Irene Esther Barstad, 59, rural Luverne, died Saturday, July 21, 2001, at Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls, S.D.

Services were Wednesday, July 25, at Seventh Day Adventist Church in Sioux Falls. The Rev. Richard Todden officiated. Burial was in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Steen.

Irene Kitchenmaster was born to Wesley and Alma (Funck) Kitchenmaster on Feb. 28, 1942, in Luverne. She attended elementary school in Steen. She graduated from Hills High School in 1960. After graduation she worked at A.R. Wood Manufacturing Co. in Luverne.

She married Noralf Barstad on July 7, 1963, in Luverne. After their marriage the couple lived on the family farm southeast of Luverne. She was a homemaker.

Mrs. Barstad attended the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Sioux Falls. She was active in Rock County extension clubs and Bible Study Fellowship in Sioux Falls.

Survivors include her husband, Noralf Barstad, rural Luverne; one son, Matt Barstad, Spencer, Iowa; her father, Wesley Kitchenmaster, and his wife, Mary, Luverne; one brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Mary Kitchenmaster, North Mankato; one brother-in-law, David Gehrke, Beaver Creek; aunts; uncles; cousins; and many friends.

Mrs. Barstad was preceded in death by her mother, Alma Kitchenmaster, and one sister, Lucille Gehrke.
Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Verlyn Junior Arp, 78, Hills, formerly of Beaver Creek, died Sunday, July 22, 2001, at Avera McKennan Hospice in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Services were Wednesday, July 25, at First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Creek. Burial was in Beaver Creek Cemetery, Beaver Creek.

Verlyn Arp was born to William and Blenda (Hass) Arp on Sept. 11, 1922, in Lyon County, Iowa. As a child they moved to a farm near Edgerton where he attended country school. Following his education he helped on the farm.

He married Luetta Scott on Aug. 16, 1942, in Luverne. Following their marriage they farmed near Jasper for two years. In 1944 he entered the U.S. Army where he was stationed in Arkansas and Japan. He returned from the service in 1946 and they moved to a farm near Hardwick. In 1951 they moved to Beaver Creek where he worked for A.R. Wood Manufacturing Co. in Luverne and was also manager of the Municipal Liquor Store in Beaver Creek until 1962. They then purchased the Phillips 66 station and cafŽ which they operated until 1975. He also was a rural mail carrier during this time. In 1978 he retired from the Post Office. Mrs. Arp preceded him in death on March 22, 1998. He continued to live in Beaver Creek until the spring of 2000 when he entered Tuff Memorial Home in Hills. On July 21 he entered Avera McKennan Hospital.
Mr. Arp was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Creek. He was a lifetime member of the Luverne V.F.W., Rural Letter Carrier Association, and was a member of the volunteer fire department for 25 years. He loved to fish and play cards.

Survivors include two sons and daughters-in-law, Bob and Roxy Arp, Valley Springs, S.D., and Jerry and Becky Arp, Sioux Falls; one daughter and son-in-law, Carol and Rodney Hadler, Hills; 13 grandchildren, Brad, Danette, Mark, Tracy, Kelly, Rob, Jodi, Nathan, Dustin, Jessica, Rebecca and Lee; and 26 great-grandchildren.

Mr. Arp was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Luetta, and one son, William.
Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys upped their Red Rock Conference basketball record to 5-2 with a 69-51 win over Red Rock Central in Lamberton Friday.

Brad Haak and David Top led a Patriot offense that connected on 50 percent of its field goals in the game.

Haak, who snared eight rebounds and came up with four steals in the game, netted a season-high 26 points to lead the Patriots in scoring. He was 10 of 18 shooting from the floor.

Top, who had three assists, never missed a shot in the game while netting 15 points. He was seven of seven from the field and one of one at the line.

With Haak and Top setting the pace, H-BC took control of the game in the second half by outscoring the Falcons 29-16.

H-BC turned a five-point halftime cushion into an 11-point (52-41) advantage by the end of the third quarter.

The Patriots outscored the hosts 17-10 in the final eight minutes of play to win by 18.

H-BC sported 21-17 and 40-35 advantages at the first two quarter breaks.

Matt Buck contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and five steals to the winning cause. Darin DeBoer added three assists.

The Patriots outrebounded the Falcons 35-12 in the game.

Box score
Metzger 0 0 0-0 0, D.DeBoer 1 0 0-0 2, Roozenboom 0 0 0-0 0, Van Maanen 0 0 1-2 1, Haak 10 0 6-9 26, Leuthold 2 0 1-2 5, L.DeBoer 3 1 0-0 9, Van Wyhe 0 0 0-0 0, Top 7 0 1-1 15, Buck 3 0 5-7 11, Krull 0 0 0-0 0.

Team statistics
H-BC: 27 of 54 field goals (50 percent), 14 of 21 free throws (67 percent), 35 rebounds, 19 turnovers.
RRC: 16 of 47 field goals (34 percent), 15 of 21 free throws (71 percent), 12 rebounds, 18 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls' basketball team earned the right to play another night after winning the rubber game of a three-tilt season series against Southwest Christian Saturday in Worthington.

Taking on the sixth-seeded E-Gals in the quarterfinal-round of the South Section 3A Girls' Basketball Tournament, the third-seeded Patriots overcame an early deficit to post a 44-43 victory.

The game was tight from beginning to end, and it was decided by the fact that H-BC turned the ball over 14 fewer times than SWC did (25-11) throughout the contest.

"We did a good job of limiting our number of turnovers, which I thought ended up being the difference in the game," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "It was a great game. We were really aggressive defensively, and we played well overall."

The rubber game of the season series also proved to be the most entertaining one between the two long-time rivals.

H-BC secured a comfortable 43-33 win in the season's first meeting in Edgerton Dec. 6. SWC evened the score by toppling the Patriots 51-31 in Hills Feb. 7.

Neither team had a double-figure lead in SaturdayÕs tournament game.

SWC got off to a good start by taking a 14-11 lead in the first quarter, but the Patriots went on an 11-4 scoring run to gain a 22-18 halftime advantage.

The Patriots increased their lead to six points (34-28) by the end of the third period, and led by four to nine points during most of the fourth quarter.

SWC, which made three three-pointers in the final 1:30, found itself trailing by two points before Jody Rentschler canned a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to play to make it a 44-40 game.

Another three by the E-Gals made it a 44-43 difference, and SWC got the ball back when H-BC missed a pair of charity shots with 1.6 seconds remaining. SWC, however, never did get off a shot before the final horn sounded.

Post Erin Boeve led the Patriots to victory with a 16-point, 12-rebound, five-blocked shot and four-steal performance.

Senior wing Becky Broesder also came up big for the winners, scoring 11 points, coming down with six rebounds and recording three steals and three assists.

Cassi Tilstra had four steals and three assists for H-BC, and Brittney Rozeboom chipped in three steals.

Box score
B.Rozeboom 1 0 0-0 2, B.Olson 1 0 0-0 2, Rentschler 1 0 2-2 4, Tilstra 2 0 1-4 5, Broesder 4 0 3-4 11, S.Rozeboom 0 0 0-0 0, DeNoble 1 0 2-3 4, Boeve 7 0 2-4 16.

Team statistics
H-BC: 17 of 53 field goals (32 percent), 10 of 18 free throws (56 percent), 27 rebounds, 11 turnovers.
SWC: 17 of 43 field goals (40 percent), two of eight free throws (25 percent), 31 rebounds, 25 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills Thunder was unable to break into the win column in amateur baseball when they entertained the Pipestone A's in Hills Sunday.

The Thunder played Pipestone to a draw at three through four innings of play, but the A's outscored Hills 8-0 over the final five innings to secure an 11-3 win.

The teams exchanged single runs in the first, second and fourth innings of a game that had the look of being a close contest at that point.

Pipestone, however, blanked Hills over the final five innings while plating two runs in the fourth inning and six in the ninth to win by eight.

Jarud Lange, who went the distance on the mound and took the loss for Hills, tied the game at one in the bottom of the first when he singled and scored on a single by Matt Funke.

Hills knotted the score at two in the bottom of the second when Chris Harnack reached base on a fielder's choice before scoring on a single by Eric Harnack.

Chris Harnack doubled in the fourth and tied the score at three when he raced home on a single by Lang.

Lang, who led the Thunder with three hits, yielded 13 hits and three walks during a nine-inning stint on the hill. He recorded seven strikeouts.

Funke and Chris Harnack slapped two hits each at the plate.

The 0-3 Thunder host Wilmont at 4 p.m. Saturday. A hog roast will take place during the game. Hills travels to Hadley Sunday for a 2 p.m. tilt.

By John Rittenhouse
A pair of Hills-Beaver Creek High School players made the 2002-03 All-Red Rock Conference Basketball Team.

The All-RRC Team and honorable mention lists were released last week. Twenty players made the All-RRC roster. Twelve more drew honorable mention.

H-BC junior Erin Boeve and sophomore Cassi Tilstra found their names on the all-conference roster.

League champion Adrian was represented by senior Jenna Honermann and juniors Maria Gengler and Andrea Lonneman on the All-RRC team.

Fulda matched Adrian by drawing three all-conference selections. Seniors Erin Oakland and Rachel Gunderman and sophomore Abby Oakland made the team for Fulda.

Westbrook-Walnut Grove, Red Rock Central and Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin drew two selections each.

W-WG seniors Katie Hansen and Becky Schultz, RRC juniors Brittni Nickel and Andrea Kircher, and ML-B-O seniors Karissa Haglund and Mikkala Junker made the team.

Southwest Star Concept sophomore Kristen DeWall, Edgerton senior Amber Poppen, Southwest Christian senior Danielle Vander Woude, Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster senior Rosa Malenke and Comfrey senior Holli Pederson round out the All-RRC team.

Players to draw honorable mention from the RRC coaches are Adrian junior Kylie Heronimus, Fulda senior Jamie Goedtke and junior Elizabeth Kramer, W-WG senior Katie Swanson, RRC seniors Katie Furth and Molly Arndt, ML-B-O sophomore Lindsay Bartel, Edgerton senior Becky Van Maanen and junior Kelly Esselink-Arp, Comfrey junior Jessie Goblirisch, SSC senior Brianna Liepold and SV-RL-B senior Danette Bourquin.

Hills-Beaver Creek senior Chris Reid (third from the left) opens a lead during the 100-meter dash at the Cardinal Quadrangular in Luverne Tuesday. Reid eventually pulled a hamstring and placed second in the event. On the right is Patriot Cody Scholten.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton track teams helped form the field for the Cardinal Quadrangular in Luverne Tuesday.

The Patriot teams were short-handed for the outdoor opener of 2003, with a number of athletes unable to attend the meet because of prior commitments.

H-BC-E-E did perform well enough to win five meet championships during the day.

"We looked at this meet as being a great practice, and it was," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle.

"It was our second chance to run hard other than in practice. It also was nice to run against some other teams. This meet will be a good stepping stone for us."

The H-BC-E-E boys won two relay titles during the event.

Tyler Bush took top honors in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:07.82. He also ran legs with the winning 800- and 3,200-meter relays, which recorded respective 1:39 and 8:53 times. Zach Boyum, Todd Alberty and Brad Van Dyke ran with Bush in the 800. Lee Jackson, Kale Wiertzema and Greg Van Batavia round out the 3,200-meter squad.

Patriot Cody Scholten won the high jump by clearing a personal best height of 5-10.

The Patriots did pay a price for competing at the meet as Chris Reid pulled a hamstring near the end of the 100-meter dash. Reid, a two-time state qualifier for the Patriots, will be out for at least 10 days. He placed second in the 100 with a time of 11.41.

The boys’ 400-meter relay team of Boyum, Alberty, Jackson and Scholten placed second in 48.76.

The Patriot girls received a standout performance from Amy Tiesler, who tied for first place by clearing 4-6 in the high jump.

Cassi Tilstra turned in a strong performance in the 400, placing second with a time of 1:02.73.

The Patriots will return to Luverne for the Cardinal Relays Tuesday.

Here is a look at the rest of H-BC-E-E’s Top-Six performances from the Cardinal Quadrangular.

H-BC-E-E boys
Third place: Van Dyke, long jump, 17-10 3/4; Boyum, 200, 25.15; 1,600 relay (Wiertzema, Alberty, Van Batavia and Jackson), 3:47.02.
Fourth place: Alberty, long jump, 17-10.
Fifth place: Derek Haak, 1,600, 5:34; Wiertzema, 400, 57.37.
Sixth place: Kerry Fink, 1,600, 5:43; Van Batavia, 400, 57.9; Devin DeBoer, 3,200, 12:38.2.

H-BC-E-E girls
Third place: Mya Mann, 800, 2:37.31; 3,200 relay (Mann, Rachel Kvaale, Amanda Tilstra and C.Tilstra), 10:57.44; 400 relay (C.Tilstra, Kelly Mulder, Mann and Amanda Connors), 55.87.
Fourth place: 1,600 relay (Brittany Helgeson, Stacy Bush, Jocelyn Bucher and Tyra Henrichs), 5:16.12.
Fifth place: A.Tilstra, 800, 2:48.63.
Sixth place: Erika Fransen, 1,600, 6:46.83; 3,200 relay (Bucher, Chelsi Fink, Helgeson and Henrichs), 12:17.33.

"I think some of the seventh- and eighth-graders can help us out, too. We don’t have any pole vaulters because we don’t have the facilities to practice in that event. We’re a little thin in the hurdles with Roger DeBoer being our only returning hurdler with experience. Developing hurdlers is something we can work on."

The Patriot girls will benefit from the addition of Edgerton, too.

Goehle has a roster of 35 athletes (up from 24 last spring) to build a team from, and the list features proven and untested athletes.

"I like the quality of the older kids," he said. "They’re kids who are very good, if not great, athletes. They are very competitive. With 35 kids, we can throw some of the younger kids in with the older kids and should be able to do some things."

The roster consists of two seniors, one junior, four sophomores, seven freshmen and 21 seventh- and eighth-graders. Ten of the girls lettered for the H-BC-E program last spring, seven competed in the section meet and one advanced to state.

The Patriots did lose a pair of quality seniors from the 2002 squad in Bev Wurpts and LaDonna Sandstede.

Wurpts ran with successful 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays, and won a CC title in the 1,600-meter run. She placed second in the sub-section and fourth in the section in the 1,600.

Sandstede ran with successful 400- and 800-meter relay teams.

Erin Boeve, the team’s lone junior, has to be considered the top returnee.

Along with being a member of the CC champion 1,600-meter relay team and a member of the 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams that placed third in the sub-section, Boeve is an excellent jumper.

She won CC titles in the long and triple jumps, placed second in those events at the sub-section level, and won the long jump and finished third in the triple jump at the section meet. Boeve didn’t advance to the finals at the state meet in the long jump.

Sophomore Cassi Tilstra and eighth-grader Mya Mann are two girls who experienced outstanding 2002 seasons.

Both girls were members of the 1,600-meter relay, which placed fifth in the section. They also ran with the 3,200-meter relay, which won RRC and sub-section titles, and placed second at the section meet.

Tilstra won a CC title, placed third in the sub-section and sixth in the section in the 400-meter dash. Mann placed second in the sub-section in the 800-meter run.

Other girls returning with section experience from 2002 are senior Amber Poppen, sophomore Kelly Mulder and eighth-graders Amanda Tilstra and Amanda Connors.

Poppen, a jumper-sprinter from Edgerton, advanced to the section in the high jump last season.

Mulder was a member of the 400- and 800-meter relays, and Connors ran with the 800-meter team. Amanda Tilstra placed fourth in the sub-section in the 3,200-meter run.

Freshmen Rosie Lewis and Kari Roozenboom and eighth graders Kerri Fransman and Chelsea Fink round out the returning letter winners from 2002.

Lewis is a thrower-sprinter, Roozenboom is a hurdler, Fransman runs middle distances and Fink runs sprints and middle distances.

Senior exchange student Corinna Braun and sophomores Erika Fransen and Brittany Kramer will help the Patriots this season.

Braun will run distances, and Fransen will run distances and middle distances. Goehle is unsure what events Kramer will compete in.

The coach is unsure what events freshmen Jessie Leenderts and Stacy Bush will participate in, but he lists classmates Katie McGaffee as a thrower, Rachel Kvaale as a middle distance runner and Amy Tiesler as a jumper-sprinter.

"The additional 16 seventh- and eighth-graders we have could help us down the line, too," Goehle said.

"We have great jumpers in Amber Poppen and Erin Boeve, and we should be strong in the sprints and middle distances. We’re not real deep in the sprints and middle distances, but we have some quality kids in those areas. We could have some depth in those areas in the middle of the season if the seventh- and eighth-graders are ready to move up."

By John Rittenhouse
With the addition of another team to the fold, what has been a solid track program in Hills should become even stronger in 2003.

Now that Edgerton Public as joined ranks with Hills-Beaver Creek and Ellsworth, the Patriots have strength they haven’t seen before.

They have the numbers to compete for a Sub-Section 10 championship with all the bigger schools that used numbers to their advantage in the past.

The H-BC boys’ squad, a team that placed second in the Red Rock Conference, third in the Camden Conference, Sub-Section 10 and Section 3A and seventh at the state meet has an opportunity to improve on those performances this spring.

With a 42-athlete roster, which is up from 26 boys last season, Patriot coach Tom Goehle is excited about his team’s prospects in 2003.

"We have great numbers, and our numbers cover different areas. We will be fairly well-represented in every event," he said.

The Patriots will have to replace four seniors from the 2002 team, including one irreplaceable athlete.

Brad Haak, a four-time state qualifier and a one-time state champion in the 800-meter run, has left the program after an outstanding career.

Haak’s senior season was highlighted by third- and ninth-place finishes in the 800- and 400-meter events at the state meet.

He also was a member of H-BC-E’s 3,200-meter relay team, which won sub-section and section titles before placing fourth at state. He also won sub-section titles in the 400 and 800, RRC titles in the high jump, 800 and 1,600, and CC crowns in the 400 and was a member of the 800-meter relay.

Randy Krull and Ryan Ranschau were senior throwers from the 2002 team, and Lee Walraven ran with some successful relay teams.

H-BC-E-E’s 2003 roster consists of two seniors, five juniors, 11 sophomores, six freshmen and 18 seventh- and eighth-graders that could get the chance to make an impact at the varsity level this spring. The roster features 12 returning letter winners, nine section qualifiers and four athletes that competed at the state meet last season.

"When I look at our roster, I see a lot of kids who have been to state in either football, basketball, cross country or track," Goehle said.

"I see a lot of winners. Those are the type of guys who want to compete and get to the next level. Those type of attitudes are contagious, and that will be a plus for us."

Athletes returning to the team with state experience from 2002 are senior Chris Reid, junior Lee Jackson and sophomores Tyler Bush and Greg Van Batavia.

Goehle expects a big season from Reid, who placed fifth in the 100-meter dash and sixth in the long jump one year ago.

Reid won RRC titles in those same events last season, and won CC crowns in the 200-meter dash and as a member of the 400-meter relay team.

Reid placed second in the 100 and 200 and third in the long jump at the sub-section meet, and was a member of the third-place finishing 400-meter relay team. He won section titles in the 100 and long jump, and finished third in the 200.

Jackson, a member of H-BC-E-E’s cross country team that advanced to state last season, was a key performer in relays last season. As well as competing with the 400-meter and 3,200-meter teams, he was a member of the 1,600-meter squad that placed second in the sub-section.

As well as being a member of the 1,600 and 3,200 relays, Bush placed second to Haak in the 800 at the section and sub-section meets. He placed eighth in the 800 at state, and won a CC title in that event.

Like Bush, Van Batavia ran with the H-BC-E-E cross country team last fall. He was a key member of the 3,200-meter relay team, and the 800-meter squad that placed third at the sub-section meet. He placed fourth individually at the sub-section level in the 3,200.

Junior Todd Alberty and sophomores Zach Boyum, Kale Wiertzema and Cody Scholten and freshman Devin DeBoer also competed at the section meet last season.

Wiertzema placed third in the 3,200 at the sub-section event. DeBoer and Scholten filled in positions for relay teams at the section meet.

Alberty and Boyum ran with an Edgerton relay team that competed at the section meet.

Other returning letter winners from the 2002 team include sophomores Michael Bos and Derek Haak and freshmen Roger DeBoer, John Sandbulte and Kerry Fink.

Haak and Bos are distance runners. DeBoer is the team’s top hurdler, and he runs sprints. Sandbulte and Fink run middle distances.

Goehle thinks senior Dylan Kvaale and juniors Dereck Klaassen, Brad Van Dyke and Curt Schilling will help the varsity team this spring.

Kvaale and Schilling were members of Ellsworth’s successful boys’ basketball team this winter. Goehle is unsure which events they will compete in. Klaassen is a thrower from Ellsworth. Van Dyke, a jumper-thrower, is from Edgerton.

Sophomore Jared Drenth will be a distance runner for the Patriots this spring, while Edgerton sophomores Scott Tinklenberg, Chad Spronk and Dan Buys are other potential varsity candidates.

Buys is a thrower. Goehle is unsure which events Tinklenberg and Spronk will specialize in.

Freshman Jason Martens will be a thrower for H-BC-E-E, and Aaron Aristeo will runs sprints, middle distances and jump. Goehle is unsure what the team’s 18 seventh- and eighth-graders will compete in.

"We’re going to have a diverse boys’ team," Goehle said.