As I grow older by the day, I can’t recall doing any one thing that I’ve enjoyed 100 times during my adult life.Sure, there are the mundane chores like washing dishes, mowing lawn and taking out the garbage that all adults endure a countless number of times.Those tasks, however, are not exactly mentally or physically stimulating.I have taken up the sport of golf in the last decade, but I seriously doubt that I’ve hit 100 good shots in that time span.So when an e-mail landed on my desk last week about a local skater competing in her 100th event during the Frosty Blades Competition in Blaine Feb. 10-12, it caught my attention.It’s true.Luverne’s Gretchen Schneekloth, a 13-year-old Luverne Middle School seventh-grader, is scheduled to compete in seven events during the attraction in Blaine.It will be the second event of the weekend, the dramatic spotlight competition, in which Schneekloth will reach the 100-event milestone for her career. She will be the first Blue Mound Figure Skating Club member to accomplish that task.Schneekloth was introduced to skating when she attended the club’s annual spring ice show with her family at the age of 4."She thought it looked fun, so we put her in the program the next year," said Marion Schneekloth, Gretchen’s mother."She really liked it a lot, and she still does. Like anything else, once you start competing, it gets in your blood."After being limited to two or three events as an Alpha skater, Schneekloth, who has been competing the last seven years, has scaled the ranks to the Freestyle 4 level. As she’s matured as a skater, she was able to compete in more events at the three or four shows the BMFSC attends on a yearly basis.Along with developing a passion for the sport, Schneekloth is pretty good at it.She has placed (finishing fifth or better) in 90 percent of the events she has skated in and has placed third or better in 75 events. Schneekloth has won 25 event titles in her career.Considering her young age and the fact that Gretchen can be a member of the local program for five more years, Schneekloth will end her career as the most seasoned skater in the history of the club.Still, when she reaches the 100th event mark in Blaine the weekend after next, it will be an accomplishment Schneekloth can take pride in and treasure the rest of her life.Congratulations, Gretchen!Your dedication to skating will serve as a source of inspiration for me. If I keeping swinging my golf clubs, I could reach the 100-decent-shot mark in the next two or three years.CountyConnectionsRock County coaches were in the limelight at the Minnesota State High School Track and Field Association’s Annual Awards Banquet at Park Center High School in Brooklyn Park Saturday.Not only did Luverne High School’s Craig Nelson receive the MSHSTFCA’s Class A Boys’ Coach of the Year Award, the late Hugo Goehle, a long-time coach at Hills-Beaver Creek, was inducted into the MSHSTFCA’s Hall of Fame.Tom Goehle, the current H-BC-Ellsworth track and cross country coach, accepted the award for his father, who passed away Nov. 12, 1997.Tom Goehle also did a one-hour presentation on the 800-meter run during the clinic portion of the event, and LHS assistant Gordie Hansen did a one-hour presentation on throwing events.
