Chris Pieper repeated as the conference high jump champion, clearing a personal-record 6-feet, 5-inches for Caledonia/Spring Grove at the May 14 Three Rivers Conference Track & Field Meet at Dover-Eyota. His previous best effort was the 6-feet, 4-inches while winning the TRC title last year. Pieper has won the high jump at all six meets he has entered in 2022. The versatile … [Read more...]
Spring Grove drops SEC showdown, splits at R-P tourney
Spring Grove dropped out of a first-place tie with a 4-2 loss to visiting Southland on May 13, one day before splitting a pair of games at the 2022 Rushford-Peterson Classic. All four tournament games were run-rule blowouts, including a Spring Grove split. The Lions fell to R-P, 13-3, before taking the third-place game against Goodhue, 15-4. That was the boys’ sixth game in six … [Read more...]
Spring Grove tied at the top with two SEC wins
Spring Grove remained atop the four-team logjam in the Southeast Conference baseball race with a pair of critical SEC wins – one by a comfortable margin and the other a nailbiter. With make-up games packing the schedule, there were three games in three days, first the lone loss in a closely-contested, non-conference May 9 clash versus Martin County West at a neutral site in … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past How old is Black Hammer’s landmark lady?
Part two of a three-part series A local newspaper stated, “V. Valtinson returned to his home at Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Monday after a five weeks visit here with relatives and friends. Mr. Valtinson is one of the real pioneers of Black Hammer Township and can tell thrilling stories of the early days with the Indians. While here, Mr. Valtinson added a few stones to the stone … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past The Stone Lady of Black Hammer – Who? Why? How many?
Part one of a two-part series It has long been a double distinction – the name and the landmark – for the Houston County hamlet of Black Hammer. That early landmark, ”The Stone Lady,” still looks down from a hill named Black Hammer, 1.3 miles south of the village with the same name. Early 1850s settler Knud Olson Bergo lived near a bluff in Minnesota that reminded him of a … [Read more...]
Warrior girls, boys sweep 4x200M relays at quadrangular
Both the Caledonia/Spring Grove 4x200-meter relay teams (girls and boys) were victorious at a quadrangular track and field meet hosted on May 6 by La Crescent-Hokah with the Warriors also competing against Cotter and La Crosse Logan. There were additional first-place honors for Garrett Ness in shot put and Chris Pieper extending his high jump winning streak. There were no team … [Read more...]
Spring Grove splits crucial last-inning, one-run nailbiters
For the visiting Spring Grove boys, three runs were not quite enough in the first-place showdown versus undefeated, state-ranked Southland but two days later, three runs were just enough to edge one-win Mabel-Canton. Both games were tied going into the final seventh inning. The Rebels prevailed, 4-3, with a walk-off single at Adams on Monday, May 2, whereas the Lions edged the … [Read more...]
Lions outscore GMLOK before walk-off heartbreaker at Lyle/Pacelli
Spring Grove slipped down into third place in a three-team championship baseball race while splitting a pair of conference games. On May 5, the Lions overcame a late uprising at Spring Valley to win 16-8, completing a season sweep of Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Kingsland (GMLOK). But the next afternoon at Austin, it was a role reversal in the rematch with Lyle/Pacelli. The … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past Homemade hankies, communal crockery saved summer shockers
Large handkerchiefs and a two-gallon crockery jug were indispensable, and the cistern certainly satisfied while shocking grain, according to Anita Lee (Hartman) Palmquist while describing her childhood on a Houston County farm in Pleasant Valley near Hokah during the late 1920s and early ‘30s. All youngsters were expected to handle age-appropriate farm work – either alone or … [Read more...]
Beardmore wins 100, runs on winning relay for Cal/SG boys
The Caledonia/Spring Grove 4x200-meter relay boys claimed their first win of the 2022 season, while Chris Pieper won his fourth high jump competition in four attempts, both wins last week while clearing 6-feet even. That relay quartet, with their best time to date of one minute, 37.5 seconds, featured freshman Fischer Wait, sophomore Josh Beardmore, junior Eric Mauss and senior … [Read more...]