Sports Memories by Tom Jones

 

50 years ago: 1969

• The Lea College wrestling team set a new team record with the most wins in a season during its three year existence when it finished 11-7-1. John Lucia was 25-0 and Mike Hemmerich 24-1 to lead the Lancers.

• Kiester senior forward Wayne Steven led the Border League in scoring with a 23.7 points per game average. He totaled 284 points on the season.

• The Albert Lea Tribune won first place for a sports photo taken by sports editor Howard Lestrud in the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper contest. The photo showed Gophers football coach Murray Warmath in an argumentative pose with an official during a Gophers game against Nebraska.

 

25 years ago: 1994

• The Albert Lea Mighty Mites hockey team captured the championship in the Luverne Blazing Blades tournament. The team defeated Sioux Falls 7-0, Luverne 7-0, St. Peter 8-0 and Worthington 5-3 to win the title.

• The Glenville-Emmons girls’ basketball team’s combined 3.8 grade point average earned it the Section 2A academic championship and placed it second in the state in the Class A division. Heather Erickson, Jamie Kleven and Shannon Prantner were named Academic All-State.

• After being 8-4 as a starting quarterback and throwing for 1,968 yards with nine touchdown passes, the Minnesota Vikings released Jim McMahon after one season.

 

10 years ago: 2009

• The Southwest Middle School seventh-grade A girls’ basketball team completed its season with a perfect 14-0 record. The team outscored its opponents 602-203 and was coached by Tom Jones and Paul Woodside.

• The Albert Lea U12B girls’ hockey team won the District 4 tournament by defeating Marshall 7-1, New Ulm 3-2 and Owatonna 4-3 in the championship game. The team finished the season 29-6-1.

• In the Section 2AA championship of girls’ basketball Blue Earth defeated NRHEG, 43-38. Alyssa Kerkhoff had 11 points with Kelsey Christenson adding 10 for the Panthers.

 

This year

• As a member of the Albert Lea High School Athletic Hall of Fame committee, I was saddened to learn of the passing of a second member of the 2018 class that was here in town this past July. After losing Ed Stalker in October, we lost Nora (Turner) Weismiller this past week. She graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1979 where she participated in basketball, volleyball and track. She lettered four years on the varsity basketball team, was captain her junior and senior year and was named to the All-Conference team her junior year. She lettered twice in volleyball and was an All-Conference selection as well as captain her senior year. She also lettered three years in track. Her junior year she was Big Nine, sub-region and region high jump champion and participated in the state meet. She is second all-time in the high jump at Albert Lea with a mark of 5 feet, 5 inches. A knee injury in the first basketball game of her senior year ended her Tigers career.