Three Spring Grove baseball players were named by conference coaches to the 2022 All-Southeast Conference Team – junior Caleb Griffin plus sophomores Jaxon Strinmoen and Elijah Solum. Receiving Honorable Mention was freshman Ezra Griffin. Strinmoen was one of the primary three-man pitching rotation while otherwise starting for the second season at first base, where he … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Spring Grove engineer was television pioneer
Surely, no town so small was provided with such a competent glimpse into the future of technology as was Spring Grove in 1928. Traveling all the way from his home in New York City, a research engineer was invited to deliver a lecture at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. But Alfred L. Johnsrud stopped on the way to lecture first in the school auditorium at Spring … [Read more...]
Young baseball Lions progressed, challenged for league lead
The young Spring Grove baseball team, heading into the final Southeast Conference game, was one of four squads still in contention for the 2022 conference championship. After having once shared the league lead, the Lions lost that conference finale and finished third among eight SEC teams. The 11-8 season record followed last year’s 10-12 campaign and was the fourth consecutive … [Read more...]
Pieper returns to state, near miss for 4×200 relay boys
Caledonia/Spring Grove senior high jumper Chris Pieper has earned a second straight trip to the state track and field championships. This year on May 31 and June 2 at Triton High School in Dodge Center, he advances as the Section 1A champion after being the 2021 section runner-up. The top two in each section event qualify for state along with any others who achieve a … [Read more...]
Spring Grove scoreless as season ends in section opener
The Section 1A baseball opener was a pitchers’ duel; Spring Grove junior Caleb Griffin and Wabasha-Kellogg freshman Cole Scheel each struck out 10 batters and walked only three. A Jaxon Strinmoen infield single was the lone base hit for No. 7 seed Spring Grove. The No. 10 seeded Falcons managed five hits in their 2-0 road win on May 26. There were no earned runs. Griffin … [Read more...]
Pieper repeats as sub-section champion; eight Cal/SG boys qualify for section track
Senior Chris Pieper repeated as the sub-section high jump champion and is one of eight Caledonia/Spring Grove boys to qualify for the May 31 and June 2 Section Track & Field Championships. Both sophomore Josh Beardmore and freshman Fischer Wait advanced in three different events while junior Eric Mauss qualified in two events. Other Warriors qualifying were senior Reid … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Summer kitchen provided dishwater dining for swine
“We didn’t have air-conditioning, electric fans or even ice cubes to cool a glass of water, but we survived,” wrote Houston town history writer, Ingrid Julsrud, about growing up in the early 1900s. An evening dip or swim in a river was one relief for those living close enough to a waterway. Sitting on a porch might provide more moving air than was possible inside the house. … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past The Lady on the Hill still receives visitors
Part three of a three-part series “The Stone Lady” or the “Lady on the Hill,” a unique hand-stacked landmark on a hill in Black Hammer Township has surveyed the landscape ever since the late 1860s or 1870s. Black Hammer Hill was the most pronounced feature of the topography, overlooking to the east where the Winona-Fort Atkinson Indian Trail crossed an older trail between the … [Read more...]
Two relays, Stendel win track and field events for Caledonia/Spring Grove
Caledonia/Spring Grove won two of the three boys relays, won the high jump and collected six of the top nine long jumps at the Cotter Invitational in Winona on May 19. There were six teams competing, but no team scores were computed. Winning the high jump is nothing new, but it was not the usual winner. Conference champion Chris Pieper did not enter, but Warrior freshman Ethan … [Read more...]
Spring Grove wins pair, drops two to close regular season
For the Spring Grove boys, the final week of the regular season began as expected with a comfortable May 17 double-header sweep of winless Schaeffer Academy with almost identical scores of 13-3 and 13-2. However, the 11-10 home upset setback to Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons was not expected after the Lions had won convincingly, 21-10, earlier in the season at Glenville. The May … [Read more...]