In this, the third and final look back at area sports in 2002, we find a local soccer squad winning a state championship, a hall of fame bowler in town, and some of the fiercest competition in years on local golf courses.

And that’s just in August and September.

In September, the United South Central football team served notice it was the Rebels’ year, though their season would come to a disappointing end in October.

The Albert Lea High School girls’ tennis team had the most surprising success, reaching the final four of Section 2AA.

Another surprise squad was the ALHS bowling team which, after a fifth-place finish in the regular season, advanced to state by winning the South Central Conference tournament. The Tigers continued to surprise at state, bringing home third place.

The winter sports season offered up plenty of intensity, promising an exciting second half of the season for a number of local and area teams.

The highlights for the final months of 2002:

– Aug. 4 &045; The Albert Lea Elks U-16 girls’ soccer team won the Classic 3 state championship with a 5-0 victory over Maple Brooke at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

– Aug. 5 &045; The 2nd Annual Albert Lea Pro-Am Golf Tournament benefiting local students was held at Albert Lea Golf Club.

– Aug. 11 &045; Steve Wright defeated Mick Hockinson in a sudden-death playoff to win the Albert Lea City Open Golf Tournament. Virginia Hanson won the women’s division.

– Sept. 1 &045; Hall of Fame bowler Dick Weber was in town as part of a regional Pro Bowlers Association at Holiday Lanes.

– Sept. 2 &045; Chris Baas held off a charging Scott Goergen 1-up to win the 74th Annual Shortstop Tournament at Albert Lea Golf Club. It was the second Shortstop title in a row and third in the last four years for Baas.

– Sept. 3 &045; Amy Ravenhorst scored four goals in a 4-2 victory over Rochester John Marshall for the ALHS girls’ soccer team.

– Sept. 12 &045; The NRHEG volleyball team improved its record to 3-0 with a 3-0 shutout of Medford.

– Sept. 17 &045; The ALHS girls’ tennis team continued its surprising success with a 4-3 victory over Mankato East.

– Sept. 20 &045; The United South Central football team rallied from a 21-0 halftime deficit and defeated Blooming Prairie 28-21 in a battle for first place in the Gopher-Valley Conference.

– Sept. 21 &045; The Glenville-Emmons volleyball team won the WEM Invitational.

– Sept. 27 &045; The USC football team remained unbeaten with a 27-6 homecoming triumph over defending conference champion WEM.

– Oct. 1 &045; Riverland Community College golfers Jeff Clark finished in the top 10 of the Region XIII golf tournament, qualifying for nationals.

– Oct. 5 &045; The United South Central girls’ cross country team finished first in the prestigious Duluth Swain Invitational. Jamie Klein’s fifth-place finish led the Rebels.

– Oct. 5 &045; The NRHEG volleyball team won the Blue Earth Area Invitational.

– Oct. 7 &045; The ALHS girls’ tennis team defeated Mankato West 5-2 to advance to the final four in the Section 2AA tournament.

– Oct. 10 &045; The United South Central girls’ tennis team advanced to state with its fourth straight Section 2A championship.

– Oct. 11 &045; The United South Central football team clinched the Gopher-Valley Conference football title with a 36-6 victory over Minnesota Valley Lutheran.

– Oct. 17 &045; The NRHEG volleyball team finished the regular season with a 3-0 win at Randolph, improving its record to 21-3.

– Oct. 18 &045; The Northwood-Kensett football team stunned No. 2 rated West Bend-Mallard 38-14 at Northwood.

– Oct. 24 &045; The United South Central girls’ tennis team’s season ended with a 5-2 loss to Foley in the consolation final of the state tournament.

– Oct. 24 &045; The United South Central boys’ and United South Central/Alden-Conger girls’ cross country teams advanced to the state meet. Kent Viesselman was voted Section 2A Coach of the Year for both boys and girls.

– Oct. 25 &045; The Lake Mills football team won its first game of the season, 15-14 over North Iowa.

– Oct. 26 &045; The top-seeded United South Central football team was upset 14-13 by Windom Area in a Section 3AA semifinal game.

– Nov. 2 &045; Led by freshman Becca Bryson’s all-state 15th-place finish, the United South Central/Alden-Conger girls’ cross country team took third in the Class A state meet. The USC boys were 14th.

– Nov. 8 &045; Samantha Cole advanced to state in two events for the ALHS girls’ swimming and diving team. She joined Chelsea Cole, Brooke Kaasa and Lonna Vanderploeg to set a school record in the 400-yard freestyle relay while placing fifth in the section meet, narrowly missing state.

– Nov. 16 &045; The ALHS bowling team, fifth in the regular season, captured a state tournament berth by winning the South Central Conference tournament.

– Nov. 17 &045; Alisa Rayman of Glenville-Emmons was named the Tribune’s Volleyball Player of the Year. Her father, Craig, was named Coach of the Year.

– Nov. 23 &045; The ALHS girls’ hockey team extended its winning streak to five with a 3-0 shutout of Winona.

– Dec. 1 &045; Albert Lea’s Jason Kuipers was announced as the Tribune’s 2002 Football Player of the Year. The Coach of the Year was Dave Capitani of Northwood-Kensett.

– Dec. 3 &045; Ben Woodside scored 35 points as the ALHS boys’ basketball team beat Owatonna 56-48 in the season opener.

– Dec. 3 &045; The ALHS boys’ hockey team knocked off preseason Big Nine favorite Owatonna 3-2 in overtime. Josh Tubbs scored two goals and assisted on another.

– Dec. 17 &045; The ALHS girls’ basketball team ended an 0-6 start to the season with a 48-30 victory over New Ulm.

– Dec. 19 &045; Laura Hillman scored five goals in a 7-3 ALHS girls’ hockey victory over Rochester Mayo.

– Dec. 21 &045; The ALHS boys’ basketball team, playing without top scorer Ben Woodside, defeated LaCrescent 47-45 at Target Center in Minneapolis.

– Dec. 28 &045; The ALHS boys’ basketball team won the championship in the inaugural Tiger Classic, with Ben Woodside named tournament MVP. The ALHS girls placed third.