Sports Memories by Tom Jones

 

50 years ago: 1969

• The Lea College football team opened its season with a 20-6 victory over Wartburg. Gary Murphy, Don Meyers and Leotis Swoopes had touchdowns for the Lancers.

• The Albert Lea Tigers football team, ranked No. 2 in the state by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, posted a 29-0 win over Winona at Hammer Field. Rod Tovar had two touchdowns for the Tigers, with Mike Pappas and John Weitzel each adding one.

• The Albert Lea cross country team, coached by Jerry Kaphers, swept its meet with Austin and Faribault. Clay Cameron finished first in the meet with a time of 10:11, followed by teammate Tom Halverson, who crossed second with a time of 10:19.

 

25 years ago: 1994

• The Albert Lea Tigers football team ended an 18-year drought with a 17-15 victory over Owatonna. Adam Conn’s 61-yard touchdown along with a five-yard pass from Steve Nolander to Will Bryant were the two touchdowns for Albert Lea. Mike Westland’s 33-yard field goal in the second half provided the winning margin.

• The Albert Lea girls’ soccer team recorded its first victory in the team’s existence with a 2-1 overtime win over Northfield in the first round of the Winona invitational. Aly Haun scored both goals for the Tigers, including the game-winner in overtime on a corner kick with the assist going to Kari Larson.

 

10 years ago: 2009

• Chrissy Monson, a ninth grader on the Albert Lea girls’ cross country team, set a course record at the Mayo invitational with a time of 15:18.59, shattering the previous best time by 10 seconds. As a team, the Tigers finished in 13th place.

• The Albert Lea girls’ soccer team defeated Austin 8-0 to improve to 4-2 on the year. Ariel Christensen scored three times for the Tigers with Sydney Overgaard, Brooke Possehl and Katie Williamson each adding their first varsity goals.

• The Alden-Conger football team recorded its second shutout of the season with a 29-0 victory over Truman in Alden. Brandon McTague carried the ball 16 times for 85 yards and caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Lucas Kleinschrodt to lead the Knights.

• Negotiations on a Target Center lease hit a snag, which endangered the effort to keep the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minnesota. Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission chairman Henry Savelkoul said he was no longer confident the effort to sell the team would be made by the Oct. 5 deadline the NBA had set to approve the Wolves sale.

 

This year

• Congratulations to 2016 Albert Lea High School graduate Jake Thompson, who recently was honored with the Kapco Metal Stamping silver slugger award for the Lakeshore Chinooks in the Northwoods League. He batted .355 on the season with 44 RBIs in 50 games. Both totals were fourth-best in Chinooks team history. He is a junior at Oklahoma State this fall and is the son of Stan and Carol Thompson of Albert Lea.