50 years ago — 1961

In the first game of the best of three championship of the church softball league play-offs, Hartland defeated Grace Lutheran 13-1. Murph Berg led the Hartland offense with two home runs.

Duane Harves won the Albert Lea City Golf Tournament with a total of 119 strokes for 27 holes. George Dress came in second with a score of 121.

In a Southern Minnesota League baseball game, the Albert Lea Packers defeated Austin 15-7. Herb Banton picked up the win for Albert Lea.

25 years ago — 1986

Jon Christian, of Albert Lea, won the Albert Lea City Golf Championship with a tournament record 100 strokes for 27 holes. Flight winners were: first flight, Ells Bennett; second flight, Doug Christopherson; third flight, Jack Hogan; fourth flight, Manny Cortinas; fifth flight, Ray Scherf; sixth flight, Chuck Lee; seventh flight, Terry Adams; eighth flight, Bob Hallman.

After 11 straight losses the Albert Lea High School football team defeated Mankato East 14-0. Greg Deyak scored both of the Tigers touchdowns. Eric Palmer gained 64 yards in 14 carries and Tom Krebsbach gained 36 yards in eight carries for the Tiger offense

Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek and Gary Gaetti each homered for the Minnesota Twins in their 5-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. Puckett had three hits to raise his batting average to .349.

10 years ago — 2001

•Emily Bartusek, of Albert Lea, won the 400-meter race, placed second in the 200-meter dash, third in the 100 meter dash and the triple jump in the 15 to 16 age bracket at the State Games of America held at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo. There were approximately 6,000 total participants in different age brackets.

• Corey Dieser, of Albert Lea, was a member of the Minnesota Magic basketball team that won the 12-and-under AAU state title and qualified for the 2001 National AAU Basketball Tournament.

The Minnesota Vikings raised their preseason record to 2-0 with a 24-20 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper completed 14-of-24 passes for 178 yards for the Vikings.

Chuck Anderson’s column appears each Sunday in the Tribune.