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Sports Memories by Tom Jones

10 years

• The Albert Lea U12 traveling girls’ softball team captured their league title with a record of 24-2. The team was coached by Ray and Jered Talamantes.
• Albert Lea’s Ashley Holl was off to play volleyball at Waldorf College in Forest City where she was recruited to be a defensive specialist for the Warriors.
• At the Wedgewood Cove Golf Club’s Women’s City Tournament, Vonda Rocklin was net score winner; Jane Hansen, gross score winner; Jenny Heinrich, gross score second place; and Holly Herr, net score second place.
• The Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers 20-6 at Target Field. Eduardo Escobar went 5-for-6 with two rbis to lead the Twins.

20 years

• The Albert Lea Colonels adult amateur baseball team saw their season come to an end as they were defeated by Faribault 4-3 in a Southern Minny League playoff game. Jay Link and Zac Oquist went 2-for-4 for the Colonels, who saw their season end with a 5-17 record.
• The Albert Lea Union Center 12-and-under baseball team ended their season with a 35-5 record. The team was coached by Jack Rovang and assisted by Jack Kortan, Dave Klatt, Chuck Cooper and Jon Hansen.
• The Albert Lea Quarterback Club was hosting a football preview night at Hammer Field, where they were serving brats, chips and beverages while the players went through different defensive formations and ran plays.
• Chris Baas captured his fifth City Open Golf Championship with a 45-hole total of 180 that was played at the Green Lea Golf Course. Val Nicolaus captured the women’s championship.

50 years

• Mark Knutson finished 53rd out of a field of 60 at the sixth annual Insurance Youth Golf Classic held in Cranston, Rhode Island. On his second day of play, he shot a 79 while playing with Larry Ziegler.
• In the 9- to 11-year-old bracket of play at the Albert Lea Country Club Family Golf Weekend, Jon Ulman took first, John Quinlivan second and Bob Pitts third.
• Larry Baldwin, Gary Tavis, Jeff Elseth and Steve Hogan and their team “The Choppers” took first place in Green Lea Golf’s Junior League.
• Minnesota Vikings President Max Winter announced that the team had named Mike Lynn as the assistant to the president of the team.
• Dale Root, a new faculty member at Albert Lea High School was headed to pitch in Grand Forks North Dakota with the Minnesota Circle A fast pitch softball team to play in the Midwest Regional Tournament. He had a 40-6 record on the season.
• The Minnesota Vikings held O.J. Simpson to 18-yards on seven carries as they defeated the Buffalo Bills 32-13 in an exhibition game played at Metropolitan Stadium. Bob Berry threw for two touchdowns and 228-yards in the win.
• The ABC Television network announced that Keith Jackson was replacing Chris Schenkel on its college football television broadcasts. College Student Jim Lampley was also hired as a feature reporter.
• The Albert Lea Tennis Association was having a tournament at the Brookside, Morin and Southwest courts. In a match being played at Southwest, Bill Buege and Wayne Dougherty were facing Jim Broberg and Dennis Bergstrom.

Alumni update

Ashlyn Berven, a recent graduate of Albert Lea High School, is a member of the NIACC women’s golf team in Mason City. They open play on Sept. 9 at the Iowa Central Fall Invitational in Fort Dodge, Iowa.