50 years ago: 1969

• Albert Lea and Rochester Mayo tied for the Big Nine Conference track and field title in a meet held at Rochester. It was the third title for the Tigers with their previous two coming in 1960 and 1945. Clay Cameron won the two-mile run with a time of 10:16.50.

• Manager Billy Martin blasted Twins officials Sherry Robertson and George Brophy after current St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Charley Walters was sent to the Twins Class AA affiliate in Charlotte instead of their Class AAA team in Denver. Robertson said he doesn’t tell Martin how to manage the team and didn’t need him telling him how to manage the farm department.

• Albert Lea High School baseball coach Don Buhr submitted his teaching resignation to the school board after coaching the team for three years. He was also the basketball coach from 1959-1965 and coached the Tigers in golf. His 1968 team won the first Big Nine baseball title in school history. He was relocating to Webster City, Iowa, to work for Life Investors Management Co.

25 years ago: 1994

• Albert Lea High School graduate Leah Mattson earned five All-American certificates while competing as a junior on the St. Olaf College girls’ swimming team. Mattson helped her team capture their eighth straight MIAC Championship.

• Coach John Cliff’s Albert Lea girls’ golf team finished off the regular season unbeaten as they shot a 350 in defeating Mankato East and Winona at Terrace View Golf Course in Mankato.

• In his 30th year of coaching, Kent Viesselman’s United South Central boys’ track and field team took second at the true team meet held in Blaine, two days after winning the Gopher Conference meet. Dan Linder took first in the high jump and triple jump, and Dan Leland captured first in the 110-meter hurdles.

10 years ago: 2009

• The fifth annual Land Between The Lakes Triathlon was held in Albert Lea with 128 people participating. Jennifer Chalmers of Albert Lea was the top area participant, finishing fifth

• Tyler Woodside pitched seven innings, giving up four hits and two runs in the Glenville-Emmons Wolverines 9-2 victory over Hope Lutheran to close out the regular reason.

• The Albert Lea girls’ golf team captured the Big Nine crown for the first time since 1995, leading coach Shawn Riebe to jump in the pond at the Austin Country Club.

This year

• Jake Thompson of Albert Lea is returning to play baseball for the Lakeshore Chinooks of the Northwoods League for his second season. Thompson was redshirted this spring at the University of Kentucky after an injury in the fall of 2018. He played in 19 games last summer for the Chinooks, hitting .231.