Features (1071)
The annual PTO Community Night out will be held at the Geneva Community Center on Saturday, April 5. It begins at 5 p.m. with a social hour and silent auction. At 6 there will be a catered buffet dinner. Comedian C. Willi Myles will be the entertainment for the night with the live auction beginning at 7. Tickets are available at the NRHEG Elementary School Office and will be $15 ahead of time and $20 at the door.
Ellendale City Council
By SCOTT GROTH
Contributing Writer
The Ellendale City Council met Thursday March 27, with Mayor Swearingen, Councilmen Reiter, Lassahn and Groth present; absent was Councilman Goebel. Also attending the meeting: Clerk Hojberg, Assistant Clerk Zimprcih, Municipal Liquor Store Manager Pete Paulson and Maintenance Supervisor Josh Otto.
After approving the agenda as presented, the council heard from Clerk Hojberg. During her report, Hojberg told the council the numbers have been steady and improving at the Municipal Liquor Store. Discussion was held and council members felt this would be a good chance to move some monies that were borrowed during the remodeling process. A motion was made to repay $5,000 from the Liquor Store Fund to the General Fund. The motion was passed.
Congratulations to NRHEG's John Schultz and Grant Berg for being named the Section 2AA Head Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year! They are also in the running for the State Coach of the Year, which Coach Schultz received last year. John also will be honored as the Assistant Coach of the Year for football this weekend at the Annual Minnesota Football Coaches Assoc. Clinic.
Said NRHEG Athletic Director Dan Stork, "We are very fortunate to have such dedicated, hard working coaches representing NRHEG!"
NRHEG girls repeat as state champs
NO. 1 AGAIN — The Panthers’ Carlie Wagner (3) signifies her team is No. 1 for the second year in a row after NRHEG defeated Kenyon-Wanamingo 71-61 for the Class AA girls’ state basketball championship at Williams Arena in Minneapolis Saturday, March 22. Also pictured for the Panthers is Anna Stork (11). (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
Carlie again shatters state records, but it’s a team effort
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
Happy or sad?
The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers couldn't seem to decide. So they were both - with the ledger visibly tilted to the happy side.
The Panthers completed an amazing, improbable, history making two-year run at Williams Arena in Minneapolis Saturday, winning their second consecutive Minnesota Class AA state girls' basketball championship. The Panthers, rated No. 1 in the state all season and seeded No. 1 in the state tournament, defeated No. 2 seed Kenyon-Wanamingo 71-61 for the title, finishing the season with a 61-game winning streak. The Panthers finished 31-0. Kenyon-Wanamingo wound up 31-2, its only losses to NRHEG.
"In 20, 30 years, these girls will be coming back to Williams Arena as legends,” said Panthers coach John Schultz. “To win a state championship, that's one thing. But to do it back-to-back, it's unheard of."
SO LONG, FANS - NRHEG girls' basketball seniors, from left: Paige Overgaard, Hannah Lundberg, Jade Schultz, Carlie Wagner (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
For upwards of an hour Saturday evening, Panther fans waited patiently in the high school gymnasium for their beloved girls.
Finally, the loud and colorful caravan - featuring fire trucks from New Richland, Hartland, Ellendale and Geneva - rolled into town, carrying the not once but twice state champions.
The heroes were home.
Mark Domeier let people know it.
"Welcome to New Richland for our third annual welcome home celebration and your two-time state champion New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers!" exclaimed Domeier, NRHEG's basketball public address announcer.
New Richland City Council
By JESSICA LUTGENS
Contributing Writer
The New Richland City Council held its second meeting of March Monday evening. The meeting began early, and those interested were given a short tour of the new fire department building at 6:15. The meeting was then called to order, and all members were present.
The agenda was approved, then the consent agenda, with slight adjustments.
Before the reports were presented, the Council reviewed Resolution No. 14-07, which will set a date for a hearing on Jones, Haugh and Smith’s proposed assessment prepared after receipt of the acceptable bid for the upcoming improvements of 3rd Street/County Road 12. They agreed to decide the date of the hearing at the next council meeting.
The Care Center report was up first. The hiring of an interim MDS Coordinator was approved, and it was explained that said person will be employed at the Care Center for one to two months at $90/hour.
NRHEG Board of Education
By REED WALLER
Staff Writer
Discussion was heavy at NRHEG’s March board meeting Monday, March 17, as members considered some complicated issues.
The issue of school hours for last Wednesday’s Girls Basketball Tournament opener was dealt with quickly. It was approved to make March 19 a non-student day. Employees were required to work, attend the game in supervisory capacity, or take the day off.
iPads vs 2-in-1
Currently the district has a blend of iPad 1’s and 2’s at both locations. The plan is to have iPad 2’s in grades 1-9, and have a cart of 30 for Kindergarten use. The iPad 1’s could be passed to the band department, and repurposed as music display devices, cutting down the need for sheet music and books.
NRHEG girls defend state title
NRHEG girls' basketball seniors hoist the state championship trophy at Williams Arena in Minneapolis Saturday. The Panthers won their second consecutive Class AA state title. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
The NRHEG girls' baskball team did it again.
The Panthers succeeded in defending their Minnesota Class AA girls' basketball title with a 71-61 victory over Kenyon-Wanamingo Saturday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
Senior Carlie Wagner scored 36 record-setting points and her ninth-grade twin sisters added 16 more; 9 for Maddie and 7 for Marnie. All three made the all-tournament team and, for the third year in a row, Carlie broke several records. Paige Overgaard scored eight points Saturday, Jade Schultz seven, Hannah Lundberg four.
Panthers return to state finals
NRHEG senior guard Carlie Wagner further established herself in the state girls’ basketball record book.
Her 41 points in Friday night's state semifinal 87-58 victory solidified her mark as the top scoring player in state tournament history. She has scored 335 points so far in this tournament and that surpasses the 329 points that Janet Karvonen of New York Mills scored in four consecutive tournaments from 1977 through 1980. Wagner began her tournament scoring spree in the 2012 state tournament.
Wagner, Panthers break records in state opener
NRHEG's Carlie Wagner goes to the hoop for two of her single-game state tournament record 53 points during the Panthers' 100-68 victory over Pequot Lakes in the opening round of the Minnesota State Girls' Basketball Tournament Wednesday at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. Wagner broke her own state record set last year. The Panthers' 100 points are also a tournament record — breaking the old mark set in 1984 — and the two teams' 168 points were a record. The Panthers advanced to face Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted in the semifinals Friday at 6 p.m. at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Also pictured above: the Panthers' Jade Schultz and Pequot Lakes' Katie White (22) and Vanessa Lane (11). If the Panthers win Friday, they'll play for the state championship Saturday at 2 p.m. at Williams Arena. If they lose Friday, they play for third place Saturday at noon at Concordia University in St. Paul. (Star Eagle photo by Jim Lutgens)
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Ellendale City Council
By SCOTT GROTH
Contributing Writer
The Ellendale City Council held a public hearing Thursday, March 13 at 6:30 p.m., prior to its regular meeting. Mayor Swearingen and all council members were present along with approximately 20 concerned citizens.
Eric Hefner, engineer with Bolten & Menk, started the hearing by giving everyone an overview of the proposed street project. The project would include work on 2nd St. from 6th Ave.- 8th Ave., 5th St. from 5th Ave. – 7th Ave., 4th St. from 6th Ave. – 8th Ave., and a portion of 7th Ave. that was torn up due to a water main break this year.
LeSueur River Watershed meeting Monday in Waldorf
The LeSueur River Watershed Network is sponsoring a potluck followed by a meeting to discuss the future of the watershed group on Monday, March 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Waldorf Community Center in Waldorf. The public is invited to this free event to join the conversation about the newly forming LeSueur River watershed group and to share a meal with watershed neighbors.
NRHEG senior Carlie Wagner has been named a finalist for the 2014 Minnesota Miss Basketball Award.
The winner will be announced at the All-Star Series on Saturday, April 26 at Carleton College in Northfield. The other finalists are Kenisha Bell, Bloomington Kennedy; Chase Coley, Minneapolis Washburn; Cayla McMorris, Park Center; Breanna Rasmussen, Fergus Falls.
NRHEG basketball girls continue to write local history
Above, members of the NRHEG girls' basketball team jump for joy in the final seconds of the Panthers' 70-36 victory over Norwood-Young America for the Section 2AA championship and state tournament berth Friday night at Mankato. From left: Maddie Wagner, Anna Stork, Jade Schultz, Hannah Lundberg, Paige Overgaard, Carlie Wagner and Marnie Wagner. Below, Panther Nation makes its presence known. The Panthers, seeded No. 1, play Wednesday in the opening round of the state tournament at 2 p.m. against Pequot Lakes at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. (Star Eagle photos by Chris Schlaak)
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
A sea of taillights stretched from Mankato past St. Clair, Pemberton and Waldorf to New Richland and beyond Friday night.
It was a caravan, a joyous and proud Panther Nation.
Again, their beloved girls got the job done.
The defending state champion New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva girls' basketball team captured a third consecutive Section 2AA crown, dismantling Norwood-Young America 70-36 in the finals at Minnesota State, continuing to write school and local history.