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By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher
Much like their predecessors from New Richland-Hartland back in the late 1970s, the NRHEG track and field boys didn’t just win. They dominated.
The Panthers pummeled the opposition in last week’s Gopher Conference meet at Blooming Prairie, compiling 181 points to 102 for second-place Medford. WEM followed with 94.5, Blooming Prairie had 91, Maple River 90, USC/AC 58, Hayfield 52.5 and Bethlehem Academy 29.
It was the second straight conference crown for the Panthers, who last year ended a four-decade drought of local boys taking the first-place trophy.
“It was an absolutely awesome job by our boys,” said NRHEG coach Duey Ferber. “These guys came out and performed tonight. I am so extremely proud to be their coach.”
The Panthers made Ferber proud by winning seven events and taking second in five more.
Brady Agrimson claimed three firsts, winning the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.25 seconds, the 300 intermediates in 41.24 and the high jump at 6 feet.
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DenOuden hits 50 straight as clay target team pulls ahead
For the first time this season, the sharp shooters from the NRHEG Panther clay target team had the highest team score in the conference.
This allowed the team to extend its lead in Conference 3 of Class 5A over the team from Monticello.
The team was led by Isaac DenOuden, who turned in his first career 50-straight night.
Over the last two weeks, DenOuden has hit 99 of 100 targets, moving him into third in the conference individually. He was closely followed by Jason Eustice and Evan Reyna, who each shot rounds of 25 straight on their way to scores of 49.
Currently, the team has eight athletes sitting in the top 25 averages in the conference. DenOuden (3rd) is joined by Alex Dobberstein (4th), Jason Eustice (9th), Clay Stenzel (12th), Ralph Roesler (16th), Walker Krampitz (20th), and Evan Reyna (23rd) on the male side while Keria Lenort moved up to 10th on the female side with her career best score of 45.
DenOuden currently sits in the 108th spot in the state and Dobberstein is ranked 131, which means both athletes are just outside of qualifying for the state tournament as individuals.
“Both will need a big final week to break into this elite group,” said coach Dan Sorum.
The Panther shooters finish the regular season this week, hoping to end the conference on top in preparation for the State Class 5A Championship in Alexandria on June 14.
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Bats mostly silent as NRHEG softball team falls 9-3 to WEM
All season long, the NRHEG softball team had hopes of capturing at least a share of the Gopher Conference championship.
Those hopes lasted until the final day of the regular season.
The 2019 conference crown was decided on New Richland’s Legion Field May 17 as the Panthers lost 9-3 to WEM, which improved to 18-0 overall and finished 14-0 in the conference while NRHEG fell to 15-4 and 12-2.
The Panthers scored three times in the fifth to tie it, but the Bucs answered with three in the fifth and three more in the sixth.
“We couldn’t get the bats going until later in the game,” said coach Wendy Schultz. “We only had one hit until the fifth inning. We have to give credit to WEM as they were on with their hitting. We look to regroup and hope to be playing our best ball in playoffs next week.”
Madi Knudson was 2-for-3, Ava Kyllo 2-for-4. Sophie Stork took the pitching loss.