It was a tough task from the start. Caledonia baseball (4-seed, 18-7) trekked to Hudson Field in Rochester to play Pine Island (3-seed, 19-5) for the 1AA title game needing to beat the Panthers twice to advance to state. It was the third meeting between the two teams. Like the first two, the Warriors could not solve the Panther puzzle. Pine Island played good baseball, as a … [Read more...]
Softball (6/16)
Multiple All-State Players Highlight Postseason Softball Awards It was a highly entertaining and successful season for Journal-covered softball teams with Caledonia and Houston making it all the way to the section finals, plus Chatfield making the 1AA Final Four. Five of eight “Journal” teams finished above five-hundred and they combine for seven All-State players. Three … [Read more...]
Track and Field: GMLOKS, RPH, LFCMC and Chatfield Bountiful in State Qualifiers
The 2025 Section 1A track and field meet was marked by a plethora of area athletes making state by standard, particularly from Chatfield and LFCMC. Meanwhile, RPH and GMLOKS saw its stars shine. For GMLOKS, it would have been a complete shocker if sprinter Chantle Reiland did not shine in a fast and long way at her last 1A Meet. The Kingsland senior made her first state … [Read more...]
Golf (6/9)
1A Girls Golf: Falcon Girls Continue Dynasty With 11th Straight Title For a day, the dynasty was threatened. Lanesboro girls golf made Aaron Mensink’s Falcons sweat for a few hours at the 1A Meet, but the reigning state runners-up overcame the Burros to claim their 11th straight section title. Lanesboro ended Day 1 leading Fillmore Central 359 to 363. The Burros rode 8th … [Read more...]
Baseball (6/9)
Two Wins Over Top-Seeded Bombers Put Warriors in 1AA Finals Caledonia baseball had a couple rough innings versus Pine Island and took a loss. But sandwiched around it were two tense wins versus Cannon Falls. Those wins put the Warriors in the 1AA finals. Caledonia (4-seed, 16-6) started its second week of the playoffs against the Bombers (1-seed, 17-4) in the third … [Read more...]
Softball (6/9)
Hurricanes Earn First Section Runner-Up in Decades They had an unbelievable year. Houston softball progressed further than it has in decades. They fell a couple wins short of state but piled up the runs, scoring 324 (which may be a state record). By contrast, state champion Chatfield in 2023 scored 218 runs in four more games (albeit Class AA pitching is oft better than … [Read more...]
Kingsland School Board Looks Toward Future After Referendum Fails
On Monday, May 19, the Kingsland School Board began their night with a special meeting to review the resolution canvassing the return of votes for the May 12 referendum vote. In 2024, voters approved question one from the district referendum, which dealt with $8.9 million worth of physical facility needs. Question two on that ballot failed. This question dealt with the … [Read more...]
Hot Shots
GMLOKS’ girls won the Sub-2 meet. Chantle Reiland won four events (100, 200, Long Jump, 4x200) including resetting her own program record in the Long Jump (17’8”). Breeley Galle (Triple Jump, 300-hurdles, 100-hurdles, 4x200) and Gracie Foster (100-H, 300-H, T-Jump, 4x100) each also qualified for sections four times. Chatfield’s Charlotte Oeltjen won the 3,200-meters, … [Read more...]
Golf (6/2)
Burro Teams Sweep SEC Meet Lanesboro’s golf teams took a broom to the Southeast Conference Meet (again), sweeping the boys and girls team and individual first places. On the guys side, Tim Opat’s group rode top two finishers Jack Brogle and Holdyn Willford to a 17-stroke win over Southland, 351 to 368. GMLO (369) took a narrow third followed by Houston (375), Kingsland … [Read more...]
Post-Season Track and Field
Sub-Section 1 Meet (Cotter/Hope Lutheran’s girls (167) topped RPH (101) with LFCMC (80.5) taking fifth and Caledonia/SG (32) eighth (of nine). St. Charles’ boys (193.5) topped Cotter/HL (162) followed by RPH (104), LFCMC (58.5), and C/SG (51). Dover-Eyota, Lewiston-Altura, and La Crescent/Hokah also competed. RPH 1A Meet girls qualifiers: Aubry Boldt (1st 100-hurdes > … [Read more...]
Baseball (6/2)
Warriors Post Shutouts in Posting Playoff Wins Pitching wins games. Caledonia baseball turned to its two 6’6” senior throwers in opening round playoff contests. Combined with some errorless defense, each produced shut-out wins, moving the Warriors in the 1AA third round. Versus Lake City (13-seed, 5-14) in the 1AA Round of 16, Caledonia (4-seed, 14-6) got a 15-strikeout … [Read more...]
Softball (6/2)
#10 Gophers Post Back-to-Back Rallies, Head to Austin Unblemished It is probably not advisable to start a second-round section game down 3-0, and then a third-round contest down 4-0. That is what the #10 in AA Chatfield softball did, and yet they are still off to Austin without a loss for a battle with the #1-ranked team in state. Brent Berge’s Gophers (2-seed, 16-4) first … [Read more...]
Hot Shots
Lanesboro’s Jack Brogle shot the two lowest rounds of the year for any Journal-covered golfer (back-to-back two-under-par 33s) in wins over Kingsland and Houston. Hurricane Logan Olson shot a 38 in defeat. Both Burros teams (10-0) are SEC champions. Tenth-ranked Chatfield softball fell to St. Charles 7-1 in a key TRC-West contest. The Gophers (10-4, 16-4) take second behind … [Read more...]
Baseball (5/26)
Warriors Post Second Straight 4-1 Week For a second straight week, Caledonia baseball won four of five games. Their 12-3 record over the final 15 games has them a top four post-season seed. Shawn Bauer’s group first avenged a loss to Lewiston-Altura. The Warriors scored four in the bottom of the first and then never looked back in a 9-1 win. Reid Klug gave up just one … [Read more...]
Track and Field (5/26)
GMLOKS is State True Team Runner-Up, LFCMC Takes 8th For a third straight year, GMLOKS girls track and field is the state True Team runner-up. For the second straight year, they do so by a very narrow margin, and this year against the team they topped at sections. Aaron Thauwald’s group (538) took second to 1A rival Cotter/Hope Lutheran (543.5) with Luverne (485.5) taking … [Read more...]