Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Sports Memories by Tom Jones

10 years

• NRHEG senior T. J. Schiltz took first place at the 36th annual Fountain Lake Five run. A day earlier Schiltz had won the 3200-meter run for the Panthers in a meet held in Blue Earth. Albert Lea sophomore Herbie Lien took first place in the eighth-annual Tiger Trot that was held at the same time.
• The Albert Lea Grizzlies opened their season with a 14-6 win over the Buffalo Ridge Wildcats of Lake Benton. Marquis Shaw scored the first touchdown on a pass from Tony Tolbers. Lamar Sayles added the second score on a five-yard run.
• NRHEG senior Carlie Wagner was named Miss Basketball for Minnesota at the Minnesota Girls’ Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game that was held at Carleton College in Northfield. Wagner averaged 37.1 points per game her senior year and was also named the Associate Press Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.

20 years

• The Albert Lea boys’ track and field team took third place in a meet held at Faribault. Mike Veldman was the lone first place finisher for the Tigers with a toss of 52’6” in the shot put.
• The Albert Lea girls’ golf team fell 197-202 to Fairmont at the Rose Lake Golf Club in Fairmont. Kaeli Wayne led the Tigers with a 48 with Kelli Hanson and Alli Hasnon shooting a 50.
• The Glenville-Emmons boys’ golf team defeated Houston 171-184 at the Northwood Country Club. Kelsey Martinson led the Wolverines with a 39. The girls team also defeated Houston 262-289. Brianna Sanderson took the medalist honors with a 62.
• The Albert Lea girls track and field team took second place at a home triangular held at Hammer Stadium. Cara Thorn, Stacie Armstrong, Elyce Rehmke and Emily Bartusek captured first place in the 4×400 relay.

50 years

• Coach Ed Stalker’s Albert Lea Tigers baseball team went to 4-4 on the year with a 4-0 win over Mariner High School of White Bear Lake. Jon Larson gave up three hits in recording the shut out.
• Larry Miller, a co-captain on the 1973-74 Albert Lea High School wrestling team, was selected to be a member of the Minnesota AAU Cultural Exchange wrestling team that was scheduled to head to Europe where they were set to compete in Finland, Sweden, Norway and possibly Russia.
• Jerry Berg, a 1971 graduate of Emmons High School, was named co-captain for the upcoming season of collegiate basketball at St. John’s University.
  The Albert Lea Tigers track team defeated Minneapolis Southwest 109-48 at Hammer Stadium. Senior Jim Hockinson won the pole vault event with a vault of 12’7”.
• Albert Lea’s Paul Nies hit the first pitch of the game for a home run as the Albert Lea High School b-squad baseball team defeated Red Wing 7-4 at Hayek Field. With the win, the Bengals were 4-3 on the year.
• Minnesota Vikings wide receiver John Gilliam signed a contract with the Honolulu Hawaiians of the World Football League. He was reportedly receiving a $100,000 signing bonus plus a three-year guaranteed contract that would pay him over $100,000 a year.
• The Club 16 women’s volleyball team captured first place in the Albert Lea B League. Team members included Alice Kellen, Lori Schultz, Paula Stegenga, Kathy Peterson, Diana Nelson, Barb Kirsch, Kathy Pirsig and Debby Riemann.

Former Laker shines

Ben Madison, who played briefly with the Albert Lea Lakers baseball team in 2018 before he was drafted in the ninth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft continues to sparkle for Minor League Baseball’s High-A Eugene Emeralds in the Northwest League. The right hander is 2-0 and has struck out 26 batters in 13 innings this season and holds a 20-6 lifetime record in the minors.