Our southwestern Minnesota weather is becoming more and more fall-like with a wet and cool week happening here as we approach the middle of September. The high school sports season is in full swing as the third week of football games happen Friday.
Last week’s clash between Murray County Central and Adrian was a good game. The Rebels prevailed by a final score of 21-6 and claimed their third consecutive victory over the much-improved Dragons, who played well and gave a good account of themselves throughout the hard-hitting contest.
With this year’s triumph, MCC has now won four of the last seven games against Adrian — after the Dragons held a huge edge prior to the Rebels’ memorable playoff victory (27-26 in overtime) at Southwest State’s Mattke Field on November 4, 2016.
Heron Lake-Okabena / Fulda has the first of its two Homecoming Games this week as the Coyotes host Cedar Mountain at Heron Lake on Friday, the 13th. Four weeks later, on October 11, Fulda’s Homecoming Game is against recent perennial power Mountain Lake Area.
The Cougars of Cedar Mountain are 0-2 this season, having lost to Renville County West (52-20) and Nicollet (45-20). Playing this year without Comfrey, Cedar Mountain (based in Morgan, near Redwood Falls) has just three seniors and seven juniors on its 19-member varsity roster.
HL-O / Fulda is off to an 0-2 start with losses (58-22 to Hills-Beaver Creek and 48-8 to RCW) against a couple of early-season undefeated squads. Either the Coyotes or the Cougars will win their first game of 2019 at Heron Lake’s historic Memorial Field Friday.
Adrian (1-1) will travel northeast to tangle with Sleepy Eye (0-2). The Indians have not scored yet this season in losses to Canby (13-0) and Wabasso (39-0).
MCC (2-0) is back at home against the Springfield Tigers, also 2-0. The Tigers, who edged the Rebels (15-14) in last year’s Section 3A championship game at SMSU, are off to a strong start in ’19, outscoring their first two opponents by a combined total of 74-7. Springfield has wins over Lac qui Parle Valley (38-7) and Minnesota Valley Lutheran (36-0).
Adrian’s volleyball squad posted an impressive sweep over Red Rock Central (25-15, 25-14, 25-18), on the home court last Thursday (September 5). The Dragons and Falcons tied for the Red Rock Conference championship last fall. Then, in the post-season, Adrian defeated RRC in the Section 3A South Sub-Section title match, after the Dragons had beat Tracy-Milroy-Balaton in the semifinals and the Falcons had eliminated Windom.
Adrian followed this year’s triumph over RRC with a Saturday (September 7) tournament championship at Luverne by winning four matches (over Blue Earth Area, Edgerton, West Lyon and Luverne) each in convincing 2-0 fashion, with only game (against West Lyon) going to extra points.
A big early-season volleyball clash is on tap this Thursday (September 12) when Adrian travels to Okabena for a conference match against a mighty good Heron Lake-Okabena / Fulda squad, which has swept both Worthington and Hills-Beaver Creek.
So, what do Steve Vlieger (a 1969 graduate of Chandler High School) and Wayne Drealan (Fulda Class of 1970) have in common (besides both being in their late 60s)?
Those two long-distance running phenoms are the only two people who have never missed competing in the popular Worthington King Turkey Day 10K Road Race. That’s right, both Steve and Wayne were among the 101 finishers in the first KTD 10K in September of 1980 and, now 39 years later, they are the only two thriving “survivors” of all those years of running — who will line up Saturday morning (September 14) for the 40th anniversary of the event.
Vlieger has overcome a serious motorcycle accident in the spring of 2014 and is able to continue his annual running trek around Lake Okabena. His son, Todd, won the 10K two years ago.
Drealan, who has also run numerous marathons, including Boston, has been a premier age-group winner at Worthington (nine times) and has completed the 6.2-mile distance in less than 40 minutes a total of 22 times (personal record of 32:26 in 1983) and has been under 50 minutes in 38 of the previous 39 years. He ran a 53:30 at age 58 in 2010, coming off a back injury, but has run the course in the 40s ever since — remarkable!
Wayne and Heidi have recently moved to the northern Black Hills area in Belle Fourche, S.D. — close to their daughter, Erica. Wayne and Heidi’s son, Anthony, is the cross country and track coach at Dakota State University in Madison, S.D.
Speaking of the Black Hills, what about 70-year-old Jim Schneider’s amazing 109-mile running venture — over a span of eight days, from September 3-9, through the rough terrain of that area as he seeks to raise funds for “Make-A-Wish Minnesota.” I will have more about Jim’s remarkable accomplishment, from Deadwood to Edgemont, along the George Mickelson Trail next week.
The Twins, despite several recent injuries and a big-time player suspension (pitcher Michael Pineda), continue to lead the American League Central, holding a 5.5 game lead on the Indians as of Monday. Going 8-2 on the last road trip, including winning two-of-three in Boston was huge.
With 19 games remaining, the “Magic Number” (any combination of Twins wins and Cleveland losses) was 14 at the beginning of this week.
Let the countdown begin!
