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December 28, 1999
The best that 1999 had to offerIf you're looking for one of those decade, century or millennium lists from me, you're going to have to wait another year. OK, so we can't agree on whether it's 2000 or 2001 that starts the next decade, etc. We can, however, agree that Jan. 1 starts a new year. Now that we agree on something, it's time to stir up some more disagreement. After all, that's really what best-of lists are for -- to start fights. I never did one of these until six years ago because I thought they were a display of arrogance -- one person determining what was best or worst or whatever. But I changed my mind when I my car died and I got stranded in Sonora, Texas, for a few days. I went to see a coach I knew and he suggested I write a best-of-the-year column. I decided to heed his advice because writing something significantly increases your chances of getting paid in this profession. BEST FOOTBALL GAME: The Wabasso Rabbits edged the Red Rock Central Falcons 13-12 in the Section 3-1A final Nov. 5 in Wabasso. Wabasso took a slim 7-6 lead into the final quarter. RRC scored on a 1-yard run on 4th-and-goal by Craig Swan with 1:07 in the game for a 12-7 Falcon lead. The Rabbits then drove 61 yards to score the winning touchdown on a 23-yard pass from Mike Samyn to Andrew VanLoy with just 15 seconds in the game. BEST VOLLEYBALL MATCH: It was a war when Buffalo Lake-Hector and Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop went after each other Oct. 7 in Fairfax. GFW dropped the first game 11-15, but fought back to take the final three games 15-9, 15-8, 15-11. Five players finished with double-digit kills, and three players had 20-kill matches. Thunderbird junior Rebecca Kaukola had a match-high 29 kills and seven stuff blocks, and Ashley Dingels added 21 kills for GFW. BLH senior Jennifer Johnson had 21 kills and twin sister Jessica Johnson added 11. BEST SOFTBALL GAME: New Ulm High routed Fairmont 11-0 in the first game of a doubleheader sweep May 10 in New Ulm. Eagles' pitcher Jaime Soulek came within one error of a perfect game. Soulek finished the five-inning game with four strike outs and only once went to a full count. BEST BASEBALL GAME: Sleepy Eye St. Mary's Gabe Hirsch fanned Sleepy Eye's Steve Geschwind with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to preserve a 7-6 St. Mary's win May 13 at Sleepy Eye Baseball Park. The Knights took a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh. But one out later, the Indians had plated a pair of runs before Hirsch struck out Mike Nachreiner for the second out. Hirsch walked Cody Walter on five pitches to fill the bases before Geschwind took Hirsch to a full count before striking out swinging to end the game. BEST BASKETBALL GAME: It came down to the final 38 seconds. McLeod West's Nathan Bussler hit a running, off-balance, one-handed 8-footer in the lane with 22.6 seconds left in the game. The Falcons then withstood a furious final-second flurry by Minnesota Valley Lutheran to take a 69-68 upset win in a Section 2-1A West sub-section game March 2 at Springfield High School. MVL's final play was to get the ball to Dan Unke, who led the Chargers with a game-high 26 points. But he didn't get the shot he wanted, firing up a prayer with three seconds on the clock -- a 35-footer from the left wing that wasn't answered. The ball was tipped once, then a second time. The ball jumped into the air for a third time and fell through the basket, but the final tip-in attempt came about a half a second after the clock went to zero. OTHER PERFORMANCES OF NOTE HOCKEY: Fairmont goalie Nick Boisen turned away 52 shots during the Cardinals' 6-1 loss to New Ulm High Dec. 16. In the same game, Eagle sophomore forward Jamie Hoffman recorded his first varsity hat trick, scoring all three times on rebound goals. CROSS COUNTRY: Sheena Dauer's finished in fourth place at the Class 1A girls cross country meet Nov. 6 in Northfield. The St. Mary's-Sleepy Eye girls cross country team placed second to Montgomery-Lonsdale at the Section 2-1A meet in Blue Earth Oct. 28. GOLF: Dave Heisler rallied from four strokes back to win his first New Ulm Country Club Championship Aug. 21 with a final-round 69. Springfield-Comfrey placed fourth at the Class 1A girls state golf tournament June 7-8 in St. Cloud. The Tigers' Jeanno Larson was 18th, firing an 81 on the second day after a less-than-spectacular 90 on the tournament's first day.
Column by Bob Varmette, Journal sports writer
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