Well, the sun has come out and melted away Sunday morning’s early snowfall, but it’s still cold and the upcoming forecast is only calling for a one-day warm-up on Thursday when the temperature should reach the lower 60s.
Maybe, we will have some warmer weather in late October and into November?
I remember well some nice warm days in November, including an above 70-degree day on November 5, 1970 when I was running in a cross country meet for Worthington State Junior College (WSJC) against Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa. That was a beautiful fall or “Indian Summer” day and it was almost hot as we ran a five-mile course around the campus grounds.
Sunday’s snowfall happened exactly 52 years after a near-blizzard put the dampers on Heron Lake’s 1966 Homecoming Football Game. October 14th came on a Friday that year and wind-blown rain turned to sleet and then to snow as the winds picked up and made for miserable playing conditions. The game, however, against arch-rival Okabena went on as scheduled and is highlighted in this week’s Tri-County News in a “Down Memory Lane” feature.
From what I understand there was a somewhat similar — although not as a cold — type of game played at Adrian on September 29, 1995 when the state tournament-bound Fulda Raiders earned a 27-6 halftime lead on the up and coming Adrian Dragons. The rains came in so hard and flooded the field, forcing the game to be called off at halftime.
Pushing the Fulda bus and the radio announcer’s car out of the playing field area were a couple of extra adventures for players and fans that night.
Bad weather conditions are fairly common when it comes to fall outdoor sports. That’s where volleyball has a definite edge — being played in the warm confines of the gymnasium. There are days, however, when the weather is gorgeous outside and having football or cross country practice just seems better than being “cooped up” inside the school. Those days have been somewhat rare this fall.
Speaking of volleyball, the playoffs start already next week. Hat’s off to the Adrian Dragons on a remarkable season, fashioning an amazing 21-3 overall record (prior to Monday’s match against a very good Hills-Beaver Creek squad). Before the H-BC match, Adrian and Red Rock Central were tied at the top of the Red Rock Conference standing with identical 8-1 league records. Southwest Minnesota Christian was 7-2 and Murray County Central finished up at 7-3.
The Dragons earned the second seed in the upcoming 12-team Section 3A Tournament and received a bye. Adrian will host the winner of 10th-seeded Fulda vs. seventh-seeded Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Friday, October 26.
Fifth-seeded MCC has been coming on strong recently, winning four of five matches at last weekend’s tournament in Marshall, including wins over top-seeded Windom and second-seeded Adrian. The Rebels are 14-9 overall, including going 7-2 over their last nine matches.
MCC plays at fourth-seeded Red Rock Central (in Lamberton) on the 26th. The Falcons edged the Rebels in a five-set thriller at Slayton back on September 25.
It was great to see the conference cross country meet held on the KOA Campground at Adrian Monday. The Dragons hosted many meets there before the Golf Course was built and with last week’s torrential rains soaking the course, the decision was made to cancel the always-popular Adrian Invitational and move the conference meet to the campground.
Murray County Central / Fulda impressively won both the varsity girls’ and varsity boys’ team championships at yesterday’s Red Rock Conference cross country meet. Team balance by the Rebels was evident in both races, as MCC / F earned 10 of the 20 all-conference medals.
Both Adrian and Red Rock Central won in volleyball action Monday night. The Dragons swept Hills-Beaver Creek and the Falcons swept Southwest Minnesota Christian. With those victories, Adrian and RRC tie for the conference championship with identical 9-1 records. Adrian won the head-to-head match with RRC (3-1 in Lamberton on September 13), but that does not serve as a tiebreaker. The Falcons won every other conference match, including Monday night’s 3-0 win over Southwest Christian, the only team to defeat the Dragons.
MCC and SWC tied for third at 7-3. HL-O finished in a four-way tie for fifth (with MLA, W-WG and H-BC) with a 5-5 conference record. Fulda posted a 2-8 record in the Red Rock, getting back-to-back wins over Ellsworth and Edgerton in late September.
