Gals.

"Whenever we made a mistake, SWC would make a run on us. They did a very good job of taking advantage of our mistakes," she said.

H-BC, which went on a 3-0 run consisting of a kill by Erin Boeve, an ace serve and another service point by LaDonna Sandstede to take an early lead over the E-Gals in Game 1, used another 3-0 surge (service points by Boeve and Tonya Leenderts, and a kill by Boeve) to take a 7-6 lead.

SWC, however scored the next six points to gain a 12-7 cushion before Cassi Tilstra served an ace and another point to bring the Patriots within three points (12-9) of SWC. The E-Gals bounced back to score the next three points and prevail by a 15-9 margin.

The E-Gals rolled to an 8-2 lead in the second game before Sandstede served a pair of points and Boeve produced a kill that made it an 8-5 game.

SWC still led by three points (10-7) when it went on a 5-0 run to take a two-game lead over the Patriots.

A block by Boeve and an ace serve by Leenderts gave the Patriots a 2-0 lead in Game 3, and another block by Boeve put H-BC in front 3-2.

SWC scored the next 10 points to open a 12-3 advantage, and the score was 13-4 when the Patriots received two service points and a kill by Boeve, and one service point each from Leenderts, Brittney Olson and Jody Rentschler to trim SWCÕs lead to four points at 13-9.

H-BC never got any closer than four points as SWC scored two of the final three counters to prevail 15-10.

Boeve led the Patriots with 20 kills in the match, while Sandstede charted 16 set assists.

Leenderts was 13 of 14 serving and had 12 digs. Olson added 10 digs.

The 4-8 Patriots play a road match against Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster before hosting Ellsworth and Edgerton on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

By Lori Ehde
Rock County has launched its own internal investigation of bribery allegations against Rock County feedlot officer John Burgers.

Burgers, 48, of Hills, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday, Sept. 20, on charges that he accepted money from the Pipestone hog operation Global Ventures Inc. to overlook mismanagement of potentially hazardous waste.

Burgers was placed on paid administrative leave Friday pending an investigation of allegations contained in the indictment.

According to County Administrator Kyle Oldre, the internal investigation is necessary to determine if there were any violations of local personnel policy.

Oldre said Worthington Attorney Gordon Moore will serve as independent counsel to ensure an impartial investigation, since Burgers worked so closely with Oldre and County Attorney Don Klosterbuer.

Moore officially received the appointment this week and said his role in the investigation won't be active until he has a chance to see what work is appropriate.

"The federal investigation is ongoing and we're going to be very respectful of that and not get in the way or step on any toes," he said Wednesday.

"We have independent jurisdiction and independent authority, but one of the reasons we're taking a wait-and-see approach is we don't want to re-invent the wheel if it's not necessary."

Violations at the county level would be filed as a civil suit. If state criminal charges are filed, Moore would be in charge of that as well.

Indictment also charges Global Ventures Inc.
Global Ventures is also charged with two counts of offering a bribe to an agent of an organization receiving federal funds.

Allegations in the indictment date back to 1996 when Burgers learned of a potentially hazardous chemical spill being dumped at the Global Ventures hog facility.

Instead of notifying the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Burgers advised a Global Ventures senior officer to take care of the problem.

Three months later, according to the indictment, Burgers approached the same senior officer at Global Ventures and said he was in deep financial trouble.

The Global Ventures officer then allegedly arranged for Burgers to meet with a senior officer at First National Bank and Trust in Pipestone.

Over the next year and a half, the bank officer arranged for more than $100,000 in new or consolidated loans for Burgers, even though he had been turned down for a loan at the bank's Luverne branch office.

The indictment also alleges that when Burgers needed to repay one of the loans, the Global Ventures officer arranged for a series of meetings between Burgers and the former senior bank officer, who had since begun working for Global Ventures.

At these meetings, the former bank officer allegedly provided Burgers with a total of $6,000 cash to pay down his loan.

The grand jury further alleged that between March 1996 and April 1999, Burgers repeatedly provided preferential treatment to Global Ventures.

The Sept. 20 indictment includes mail fraud charges against both Burgers and Global Ventures involving a deprivation of honest services.

Burgers declined to comment, and Global Ventures officials issued a statement Sept. 20 saying they were "shocked" to learn of the charges and they "vehemently deny" any wrongdoing.

"Global Ventures is confident that it will be totally vindicated of any charges," they wrote in their statement.

If convicted, Burgers faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine for soliciting a bribe and up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine for mail fraud.

Global Ventures faces a maximum penalty of up to $500,000 per count.

The case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI agents and other authorities have reportedly been investigating financial arrangements and the hog industry in the Pipestone area for several years.

Anyone with information concerning the possible solicitation or receipt of bribes or kickbacks in Rock or Pipestone counties can call FBI Special Agent Michael Dudley, (507) 387-2460.

U.S. Attorney Hank Shea is prosecuting the case.

Burgers and Global Ventures will make their first appearance in federal court in St. Paul Oct. 5.

By Jolene Farley
At their meeting Thursday evening Hills-Beaver Creek School Board members narrowed their list of candidates for the superintendent position vacated by Tom Knoll.

The board selected five of 30 applicants to continue through the hiring process. Tentative plans are to interview candidates Saturday, depending on their availability, according to board member Ann Boeve.

She said the board is pleased with both the number and quality of applicants.

"The applicants we have selected are very qualified for the job," Boeve said. "We have to look at each one and see what they have to offer us."

The hiring process could end after one interview if there is one applicant that the board is comfortable with. If none of the candidates meets the board's expectations, the original 30 applications may be re-examined, according to Boeve.

"If one stands out we may offer; if not we will continue through the process to see exactly what direction we want to go," she said.

Ideally, the board would like to have a permanent superintendent in place by Jan. 1, but that may not be practical, she said.

"It all depends on where they are at and when they can come to us."

Educational consultant Darold Williams, Dell Rapids, S.D., stepped in as interim superintendent when Knoll left for the Hayfield school district in July.

Hills-Beaver Creek students crowned Becky Broesder and Brad Haak their 2001 Homecoming King and Queen during coronation activities Monday evening. Homecoming candidates for king and queen and M.C.'s for the festivities were (from left) Brad Haak, Becky Broesder, Lyle DeBoer, M.C. Jody DeNoble, Kevin VanBatavia, Tonya Leenderts, M.C. Paul Jess, Trisha Larson, Justin VanMaanen and Brittney Olson.

Ruth Jorgensen, 81, Tucson, Ariz. died Friday, Sept. 21, 2001, at Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D.

A memorial service will be in Tucson at a later date.

Mrs. Jorgensen was originally from Mt. Vernon, Ind. She was a childhood friend of Dr. Robert Keitel. The couple became reacquainted in 1998 after more than 50 years.

She was a frequent visitor in Luverne during the last three years.