By Jolene FarleyThe communities of Hills and Beaver Creek will honor those who died in our nation’s service during separate Memorial Day programs Monday, May 31. In Hills, Memorial Day services begin at 9 a.m. in the American Legion hall. Father Eagan, retired United States Army, will give the invocation. Hills American Legion Commander Scott is Master of Ceremonies. Guest speaker Dennis Strassburg, Magnolia, will talk about fallen heroes and the World War II Monument in Washington, D.C. Strassburg was an U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret during the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1971.He will read a poem a Kenneth boy wrote about his grandfather who served in World War II and another poem entitled "I’ve Got Your Back, I’m a Soldier." The Hills-Beaver Creek band is playing and the choir is singing for the event.After a memorial service at Bethlehem Cemetery, refreshments will be served at the Hills Legion hall. After a 9:15 a.m. social hour, Memorial Day services in Beaver Creek begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Beaver Lodge on the golf course.Alan Harnack, a Vietnam veteran from Beaver Creek, is the speaker. Details about Harnack’s speech were unavailable at press time. Beaver Creek Mayor AlGean Blank is the Master of Ceremonies and Carolyn DeBoer will read the invocation and benediction.Organizer Kitty Helgeson and the Boy Scouts will host a flag folding ceremony.Keith Elbers will sing patriotic songs and the Hill-Beaver Creek band will play. A remembrance service follows in the Beaver Creek Cemetery.

By Jolene FarleyThe Hills-Beaver Creek School Board passed budget cuts and fee increases at a Monday meeting taking a $112,750 bite out of the projected $150,000 budget shortfall for the 2004-05 school year."Our goal — my goal — is to try to balance the budget as simply and painlessly as we can, but there is always pain in cuts," Superintendent Dave Deragisch said.Board member Lloyd DeBoer thanked the finance committee for their work, reminding everyone that budget decisions are "always tough."The only difference to the proposed cut list shown to the board at a Monday, April 26, meeting was a cut to $10,000 from $15,000 for a reduction in office personnel. In their vote, the board combined short-term and long-term cuts and didn’t designate them either way.But in a handout from Deragisch, $80,850 of the cuts were designated permanent and $31,900 were designated temporary.Deragisch advised the board to address the cuts and fee increases during Monday’s meeting and a possible referendum levy could be discussed at a later meeting.He passed out an analysis of tax impact of a referendum levy for the board to study before further discussion.Cuts and fee increases passed by the board:
Decrease requisitions by $15,000 by delaying the purchase of new science textbooks,
Decrease office supplies use by $1,500.
Reduce the staff development budget by 67 percent or $8,400.
Reduce school board staff development (travel and education) by $2,000.
Reduce the computer budget by $5,000.
Reduce the substitute teacher budget by $1,000.
Raise lunch prices by 10 cents to add $4,500 in revenue.
Reduce the Learning Readiness budget by $3,000.
Raise driver’s education fees from $150 per student to $180 and increase revenues by $600.
Eliminate the high school early morning coverage. Deragisch or Dean of Students Steve Wiertzema will cover to save $1,500.oReduce office personnel to save $10,000.
Reduce a teacher position to save $20,000.
Eliminate extended computer coordinator contract for a savings of $2,250
Raise athletic fees from $20 to $30 per activity with a $100 maximum per family to increase revenues by $1,500.
Raise Community Education fees to increase revenues by $2,000.
Increase facility use fees by 25 percent to raise $1,500.
Attrition (retirements) will decrease expenses by $30,000.
Reducing bus use (including using smaller vehicles, possible coach drivers, charging more for Little Patriot and Learning Readiness busing) will reduce expenses by $3,000.Mental Health School Social WorkerOver the last year, the Hills-Beaver Creek and Luverne school districts and Rock County Family Services have discussed implementing a mental health school social worker to serve both school districts and work collaboratively with children’s mental health services provided by Rock County.The board voted to serve as the employer of record for the position. Wages will be paid for by State Special Education funds (68 percent of salary) and County Children’s Mental Health funds. The board agreed to provide phone service, computer, fax, office space, etc. for the employee. The Rock County Board will advance about $20,000 a year to the district to cover a two year delay in special education reimbursement payments from the state. In personnel …Angie Blasmo was rehired at $23,205 as the Little Patriot, Early Childhood Family Education and School Readiness teacher, a .7 position. Jason Blasmo was hired as half-time fifth-grade teacher and half-time high school industrial arts teacher at $33,150. Deragisch read a letter of resignation from band director Brent Steinert, who is pursuing graduate studies in a different state.The .5 art position currently filled by retiring Gregg Ebert and a .75 high school special education position still need to be filled.

By John RittenhouseHills-Beaver Creek High School junior Zach Wysong helped the Luverne High School baseball team complete Southwest Conference play with a winning 7-5 record Thursday.Luverne ended conference play by nipping Worthington 6-5 in eight innings in Luverne.Wysong emerged as the leading hitter and winning pitcher during Thursday’s Southwest Conference finale against Worthington in Luverne.The Cardinals rallied from two late deficits to beat the Trojans 6-5 and finish league play with a 7-5 record.Wysong went 3-4 at the plate and scored one run during the contest.With Luverne trailing 5-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth, Wysong ignited a three-run rally by singling and scoring the first run of the inning.He was called on to make a relief pitching appearance in the top of the eighth, after Worthington scored two runs to take a 5-3 edge. Wysong induced the only batter he faced to ground out, and he became the winning pitcher when Luverne rallied to score three times in the bottom of the frame.The Cardinals were scheduled to play a game in Adrian Monday, but the game was postponed until Wednesday, May 26.Luverne begins defense of its 2003 Section 3AA title by playing Redwood Valley in an opening-round game at noon Saturday in Jackson.

By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth boys made a bid to win the Red Rock Conference golf championship before falling three strokes short Thursday.The Patriots served as hosts for the annual league tournament at the Beaver Creek Golf Course, and they nearly stole the show by putting together a 370-stroke team tally.H-BC-E, however came up three shots off the pace.Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Southwest Christian turned in 367-stroke totals to finish the event in a tie. W-WG was awarded the championship because its fifth player outscored Southwest’s 101-105.Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster (386), Red Rock Central (414) and Southwest Star Concept (417) capped the six-team field.Three Patriot players earned spots on the All-RRC Team by placing in the Top-10 individually during the tournament.Tom Janssen led the Patriots by shooting an 87 to place third.Ben Herman placed sixth with a 90, and Tom Scholten finished ninth with a 94.SWC’s Collin Broekhuis edged W-WG’s Kenny Willers 82-83 to win the individual championship.SWC’s Evan Fey and W-WG’s Jordan shot 89s to share fourth place.SWC’s Matt Mulder placed seventh with a 92, SV-RL-B’s Tyler Hogan eighth with a 93 and SV-RL-B’s Jay Malenke 10th with a 96.Jason Marten contributed a 99-stroke round to H-BC-E’s team tally.Jeremy Elbers and Nick Deutsch shot 103- and 108-stroke rounds without influencing the scoring.

By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton track teams helped form nine-squad fields at the annual Red Rock Conference meet in Slayton Thursday.The H-BC-E-E teams won a combined six conference championships and placed second in four events during the outing.The Patriot boys won five meet championships on the way to scoring 103 points and placing fourth in the team standings.The H-BC-E-E boys won five individual events on the way to fourth place in the boys’ field.Tyler Bush led the way by winning the 800- and 1,600-meter runs with respective 2:01.62 and 4:48.08 efforts.Todd Alberty, Cody Scholten and Tom LeBoutillier won one individual event each.Alberty covered 39-10 in the triple jump, Scholten cleared 6-0 in the high jump and LeBoutillier cleared the 110-meter hurdles in 16:06.H-BC-E-E’s 1,600-meter relay team placed second with a time of 3:33.18. Bush, Kale Wiertzema, Lee Jackson and Alberty formed the team.The H-BC-E-E girls produced one RRC title and placed second in three events.Cassi Tilstra, who ran 400 meters in 1:01.16 to place second, won the 800-meter run in 2:25.9.H-BC-E-E’s 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays placed second with respective 4:17.06 and 10:15.3 times.Mya Mann, Jocelyn and Ashley Bucher and Tilstra ran the 1,600. Amanda Tilstra, Mann and the Buchers teamed up in the 3,200.The H-BC-E-E teams will compete at the Sub-Section 10 Track and Field Championships in Pipestone today.Here is a look at the final team standings and the rest of the top six performances turned in by H-BC-E-E athletes during the RRC meet.Girls’ standings: Murray County Central 100.5, Fulda 99.5, Westbrook-Walnut Grove-Red Rock Central 95, Adrian 93, Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 71, Southwest United 67.5, Southwest Christian 61.5, Comfrey-Springfield 61, H-BC-E-E 52.Boys’ standingsSWC 161.5, MCC 113.5, Fulda 110.5, H-BC-E-E 103, Adrian 66, ML-B-O 61, W-WG-RRC 38, SWU 25, C-S 23.5H-BC-E-E girlsFifth place: A.Bucher, 800, 2:31.6; 400 relay (Amanda Connors, Rosie Lewis, Chelsi Fink and Kelly Mulder), 55.31.H-BC-E-E boysThird place: LeBoutillier, 300 hurdles, 42.67; LeBoutillier, long jump, 19-7; LeBoutillier, discus, 123-3; 3,200 relay (Alberty, Wiertzema, Jackson and Derek Haak), 8:43.69.Fourth place: Curt Schilling, shot, 42-2; Alberty, 400, 54.08.Sixth place: 400 relay (Paul DeLeoncepeda, Cody Rozeboom, Javier Cisneros and Roger DeBoer), 49.57; 800 relay (John Sandbulte, Soeren Trebesch, Devin DeBoer and R.DeBoer), 1:43.8.

By John RittenhouseThe Adrian and Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton track squads completed the regular season by participating at the Red Rock Conference meet in Slayton Thursday.The AHS girls displayed dramatic improvement over the 2003 season, when the Dragons scored 17 points to cap a nine-team field.Adrian compiled 93 points and placed fourth in the standings in the 2004 version of the event.The H-BC-E-E girls capped a nine-team field with 52 points. The H-BC-E-E and Adrian boys placed fourth and fifth with respective 103 and 66 point totals in their nine-team field.The AHS girls won five event titles and established a new conference record on their way to a fourth-place finish as a team.McCall Heitkamp, Leslie Stover, Erica Thier and Morgan Lynn established a new conference record with their winning time of 10:08.33 in the 3,200-meter relay.Adrian’s Jolene Reisdorfer, Amanda Lynn, Emily Thier and Sarah Kruger took top honors in the 800-meter relay with a 1:52.07 effort.Kruger claimed a pair of RRC titles by winning the 200- and 400-meter dashes with respective 27.01 and 1:00.82 times.Morgan Lynn won the 800-meter run with a time of 5:26.98.Amanda Lynn and Erica Thier placed second in individual events. Lynn covered 31-5 1/2 in the triple jump. Thier ran 800 meters in 2:27.48.The H-BC-E-E girls produced one RRC title and placed second in three events.Cassi Tilstra, who ran 400 meters in 1:01.16 to place second, won the 800-meter run in 2:25.9.H-BC-E-E’s 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays placed second with respective 4:17.06 and 10:15.3 times.Mya Mann, Jocelyn and Ashley Bucher and Tilstra ran the 1,600. Amanda Tilstra, Mann and the Buchers teamed up in the 3,200.The H-BC-E-E boys used the strength of five RRC championships to place fourth in the boys’ field.Tyler Bush led the way by winning the 800- and 1,600-meter runs with respective 2:01.62 and 4:48.08 efforts.Todd Alberty, Cody Scholten and Tom LeBoutillier won one individual event each.Alberty covered 39-10 in the triple jump, Scholten cleared 6-0 in the high jump and LeBoutillier cleared the 110-meter hurdles in 16:06.H-BC-E-E’s 1,600-meter relay team placed second with a time of 3:33.18. Bush, Kale Wiertzema, Lee Jackson and Alberty formed the team.Casey Knips won a pair of throwing championships to lead the Adrian boys to their fifth-place showing as a team.Knips won the shot put and discus titles with respective 45-9 and 143-0 distances.Adrian’s Kyle Knips placed second in the 200- and 400-meter dashes with 23.96 and 53.23 efforts.Kyle Knips also ran with the 800-meter relay, which placed second in 1:39.58. Billy Anderson, Chad Janssen and Jordan Brake are the other members of the team.Here is a look at the final team standings and the rest of the top six performances turned in by Adrian and H-BC-E-E athletes during the RRC meet.Girls’ standings: Murray County Central 100.5, Fulda 99.5, Westbrook-Walnut Grove-Red Rock Central 95, Adrian 93, Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 71, Southwest United 67.5, Southwest Christian 61.5, Comfrey-Springfield 61, H-BC-E-E 52.Boys’ standingsSWC 161.5, MCC 113.5, Fulda 110.5, H-BC-E-E 103, Adrian 66, ML-B-O 61, W-WG-RRC 38, SWU 25, C-S 23.5.Adrian girlsThird place: 400 relay (A.Lynn, Em.Thier, Samantha Lynn and Reisdorfer), 54.52.Fourth place: Kruger, high jump, 4-8.Fifth place: Ameila Mulder, discus, 95-2; 1,600 relay (Er.Thier, Sarah Jensen, M.Lynn and Reisdorfer), 4:22.18.Sixth place: Jensen, 300 hurdles, 54.89; Stover, 1,600, 6:02.18.H-BC-E-E girlsFifth place: A.Bucher, 800, 2:31.6; 400 relay (Amanda Connors, Rosie Lewis, Chelsi Fink and Kelly Mulder), 55.31.H-BC-E-E boysThird place: LeBoutillier, 300 hurdles, 42.67; LeBoutillier, long jump, 19-7; LeBoutillier, discus, 123-3; 3,200 relay (Alberty, Wiertzema, Jackson and Derek Haak), 8:43.69.Fourth place: Curt Schilling, shot, 42-2; Alberty, 400, 54.08.Sixth place: 400 relay (Paul DeLeoncepeda, Cody Rozeboom, Javier Cisneros and Roger DeBoer), 49.57; 800 relay (John Sandbulte, Soeren Trebesch, Devin DeBoer and R.DeBoer), 1:43.8.Adrian boysFourth place: David Brake, triple jump, 38-6 3/4; D.Brake, high jump, 5-10.Fifth place: 1,600 relay (Paul Honermann, Justin Reisdorfer, Janssen and Lee Stover), 3:49.54.Sixth place: Stover, 800, 2:07.92; 400 relay ( J.Brake, Janssen, Jory Haken and Anderson), 49.59; 3,200 relay (Stover, Jesse Brake, Honermann and Reisdorfer), 9:13.38.

By John RittenhouseThe Adrian baseball team completed a 7-3 Red Rock Conference season by posting a pair of home wins since last Thursday.The Dragons pounded Southwest United by 12 runs Thursday before rolling to a nine-run win over Murray County Central Monday.Adrian, 13-6 overall, completed the regular season by hosting Luverne Wednesday, May 26.The Dragons open the Section 3A Tournament by playing Edgerton in Wabasso noon Saturday.Adrian 9, MCC 0Senior Tyler Wolf tossed a no-hitter to help the Dragons clinch second place in the RRC Tuesday in Adrian.The Dragons needed a win to place second outright, and they got it with a 9-0 whipping of the Rebels.Wolf controlled the game on the mound for AHS, limiting MCC to three walks in seven innings. He fanned seven batters."It’s the first no-hitter we’ve had as long as I’ve been coaching here," said Dragon coach Kevin Nowotny.The Dragons scored runs in four of the six innings they made appearances at the plate during the game.Tyler Wolf singled and scored the first run of the game when Brandon Wolf reached base on an error in the bottom of the first.Tyler Wolf walked and scored on a wild pitch in the third, and Levi Bullerman reached base on an error and scored at the end of a double-steal to make it a 3-0 game.David Hoffer and Brandon Diekmann, who had three hits in the game, drew walks and scored on errors in the fourth inning. Brandon Wolf and Glen Kruger added RBI singles before the frame was complete to increase the lead to 7-0.Brandon Wolf walked and scored on an error and Diekmann slapped an RBI single to cap the scoring in the sixth inning.Adrian 14, SWU 2The Dragons locked up at least a share of second place in the RRC after defeating Southwest United by 12 runs Thursday in Adrian.Tyler Wolf drove in a school record seven runs in the game by going 4-4 at the plate. Wolf produced his third two-homer game of the season when he delivered two-run shots in the first and third innings.SWU opened the scoring by plating one run in the top of the first inning, but Adrian moved in front to stay by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first.Cody Kontz walked before Wolf belted his first of two homers to give AHS a 2-1 edge. Diekmann doubled home a run, Hoffer, Brent Tjepkes and Wolf all slapped RBI singles and another run scored on an error to cap the seven-run rally.The Dragons extended their lead to 20-1 by scoring three runs in the third inning.Kontz singled home a run before scoring on Wolf’s second homer of the contest.Adrian added four runs in the fourth inning before SWU scored its final run in the fifth.Tyler Wolf doubled home two runs, and Bullerman and Brandon Wolf added RBI doubles to Adrian’s rally in the fourth.Brandon Wolf recorded three hits at the plate, while Bullerman and Kruger added two safeties each.Diekmann worked the first three innings on the mound to pick up the win. He allowed one unearned run and one hit. Tyler Wolf pitched a scoreless fourth inning, and Hoffer allowed one run in the fifth.

By John RittenhouseLuverne rallied from a pair of late deficits to record a 6-5 baseball win over Worthington at Redbird Field Thursday.After being blanked through six innings, the Cardinals scored three runs in the home half of the seventh inning to tie the game at three.Worthington regained the lead at 5-3 after scoring two runs in the top of the eighth inning, but the Cardinals scored three more runs in the bottom half of the frame to pull out a one-run victory.The victory gave the Cardinals a winning 7-5 Southwest Conference record this year. Worthington ends its conference campaign with a 3-9 mark.Luverne had to earn its seventh league win of the season.The situation didn’t look good when the Trojans scored two runs in the fifth inning and one in the top of the seventh to gain a 3-0 lead.Luverne, however, saved its best offensive showing for the late innings.Mark Remme started the bottom of the seventh with a single before moving to third base when Jared Pick singled.Pinch-hitter Brad Pick then chopped a ball off home plate, and was thrown out at first base. Jared Pick got involved in a rundown between first and second base as the play continued, and he made it safely to second base when Remme drew a throw to the plate that he beat with a nifty slide.The rally continued with Brad Herman slapping a one-out single to score Jared Pick with the second run. Herman proceeded to steal second and third base with two outs, where he scored the tying run on senior Scott Pick’s triple down the right-field line.Scott Pick inherited a 1-1 count from Wyatt Cote, who was making a pinch-hitting appearance when pulled a leg muscle swinging at the second pitch.The Cards needed to come from behind again when Worthington scored twice in the top of the eighth.Zach Wysong singled to start Luverne’s half of the eighth and scored when Adam Kurtz tripled. Kurtz scored the tying run on a wild pitch, which allowed Remme, who walked moments earlier, to advance to second base. One out later, senior Rob Fodness singled home Remme with the winning run.Wysong, who relieved Kurtz and recorded the final out of Worthington’s half of the eighth inning, picked up the pitching win.Jared Pick tossed the first five and one-third innings, allowing four hits and two runs. Kurtz yielded three runs and three hits while pitching two and one-third innings of relief.Luverne was scheduled to play in Adrian Monday, but the game was postponed until Wednesday, May 26. The Cardinals will open the Section 3AA Tournament by playing two games (Game 1 is against Redwood Valley at noon) Saturday in Jackson. Box score AB R H BIGraphenteen 3 0 1 0S.Pick 1 0 1 1Reisch 4 0 0 0Wysong 4 1 3 0Kurtz 4 1 1 1Remme 3 2 2 0J.Pick 3 1 1 0Fodness 3 0 1 1B.Pick 1 0 0 1Boen 3 0 0 0Herman 3 1 1 1

By John RittenhouseLuverne High School senior Colby Anderson played his way onto the 2004 All-Southwest Conference Golf Team during the league’s annual tournament played Friday at the Marshall Country Club.Anderson recorded a two-over-par 74 during the 18-hole event to finish regulation play in a deadlock with Pipestone’s Paul Barduson.Anderson and Barduson competed in a playoff to decide which player to earn the fifth and sixth spots on the All-SWC roster. Anderson won the playoff, giving the LHS leader fifth place in the individual standings.Jackson County Central’s Brett Benson won the SWC individual title with a three-under-par 69. Marshall’s Tom Homan, Worthington’s Jeremy Berger and Marshall’s Tony Krogan all shot one-over-par 73s. A playoff left Homan in third place, Berger in fourth place and Krogan in fifth place.In what was a tight team competition, the Luverne boys placed fifth in a seven-team field.The Cardinals shot a 317 for the event, leaving them 16 strokes off the pace set by Marshall (301). JCC (313), Worthington (313) and Redwood Valley (316) topped LHS in the standings. Windom (327) and Pipestone (327) capped the field.Along with Anderson, Andy Haakenson, Jesson Vogt and Steve Berghorst contributed 78-, 80- and 85-stroke rounds to Luverne’s team tally.David Nelson and Kirk Oldre shot 87- and 91-stroke rounds without influencing the scoring.No LHS girls were able to crack the Top-Six to earn all-league status during their appearance in Marshall.Like the boys, the Cardinal girls placed fifth out of seven teams.Luverne (387) topped Pipestone (407) and Worthington (415) in the team standings. Marshall (365), Windom (370), RWV (380) and JCC (384) led the field.Jessica Klein shot a 92 to lead the Cardinals during the tournament. Alyssa Klein, Brittany Mulder and Mindy Lysne contributed 94-, 97- and 104-stroke rounds to the team effort.Nikki Van Dyk and Lindsey Severtson turned in 105- and 117-stroke efforts without influencing the scoring.Windom’s Tera Christensen won a playoff with Marshall’s Erin Strautz to win the SWC individual title. Both girls shot 12-over-par 84s.JCC’s Michele Edlin placed third with an 84, RWV’s Alecia Prins fourth with an 87, Marshall’s Kirsten Haukom fifth with an 89 and Windom’s Casey Christensen sixth with a 90.