Among 158 trap teams, Mabel-Canton finished 19th and Spring Grove 63rd at the National Championships of the USA High School Clay Target League. Two Cougars earned individual acclaim; Colton Heintz-Kuderer placed 20th and Austin Snell 35th - both in the top 2% among 1,684 individual shooters. There were also individual competitors from Kingsland, Lanesboro, Fillmore Central, … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past: Beware of death, Judgement Day, the devil and loan sharks
Norwegian emigration, part 7 When immigrants from Norway finally reached southeastern Minnesota, there was plenty of farm land available. According to the Distribution-Preemption Act of 1841, a squatter could live on 160 acres of federal government land and then pay the minimum price of $1.25 an acre ($39 value in 2021) when the land was officially opened for settlement. One … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past “Where this place Minnesota was… I had no idea”
Norwegian emigration, part 6 Many of the Norwegian immigrants, which would settle in Houston and Fillmore Counties as early as 1851, had their ocean voyage end at the port cities of Quebec or New York. Then after another voyage across the Great Lakes and/or a train ride or two, they reached Chicago or Milwaukee. Some, like the families of Thore Elemoen in 1853 and Knud … [Read more...]
Cougars, Lions, area trap shooters compete at national tournament
Among 158 trap teams, Mabel-Canton finished 19th and Spring Grove 63rd at the National Championships of the USA High School Clay Target League. Two Cougars earned individual acclaim; Colton Heintz-Kuderer placed 20th and Austin Snell 35th (both in the top 2%) among 1,684 individual shooters. There were also individual competitors from Kingsland, Rushford-Peterson, Lanesboro, … [Read more...]
Young baseball Lions are great students, promising athletes
While the summer American Legion baseball season progresses with most of the same Spring Grove players, this is a look back at the 2021 school baseball season. The youngest and most inexperienced Spring Grove high school baseball team in program history finished with a 10-12 season record, one win short of an 11-11 break-even season for coach Chris Strinmoen, former two-time … [Read more...]
Lion Legion’s last-inning, five-run rally overtakes St. Charles
Trailing by four runs and only one out away from what seemed like certain defeat, the Spring Grove Legion lads (ages 19 & under) staged a most-improbable five -run rally to overtake visiting St. Charles, 6-5, on July 8. It was a solemn bunch of Saints who watched in stunned silence as the delirious Lion squad streamed into right field in pursuit of sprinting Logan Brumm, … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past By canal boat or cattle car, westward toward Minnesota
Norwegian emigration, part 5 Few European immigrants, including Norwegians, were aware of the vastness of North American. Once reaching the port cities of New York or Quebec, many thought they were near their destination. However, after months of sailing, they were still hundreds of miles away from the agricultural west. Before trains arrived in the 1850s, the route west … [Read more...]
Grinde, McHugh are Lion Athletes of the Year
Senior Caden Grinde and sophomore Addyson McHugh were selected by the Spring Grove High School coaches as the Male and Female Athletes of the Year, respectively, for the school year 2020-21. McHugh is the first sophomore girl and joins Sam Morken (2003) as the only sophomores to receive the honor. McHugh, despite her youth, was a volleyball All-Southeast Conference selection … [Read more...]
Legion Lions blanked by undefeated Caledonia
The Spring Grove Legion (19 & under) baseball team fell, 10-0, after Caledonia took control with a six-run second inning. Seven of the 10 Warrior hits came during that outburst on June 28. Another three runs came with no hits (four walks, one error) in the fourth frame, and later a single by Andrew Cornelius and RBI double from Jacob Staggemeyer invoked the 10-run rule in … [Read more...]
Mabel-Canton shooters excel at state; Cardinals, Burros, Lions grab conference crowns
The Mabel-Canton High School trap shooters finished in third place among 29 teams at the Class 3A State Tournament, where the Cougars qualified for the overall (all nine classes) state tournament where they placed 12th among 40 teams. For individual honors at that final shoot-off, Mabel-Canton senior Colton Heintz-Kuderer hit 99 of 100 flying clay targets to place fourth among … [Read more...]