The Luverne boys’ and girls’ golf teams competed in the Big South Conference championship meet on Monday, May 16, at the Dacotah Ridge Golf Club in Morton.
In the boys’ meet, the St. Peter Saints came out on top with a team score of 324. The Cardinals shot a team score of 348 to finish in fourth place out of the 12 teams in the conference.
The Cardinals were led by sophomore Henry Hartquist, who shot an 80, which placed him in a tie for fourth place out of 71 golfers at the meet.
Junior Brady Bork tied for ninth individually with a score of 85, and LHS sophomore Owen Sudenga finished in 15th place after a round of 87. Freshman Levi Gonnerman also contributed to the team score with a round of 96.
Also competing for Luverne were Colin Schoenman (96) and Tyler Arends (98).
The LHS girls’ team finished with a team score of 432 to place ninth out of 10 teams at the meet. The Cardinals from Redwood Valley were the overall meet champion with a team score of 354.
Luverne was led by junior Lauren Hansen, who shot a 104. Senior Morgan Gonnerman trailed Hansen by one stroke at 105. Junior Jocelynn Mann shot a 111 and senior Cheyenne Schutz scored 112 to contribute to the team score for the Cardinals.
Also competing for Luverne were Perceyis Trierweiler (126) and Mallory Nelson (134).
The meet was the culmination of four conference meets for the boys’ and girls’ golf teams. Each meet’s results awarded team and individual points to determine final standings and All-Conference award winners.
Thanks to his stellar play all season, Hartquist came out on top of the individual boys’ standings and took home first place overall in conference play.
“Henry had an awesome season and to be the top player in the entire conference at the end of the year is a tremendous accomplishment,” said LHS boys’ coach John Sichmeller.
Hartquist came into last year’s conference championship with a chance to earn first place overall, but a poor final round kept him from capturing the top individual award last season.
“Coming back from last year this was a big improvement. It felt nice to do well and earn the top spot this year,” Hartquist said after the meet.
Bork also placed inside the Top 10, finishing in sixth place in the final conference standings to also earn All-Conference recognition.
“Brady loves golf and plays more than anyone on our team. It was good to see him rewarded for all his work and earn his way onto the All-Conference team,” said coach Sichmeller.
Next up for the Cardinals will be an 18-hole meet at Buffalo Lake on Wednesday for the boys followed by section play on May 25 for the girls and May 26 for the boys.

By Stacy Olson
For the Star Herald
The Luverne High School softball team wrapped up another busy stretch of play with five games in the past week.
They beat Fairmont 11-3 in a home game Tuesday, May 10, and defeated Redwood Valley 13-3 and 17-7 in a doubleheader that started May 12 and finished May 14 due to weather.
Also on Saturday in Marshall, they made quick work of RTR 13-0 before falling to Marshall 3-1, their third loss of the season.
Luverne will play its last regular season game against Edgerton on Thursday, May 19, at Edgerton.
 
LHS 13, Redwood 3
The Cardinals traveled to Redwood Falls on Thursday, May 12, for a doubleheader that ended after the first game due to weather.
Carly Olson hit a two-RBI double to score two runs in the first inning.
Redwood scored one run on an LHS error. LHS led 2-1 after one inning.
Luverne scored five runs in the second inning. Ella Reisdorfer, Peyton Behr and Carly Olson all hit singles, and Anika Boll hit a double, which completed the scoring for LHS.
Redwood was able to plate a run in the second, trimming Luverne’s lead to 7-2, but Luverne scored six more runs in the third inning.
Billi Connell singled, Behr singled, Olson hit a double, and Boll singled.
Redwood was unable to manufacture any runs, putting Luverne’s lead at 13-3.
The fourth and fifth innings were scoreless by both teams. Macey Swenson and Jacey Smith each recorded hits, but no runs were scored.
Luverne finished the game in five innings, out-scoring Redwood 13-3. 
Ella Reisdorfer got the win for Luverne. She threw four innings of one-hit, three-run ball, struck out five, and walked five.
Gracie Nath threw one inning of relief, allowing one hit and no runs. Nath struck out three and walked no one. The Cardinals started Game 2 but were shut down early due to a storm. 
 
Box score        AB R     H    RBI 
B Connell         4     2     1     1 
P Behr              3     3     2     1 
M Swenson      1     1     1     0 
C Olson            4     2     3     4
R Bork              1     1     0     1
B Smidt            2     1     0     2
A Boll               4     0     2     3  
G Nath              3     0     0     0  
T Serie              1     0     0     0 
J Smith             2     1     1     0
E Reisdorfer    4     2     1     0
 
LHS 13, RTR 0
The Cardinals traveled to Marshall on Saturday, May 14, to play three games, including the second game of the Redwood doubleheader.
The Cardinals faced Russell-Tyler-Ruthton for the first game. The Cardinals took the lead in the first inning, outscoring RTR 2-0. Carly Olson hit an RBI double to put the Cardinals on the board.
The Cardinals advanced their lead to 5-0 after two innings. Peyton Behr hit a two-RBI double and Carly Olson had an RBI single.
Neither team was able to score in the third. Anika Boll hit a double, but it wasn't enough to plate a run.
In the fourth inning both Jacey Smith and Billi Connell reached base on singles. The Cardinals were unable to string enough together to score a run.
The fifth inning was also scoreless despite a single from Belle Smidt.
LHS was able to open up the game in the sixth inning, scoring three runs off a pair of singles from Peyton Behr and Reghan Bork and a double from Jacey Smith to take the Cardinals to an 8-0 lead.
The Cardinals plated five more runs in the seventh inning to win 13-0. Jacey Smith, Amira Cowell, Billi Connell and Peyton Behr all singled to get the inning going. Carly Olson hit a two-run homerun to finish the scoring for LHS. 
Gracie Nath threw the shutout for LHS. Nath did not allow a run on four hits. She struck out 15 and walked two.
The Cardinals improved to 15 wins and two losses on their season. 
 
Box score        AB R     H    RBI 
B Connell         5     3     2     2
P Behr              5     4     3     4 
C Olson            5     1     3     4
R Bork              5     0     1     2
B Smidt            4     0     1     0 
A Boll               4     0     1     0  
T Serie              2     0     0     0 
K Franken        1     0     0     0
M Swenson      1     0     0     0 
J Smith             3     2     3     0
E Reisdorfer    3     1     0     0
A Cowell          1     2     1     0
 
Marshall 3, LHS 1
The Cardinals fell to Marshall in the second game Saturday in Marshall. The Cardinals played a tight game with the Tigers who scored late in the game to oust Luverne 3-1.
The Cardinals had a great game defensively. With the help of Billi Connell, they had a double play in each of the first four innings.
The Cardinals had five hits in seven innings. Carly Olson doubled in the first inning. Billi Connell singled in the third inning. Reghan Bork and Amira Cowell both singled in the fourth inning, scoring Luverne’s only run. Peyton Behr hit a double in the fifth for the last Cardinal hit of the game.
Marshall scored one run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to give the Cardinals their third loss of the season. 
Gracie Nath pitched all six innings for LHS. She allowed three runs on six hits, struck out one, and walked no one. 
 
Box score        AB R     H    RBI 
B Connell         4     0     1     0
P Behr              4     0     1     0 
C Olson            3     0     1     0
R Bork              3     1     1     0
B Smidt            2     0     0     0 
A Boll               2     0     0     0  
A Cowell          3     0     1     1
J Smith             3     0     0     0
E Reisdorfer    3     0     0     0
 
LHS 17, Redwood 7
On Saturday in Marshall, the Cardinal girls played the second game of a doubleheader they started with Redwood Thursday night when the game was called off after three innings due to weather.
Luverne led 3-0 after the first inning. Peyton Behr had the only hit of the inning. The Cardinals doubled the score in the second, scoring three more runs. Peyton Behr and Carly Olson both hit doubles to take the lead to 6-0.
The Cardinals plated two more runs in the third with singles of the bats of Jacey Smith and Billi Connell.
Redwood countered with seven runs off three hits and two Luverne errors to cut the LHS lead to 8-7.
LHS came back swinging in the fourth inning and scored eight runs to double their score to 16. Belle Smidt, Anika Boll and Ella Reisdorfer all hit singles to help LHS open up their lead to 16-7.
LHS held Redwood the last two innings. The Cardinals scored one run in the fifth with an RBI single from Billi Connell to end the game after five innings. The Cardinals won 17-7, improving their record to 16-3. 
Gracie Nath started the game in Redwood, pitching two innings, allowing no runs and no hits, and striking out three.
Ella Reisdorfer resumed the game in Marshall, pitching one inning and allowing seven runs on one hit. Reisdorfer struck out two and walked two.
Amira Cowell made her varsity pitching debut. She threw two innings, allowing no runs and no hits. Cowell struck out two and walked one. 
 
Box score        AB R     H    RBI 
B Connell         3     3     1     4
P Behr              4     2     2     1
C Olson            2     2     1     3
R Bork              1     2     0     1
B Smidt            4     1     2     2 
A Boll               4     1     1     2 
T Serie              2     1     0     0
M Swenson      1     0     0     0
J Smith             2     2     1     0
E Reisdorfer    2     1     1     0
A Cowell          2     2     1     0
 
LHS 11, Fairmont 3
The Luverne High School softball team hosted its last regular season home game on Tuesday, May 10, when the Cardinals honored their seniors for their dedication on and off the field.
The 2022 seniors include Billi Connell, Kendall Buss, Reghan Bork, Jacey Smith, Brenn Siebenahler and Macey Swenson.
The Cardinals took the game from Fairmont, outscoring the visitors 13-3 and improved their record to 13-2.
Fairmont scored one run in the first inning, but LHS scored three runs in the first to take the lead early. Billi Connell hit a double to start off the game. Peyton Behr and Reghan Bork also hit doubles in the first inning.
Fairmont was unable to score in the second inning. Luverne plated four runs with singles from Tori Serie, Billi Connell and Ella Reisdorfer, and Carly Olson hit a double to bring the score to 6-1.
Fairmont scored two runs in the third inning and Luverne scored one run, pushing LHS to a 7-3 lead. Jacey Smith singled and Billi Connell hit an RBI double.
Fairmont was unable to score again in the game.
Luverne added four more runs in the fourth inning. Carly Olson led off with a double, Reghan Bork hit a single, Belle Smidt hit a two-RBI double, and Peyton Behr singled to help LHS take the lead to 11-3.
In the fifth inning LHS closed out the game by the 10-run rule over the visitors with an RBI double off the bat of Connell. 
Gracie Nath threw all five innings for Luverne to record the win. She allowed three runs on five hits, struck out 11 and walked two.
 
Box score          AB R    H     RBI 
B Connell           5     2     4     3 
P Behr                3     3     2     1 
C Olson              4     1     2     2
R Bork                4     1     1     2
B Smidt              3     1     1     2 
M Swenson        0     0     0     0 
A Boll                 2     1     0     0  
B Siebenahler    1     0     0     0 
T Serie                4     1     0     0 
J Smith               3     2     1     1
E Reisdorfer      4     1     3     1

The Luverne Redbirds amateur baseball team opened the 2022 season with a loss to the Milroy Irish at home Sunday. 
“It was a tough way to start the year, but there is a lot of baseball left,” said Redbirds manager Brooks Maurer.
Milroy jumped to an early lead by scoring four runs in the top of the first inning. 
Luverne scored its first run of the season in the bottom of the second inning when Newt Johnson scored on an RBI single by Ethan Beyer. 
In the fourth inning, the Redbirds added a second run when Cade Wenninger scored on a sacrifice fly by Beyer to cut the Irish lead to 4-2. 
Milroy then went on to score one run in the sixth inning, two in the seventh and four more in the eighth to secure the road victory. 
Beyer led the Redbird offense with two hits and two RBIs. 
Gaige Nath, Skyler Wenninger, Ben Serie, Cade Wenninger, Jake Haugen and Colby Crabtree had one hit each in the game for Luverne. 
Nath hit a triple and Haugen had a double. 
Haugen was the losing pitcher for the Redbirds. He pitched seven innings, striking out ten and giving up one walk, eleven hits and seven runs, three of which were earned. 
Cade Wenninger pitched the final two innings. He struck out three and walked two Irish batters. Wenninger gave up four hits and four earned runs. 
The Redbirds were scheduled to play in Ruthton Wednesday, May 18. 
Luverne will play in Mountain Lake Sunday at 2 p.m.  before hosting the Hadley Buttermakers at Redbird Field Wednesday, May 25, at 7:30 p.m. 
 
Milroy        4 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 0   11
Luverne     0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0    2
 
                           AB    R     H    BI
D Lundgren        4       0     0     0
G Nath                5       0     1     0
S Wenninger      4       0     1     0
B Serie               4       0     1     0
N Johnson         3       1     0     0
C Wenninger      3       1     1     0
J Haugen           3       0     1     0
C Crabtree         2       0     1     0
K Meyer              1       0     0     0
E Beyer              3       0     2     2

The Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ golf team traveled to Mountain Lake Tuesday night, May 10, for the third of four total Red Rock Conference meets.
Senior Tess Van Maanen placed first overall for the second straight day with an 18-hole score of 86.
With this score, she maintains her first-place position overall in the conference after lowering her lowest two-round score total to 176.
Senior Danette Leenderts, the other golfer for the Lady Pates, shot a 126. Her current lowest two-round score sits at a 228, which places her 15th in the conference. 
The boys’ Red Rock Conference golfers played in Adrian.
Senior Austin Allen led the way again for the Patriots by shooting an 18-hole score of 89, which was his best score of the year so far.
This puts his lowest two-round score through three events at 180, currently in fifth place.
The next four Patriots were seniors Dallas Page (91), Ethan Kruger (93), Jacob Axness (99) and Daniel Martinyuk (100). 
As a team the Patriot boys maintain their third place spot with a score of 782.
Adrian/Ellsworth leads the way with a score of 730.
Coach Ellingson said he was very happy with how both the Patriot boys and girls golfed on Tuesday.
“As a team we shot our best round of the year,” he said.
“Austin was our first boy to break 90 this season. Tess continued to play well and was medalist again. She currently is in first place individually in the Red Rock Conference.”
With the final conference meet next Tuesday, he said his golfers are looking to continue their improved play.
The boys and girls both were scheduled to travel to Worthington Tuesday for the final day of conference play.

The Hills-Beaver Creek High School track and field teams traveled to Redwood Falls last week to compete in the section True Team Meet.
It was a meet that included all teams from Section 3A and awarded points to each individual and relay team from first place all the way down to last.
The points are totaled up at the end, and the winning team moves on to the State True Team meet. The H-BC girls and boys both placed seventh, with the girls scoring 363.5 points and the boys 328.5.
For the girls, seventh-grader Brynn Bakken took first place in the 100- and 200-meter dash. Her time in the 100 meter was 13.10 and her 200-meter time was 27.91.
The girls’ 4-by-200-meter relay run by Olivia Deelstra, Brynn Rauk, Layla Deelstra and Bakken finished third with a time of 1:53.81.
The 4-by-100-meter relay team of Rauk, O. Deelstra, Abbie Harris and L. Deelstra also placed third with a 53.95.
Senior Kenadie Fick placed fifth in the 1,600-meter run with a personal best time of 5:49.60.
The Patriot boys’ 4-by-200-meter relay team of Ty Bundesen, Luke Fuerstenberg, Eli Taubert and Cooper Gehrke was the top finisher for H-BC with a third-place effort at 1:39.19.
The 4-by-100-meter relay team that placed fourth (49.33) was made up of Bundesen, Fuerstenberg, Beau Bakken and Liam Raymon.
Raymon was also able to place fifth in the triple jump with 41-1 1/2.  Junior Brock Harnack turned in a fifth-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.40.
 
Girls’ results:
100 11. Layla Deelstra 13.87
200 8. Abbie Harris 29.17 
400 11. Abbie Harris 1:07.33  14. Olivia Deelstra 1:09.09
800 7. Kenadie Fick 2:42.12  20. Bailey Spykerboer 3:00.05
1600 18. Taylor Durst 6:54.21
100mH 9. Larissa Steinhoff 20.33  11. Ava Steinhoff 21.29
300mH 15. Larissa Steinhoff 59.74 18. Ava Steinhoff 1:01.54
4x400 7. Fick, Durst, Rauk, Spykerboer 4:41.26
4x800 8. Durst, E Deelstra, Spykerboer, Sammons 11:42.19
Shot Put 10. Ally Birger 30-1 1/2  13. Isabel Wysong 27-6 
Discus 10. Larisa Steinhoff 80-1  17. Isabel Wysong 60-10 
High Jump 10. Ava Steinhoff 4-6  17. Larissa Steinhoff 4-4
Long Jump 8. Brynn Rauk 14-7 1/4   9. Brynn Bakken 14-7 1/4
Triple Jump 11. Bailey Spykerboer 29-7  15. Olivia Deelstra 28-0 1/2
 
Boys’ results:
100 7. Ty Bundesen 11.98  10. Cooper Gehrke 12.23
200 7. Cooper Gehrke 24.88  14. Liam Raymon 25.57
400 8. Liam Raymon 55.58  11. Eli Taubert 56.81
800 14. Micah Bush 2:27.08  17. Bode Kruger 2:38.19
1600 13. Micah Bush 5:33.60  19. Bode Kruger 6:42.72
110mH 11. Brock Harnack 20.66  10. James VandenBosch 22.64
300mH 7. Brock Harnack 48.4  10. James VandenBosch 50.89
4x400 8. Taubert, Bakken, Fuerstenberg, Bush 3:57.07
4x800 9. Tatge, Bosch, Leenderts, Gacke 10:36.17
Shot Put 11. Brayden Metzger 39-0 1/2  12. Max Scholten 38-0
Discus 15. Max Scholten 96-10  19. Brayden Metger 86-9
High Jump 12. Eli Taubert 5-4  15. Jackson Gacke 4-10
Long Jump 15. Cooper Gehrke 16-4. 1/4  16. Brock Harnack 16-0 1/4
Triple Jump 12. Brock Harnack 35-2 1/2

Luverne High School – Week 4
Name             Round  1     2    Total
Hunter Ahrendt         24     25       49
Landon Ahrendt        19     21       40
Chris Aning                18     16       34
Cash Bonnett             17     22       39
Ayden Bonnett          22     20       42
Morgan Bonnett        13     13       26
Alex DeWispelaere   23     20       43
Trygve Gangestad    25     29       44
Jacob Henning          24     21       45
Samuel Honerman    15     19       34
Hans Hoven                17     17       34
Kayetlin Huiskes       14     17       31
Andrew Kinsinger     19     23       42
Linkon Knorr              21     17       38
Jacob Madison          23     21       44
Chase Matthiesen     23     18       41
Elijah McLendon       6       9         15
Liam Murphy              18     22       40
Chase Overgaard      23     23       46
Holden Overgaard    19     22       41
JT Remme                   23     22       45
Rayann Remme         6       7         13
Tucker Remme          18     16       34
Cheyenne Schultz    22     19       41
Grant Wienke             20     17       37
Piper Wynia                20     23       43
Team standings: Sixth out of eight teams in Section 2A Section 7.
Individual Standings (Top 25) Boys: Hunter Ahrendt 8th.
Girls: Cheyenne Schutz 8th, Piper Wynia 9th, Kayetlin Huiskes 18th, Morgan Bonnett 21st and Rayann Remme 24th.
 
H-BC High School — Week 4
Name             Round   1      2   Total
Cameron Allen             15     15       30
Olivia Bork                    14     18       32
Sawyer Bosch             17     18       35
Camdyn Broesder      21     14       35
Ty Bundesen                15     18       33
Robert Drake                18     20       38
Journey Dwire             22     20       42
Luke Fuerstenburg    19     25       44
Cooper Gehrke            23     21       44
Alex Harris                    21     21       42
Brooklynne Hubbard      6     12       18
Lukas Hubbard            17     18       35
Clayton Kellenberger     8     17       25
Weston Kellenberger   21     20       41
Casey Kueter               18     20       38
Blake Leenderts          17     20       37
Danette Leenderts      16     17       33
Hunter Leenderts        18     21       39
Daniel Martinyuk         17     18       35
Cody Moser                  16     14       30
Jack Moser                   16     20       36
Samantha Moser         17     18       35
Tara Paulsen                11     5         16
Cole Rozeboom          15     10       25
Max Scholten               18     18       36
Michael Ykema            12     8         20
John Tiesler                 24     20       44
Team standings: Third out of seven teams in Section 3A Section 1.
Individual Standings (Top 25) Boys: Cooper Gehrke 8th, John Tiesler 11th, Weston Kellenberger 17th, Luke Fuerstenberg 21st
Girls: Journey Dwire 1st, Danette Leenderts 8th, Samantha Moser tie 12th, Olivia Bork tie 12th and Tara Paulsen 15th.

The Luverne Cardinal baseball team split a very unique doubleheader in Jackson Thursday, May 12, before coasting to an easy victory over Adrian at home Monday.
LHS, 11-6 after Monday's game, was scheduled to host Worthington on Tuesday after this edition of the Star Herald went to press.
The Cardinals are then scheduled to play at Murray County Central in Slayton on Tuesday in their final regular season game.
“We look to have a strong finish to the regular season as we prepare for postseason play,” said Luverne head coach Phil Paquette. 
 
Luverne 5, JCC 3
Luverne set the offensive pace for the game early when the Cards scored all five of their runs in the first two innings of a 5-3 victory over the Jackson County Central Huskies in the first game of a doubleheader on the road Thursday.
The Cardinals set the offensive pace early when Casey Sehr and Connor Connell hit back-to-back solo home runs in the top of the first inning.
After JCC scored on a run in the bottom of the first, LHS scored three more in the second stanza when Carter Sehr, Braydon Ripka and Casey Sehr all had RBI hits that scored Zach DeBoer, Carter Sehr and Austin Ossefoort, who was courtesy running for Ripka.
The Huskies scored one more run in each of the third and sixth innings, but it would not be enough to overcome the five LHS runs.
Connell was the winning pitcher for Luverne. The righthander went 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits, striking out 11 and walking one. Casey Sehr pitched the final one-third inning.
 
LHS   2 3 0 0 0 0 0  5
JCC   1 0 1 0 0 1 0  3
 
                             AB  R  H  BI
B Ripka                  4   0   1   1
K Anderson           4   0   2   0
Casey Sehr            4   1   2   2
C Connell               4   1   1   1
C Overgaard          4   0   1   0
Z DeBoer                3   1   1   0
R Sneller                 4   0   0   0
Carter Sehr             3   1   2   1
N Cole-Kraty           3   0   1   0
A Ossefoort            0   1   0   0
 
JCC 18, Luverne 5
The second game of the Thursday night doubleheader in Jackson was a memorable one.
Due to a series of storms that rolled through the area, the game that began at 6:10 p.m. didn't end until nearly 11 p.m. as a result of two extended delays.
When the game did finally conclude, Jackson County Central defeated Luverne 18-5.
“I think anytime you have three delays in a baseball game, it’s tough to stay physically and mentally ready to play,” said Paquette. “Jackson did a great job of competing through those delays while we lost our focus and intensity as the night went on.”
Kaden Anderson pitched the first 1 2/3 innings for Luverne. He allowed two hits and four runs while striking out one and walking one. Casey Sehr pitched in relief and threw 2 2/3 innings. He gave up four hits, four runs and struck out seven JCC batters.
Jacob Stroh was on the mound next for 1 2/3 innings. He gave up six runs on three hits and struck out four and walked three. Zach DeBoer threw the final inning, giving up four hits and four runs.
The Cards had six errors during the game.
“Our pitching staff has proven themselves throughout the season,” Paquette said. “Right now, we need to tighten up on defense and support the job they are doing.
“At the plate we are having a lot of good at bats but look to improve our approach with runners in scoring position and two-strike hitting.”
Ripka and Patrick Kroski tallied two hits in the contest. Anderson had 2 RBIs.
 
JCC      0 4 0 1 3 6 4   18
LHS      3 0 0 1 1 0 0     5
 
                             AB  R  H  BI
B Ripka                  3   1   2   0
P Kroski                 2   0   2   0
K Anderson           5   1   1   2
Casey Sehr            4   1   0   0
C Connell               2   1   1   0
Z DeBoer                1   0   0   1
W Serie                   3   0   1   0
R Sneller                 4   0   1   0
J Stroh                    2   0   1   0
Carter Sehr             3   1   1   0
N Cole-Kraty           3   0   0   0
E Domagala            1   0.  0   0
 
Luverne 17, Adrian 0
After playing in a game that took nearly five hours of clock time to complete due to weather interruptions Thursday, the Cardinals didn’t take long to defeat the Adrian Dragons at Redbird Field Monday.
LHS scored 17 runs in the first four innings to cause the ten-run rule to be in place after Adrian didn't score in the top of the fifth inning. The Cardinals won 17-0.
Casey Sehr led the impressive offensive effort, going four-for-four and scoring four runs for LHS. His younger brother, Carter, was three-for-three, scoring one run and batting in two more.
Jacob Stroh and Riley Sneller both were two-for-two at the plate. Stroh scored three runs and had two RBIs. Sneller tallied six RBIs, three of which came from a bases-loaded double that nearly cleared the fence.
Zach DeBoer was the winning pitcher for Luverne. He was on the mound for three innings, giving up only two hits and striking out four Dragon batters.
Stroh and Ripka each pitched one inning in relief and gave up no hits. 
 
Adrian      0 0 0 0 0 x x   0
Luverne   2 7 3 5 x x x  17
 
                              AB   R   H   BI
B Ripka                   3    2    0    0
K Anderson            3    1    1    2
Casey Sehr             4    4    4    0
C Connell                2    2    0    0
C Overgaard           1    2    1    0
W Serie                   0    0    0    1
Carter Sehr             3    1    3    2
J Stroh                    2    3    2    2
R Sneller                 2    1    2    6
N Cole-Kraty           1    1    1    1
A Ossefoort            2    0    1    1
Z DeBoer                 2    0    0    0
A Halverson            1    0    1    2

Luverne High School boys’ and girls’ track teams took home conference titles at the little-school Big South Conference competition Saturday, May 14, in Windom.
The Cardinal girls won over second-place Jackson County Central 215.5 to 145. The LHS boys won over Redwood Valley 132 to 115.5.  
Seven schools constitute the little school portion of the conference (St. James, Blue Earth Area, Windom, Redwood Valley, Pipestone Area, Jackson County Central and Luverne).  
It was a beautiful day which provided for some top-notch performances.
To be an All-Conference selection, athletes need to finish in the Top 3 individually or be on a Top 2 finishing relay team. 
Coach Janiszeski explained how he chooses to stack the team for the conference meet just ahead of True Team and section meets, which are very important meets. “We want to always try and win the conference meet but also try not to overload our athletes in doing so,” he said.  
Jocelyn and Jadyn Hart finished first (35-07) and second (35-05) respectively in the shot put.  They traded spots in the discus with Jadyn first at 120-09 and Jocelyn second at 104-05.  
Mia Wenzel was first in the high jump at 5-0 and Elizabeth Wagner second at 4-10.  Mia also finished second in the 100-meter dash (13.65) and was on the first place 4-by-100-meter relay team with Anna Banck, Isabella Oye and Sarah Stegenga (53.12).
Wagner added a first in the 300 hurdles with a personal record (PR) time of 48.04.  
The 4-by-400-meter relay of Tiana Lais, Elizabeth Wagner, Sarah Stegenga and Tenley Nelson won in a time of 4:15.63.
Banck ran a personal best in the 200-meter dash (27.90), good for third place. Lais was second in the 400-meter-dash (63.30). 
Cassi Chesley was champion in the 800-meter run at 2:39.16.  Tenley Nelson was first in the 1,600-meter run (5:19.83) and Ella Schmuck finished third (5:53.70). 
Jenna DeBates took home first in the 3,200-meter-run in 11:28.97. 
The 4-by-200-meter relay of Makena Nelson, Oye, Banck and Stegenga finished second in 1:51.72.  The 4-by-800 relay with DeBates, Schmuck, Maria Rops and Chesley finished second  in 10:37.10.  
Alexis Hultgren finished third in the pole vault at 7-08.  Makena Nelson finished third in the triple jump at 31-02 1/4.
On the boys’ side, Ashton Sandbulte added his second school record, this time in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.25. He broke the previous record held by Dirk Thone at 22.43 in 2014.
Eli Radtke took home second in the same event in a time of 22.90. 
Sandbulte and Radtke teamed up with Lucky Dara and Zachary Terrio in the 4-by-100-meter relay and took home the championship running 44.61, just .19 hundredths off the school record time.  
Eli Radtke took his first jump at 11-8 and won the pole vault. He went straight for a personal best jump of 13-09. He just missed brushing the bar on his way down on his second attempt. 
Noah Mehlhaff was third in the pole vault with a (PR) jump of 11-02.  
Ryan Fick was first in the 800-meter-run with a (PR) of 2:07.20.  Camden Janiszeski won the 1,600-meter-run at 4:34.11.  Camden teamed up with Lucky Dara, Zachary Terrio and Sandbulte for a first place finish (3:38.48) in the 4-by-400-meter relay.  
Owen Janiszeski won the 3,200-meter run 10:04.94.  He was also on the third place 4-by-800-meter relay (9:30.10) with Sage Viessman, Leif Ingebretson and Kaleb Hemme. 
Jordan Friedrichsen won the shot put 45-02 1/2 and took home third in the discus (113-10).  Gavin DeBeer was third in the high jump (5-10).  
Both teams have one more meet in Worthington prior to getting on the track at Stillwater May 21 for the state True Team meet. 
Other Cardinal results are as follows:
 
LHS girls
100  9. Hailey Como 11:17 14. Reinha John 15.04 
200  4. Isabella Oye 28.18 8. Hailey Como 28.73
400  7. Maria Rops 68.40  8. Reinha John 68.89
800  5. Kayla Bloemendaal 2:48.95  15. Josie Anderson 3:14.40
1,600  11. Kayla Bloemendaal 6:12.09
3,200  6. Grace Ingebretson 13:34.04
100H  4. Roselynn Hartshorn 19.47  7. Kendra Thorson 19.93 11. Augusta Papik 21.44
300H  6. Augusta Papik 54.75  8. Roselynn Hartshorn 56.91
Long jump  4. Makena Nelson 14-06 3/4  6. Kendra Thorson 14-05 1/2  10. Alexis Hultgren 13-02 ½
Triple jump  5. Kendra Thorson 30-03 1/2  12. Abby Boltjes 25-07
Shot put  8. Hannah Sneller 27-05 ½
Pole vault  7. Corynn Oye 6-08
 
LHS boys
100  10. Zachary Terrio 12.71  11. Noah Mehlhaff 12.85  Ashton Hood 12.87
200  6. Lucky Dara 24.02
400  9. Ashton Hood 58.96  12. Coulter Thone 60.62  Uriel Hernandez 67.57
800  11. Nathan Kinsinger 2:40.03  13. Eli McLendon 2:42.98  
1,600  6. Ryan Fick 4:47.35  13. Sage Viessman 5:19.69
3,200  11. Leif Ingebretson 11:42.18  13. Kaleb Hemme 11:45.39  
110H  7. Isaac DeBates 19.52  10. Micah Andersen 20.35
300H  9. Micah Andersen 49:13  10. Isaac DeBates 49.46 11. Darius Dolo 49:88
4x200  7. Ashton Hood, Tyler Rolfs, Noah Mehlhaff, Gavin DeBeer 1:43.40 
High jump  8. Isaac DeBates 5-02  
Long jump  11. Anyuon Atem 17-00  14. Darius Dolo 14-11 ½
Triple jump  7. Gavin DeBeer 37-04 3/4   9. Anyuon Atem 35-08  17. Darius Dolo 31-08
Shot put  7. Elijah Woodley 39-11  11. Keaton Ahrendt 36-00
Discus  9. Keaton Ahrendt 99-03  12. Elijah Woodley 97-02
Pole vault  6. Tyler Rolfs 9-02

It could actually be an unpaid Minnesota holiday if you didn’t know better. There are lots of days on the calendar that Minnesotans look forward to, but they don’t hold a candle to the Minnesota Fishing Opener.
As the time wound down ahead of the big day, anglers in garages everywhere got ready to holler “Start your engines,” like a NASCAR race.
I really used to be one of those die-hard anglers who would do things I won’t even consider today. I was on the water at midnight in both Minnesota and Iowa for one of the many walleye fishing tournaments held over opening weekend.
I even finished third in the Great Walleye Weekend on Big Spirit Lake in Iowa about a lifetime ago.
I once unloaded my boat on the border waters of Big Stone Lake after we shoveled about five inches of snow out of it.
I still like to fish and purchased a new kicker motor for my old Alumacraft Trophy 17 this spring.  It was the only 9.9 horsepower motor made by Yamaha that I could find in about five states.
One of my favorite fishing opener pastimes, assuming the weather is good, is to sit on a lawn chair at a busy boat landing and watch the circus unfold.
I have seen just about every folly and mistake you can imagine.
There is the new rule in Minnesota that you cannot trailer your boat with the boat’s drain plug in it. This is to ensure you are not transporting water from one lake to another — to slow the spread of invasive aquatic species of both animals and vegetation in live wells, boat hulls, etc.
Forgetting to put the plug back in before launching into the lake is a common mistake, and now it’s very common. Sooner or later you will see the boat heading to shore to bail out the boat or wait until the bilge pump catches up.
I have seen boat trailers with their wheels half down on the dock.
Others will forget to remove the rear trailer tie-downs, and the wind will blow their boat parallel to shore. There is no way to pull it out now without a good cold water wading seminar.
Probably the best one I can remember was an older guy landing his small fishing boat, and it took him 10 minutes to crank the boat up onto the trailer in 15-second increments of physical exertion. After the line of other boaters got impatient, he got in the truck and slowly drove out of the ramp, unaware that his boat winch was not secure.
As he drove off slowly, boat — in slow motion — gently slid off the trailer onto the ground. When the winch ran out of rope, the boat dragged behind the truck on the ground with the motor leaving a plow furrow about four inches deep. Lots of folks were hollering to help him, but he paid no mind and drove out of the ramp and unto the street about 100 yards away. The boat cut the corner and missed a parked car by only a few inches.
He stopped to transfer his gear in the truck, and when he came to realize what had happened, the first thing he did was to look around to see if anyone had seen him.
Without flinching, he just started cranking on the hand winch, declining lots of offers to assist. About four rest breaks later, he had the boat on the trailer and was on his way.
I had another incident in a Canadian shield lake where a member of our party unloaded their boat in a river flowage and the motor would not start. My friend, the owner’s son, asked him what was up, and the dad responded that it ran good last year when he put it away.
They drifted five miles before the other boat returned from a supplies trip to a distant cabin to tow them to home base. The engine never did run on that weeklong trip.
Enjoy your time angling on the lakes this summer, or grab a lawn chair at a busy boat ramp.
You might capture a video that goes viral if some unfortunate soul really steps up their unpreparedness game.
 
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.