After top 100 finish at Boston Marathon

Distance runner Curtis Huffman, Wessington Springs, recently topped the field in the 2011 Omaha Marathon in Omaha, Nebraska.

He took 1st place in a time of 2:36:54., eight minutes ahead of second place.

It was the first marathon win for Huffman and ninth marathon in eight different states. Last year he finished in the top 100 at the Boston Marathon, one of the premier marathon races in the world.

The weather was perfect for a marathon. It was near 45 in the morning and was up to 60 by at the end.

The 2011 annual youth hunt was held at the Foothills Lodge, south of Wessington Springs, on Sunday, October 2.

The Foothills Lodge –owned and operated by Dan Kruse and Fred Krohmer– is a local pheasant hunting lodge that opens its doors and hunting ground to the youth hunt. The hunt is sponsored by the Jerauld County chapter of Pheasants Forever.

Jason Weber was the local coordinator of the project.

Shown no specific order are: Levi Waldhauser, Kadin Kelsch, Hunter Mathias, Elijay Snay, Kanin Nelson, Cole Christensen, Brady Tiede, Ty Auske, Wyatt Stevens, Clayton Dornbusch, Trevor Harms, Drew Kress, Nate Kress, Nathan Huisman, Elliot Ohlrogge, Aaron Linke, Jonathan Linke, Philip Degreef and Hayden Hooks.

TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE WENZEL

THE 2011 WESSINGTON SPRINGS High School volleyball team is presently competing in their regular season. Members of the team are, front row – left to right: Alicia Jackson, Savanna South, Taryn Sinkie, Tallie Heim, Sierra Brodkorb, Jenna Teveldal; 2nd row – L to R: Lexi Olinger, Jaycee Hohn, Haley Reider, Whitney Reider, Sheyanne Brodkorb, Taylor Sinkie, Morgan Tebay; Back Row – L to R: Kayla Boomsma, Shelby Sandmann, Shyanne Kopfmann, Traci Orth, Devin Tebay, Cassidy Musick, Maddie Gran, Monica Jones.

BY CRAIG WENZEL – TRUE DAKOTAN EDITOR THERE WAS A TIME IN THE 1970’S when men’s slowpitch softball reigned the summertime sports scene. The Wessington Springs men’s league exploded to a bulging eight teams– like Dey’s Angus, Coast-to-Coast, Farmer’s Union Insurance, Wenzel Texaco, the Ranchers, Firemen, Alpena team, the Lancers– even replacing Owls amateur baseball for a few years. Every Wednesday night the softball field on the east edge of town would be surrounded by fans and players as the games were played. The late games were played under the lights. A traveling all-star team, the Springs Merchants (above) met with a lot of success playing in weekend tournaments. The 1978 Merchants went a step above when they competed in the State B Men’s Slowpitch State Tournament. The club lost an early game, won a second contest and stayed on the field the rest of the day –seven straight games with a one-hour break all day– to eventually land in the championship game. Hot and warn out, the club finished second that year. Shown above are, back row, from left: Clint Jost, Mike Mebius, Tom Grohs, Al Judstra, Larry Wenzel, Craig Larson, Barry Krueger, Gary Wenzel; middle row: Reed Woodruff, DD Couch, Melford Bergeleen, Lonnie Fischer, Brian Bergeleen, David “Rabbit” Jost; front, bat boys: Travis Wenzel and Gregg Judstra.

The old ballpark sported a classic wooden grandstand (below) for decades... a 2003 tornado sucked it up. An aluminum grandstand is now in that spot.

Springs Owls catcher Mike Gohring fields the ball during action at the 2002 State Amateur Baseball Tournament in Mitchell. The Owls lost the game, 4-3 to Dimock/Ethan to end their season.

The boys of summer….

Word around town has it that there will be no Wessington Springs Owls amateur baseball team this year. That’s a hard pill to swallow.

People planning on attending the Wessington Springs High School 100th anniversary celebration are invited to participate in the third annual Blue & Gold Golf Tournament. The tournament will be held at Springs Country Club on Friday, July 1, 2011, with an 11:00 a.m. tee off.

The price will be $30 per person and you may call the Country Club (605) 539-1944 to register. Other questions can be answered by calling Gloria Vavra (605) 350-2118) or Erin Bergeleen (605) 770-7624.

Come out and enjoy a fun-filled day of golf and support the Spartan athletic programs.

BY DUKE WENZEL & CRAIG WENZEL/ TRUE DAKOTAN

A  high school aide and coach from Wessington Springs made a very impressive finish at the Boston marathon, held in Massachusetts on Monday, April 18.

A familiar face around the town’s streets, Curtis Huffman, finished high among the world class runners was the 100th man to cross the finish line and 116th place overall with a time of 2:31.59.

It is quite a feat when you consider there are in the neighborhood of 28,000 runners from all over the world at the Boston Marathon. His finish in the race put him into the top

Entries for the 2011 Foothills Rodeo Queen are due by May 8. The annual pageant will be held Saturday, May 28, at 9:00 a.m. The contest is held in conjunction with the annual SDRA Foothills Rodeo, held in Wessington Springs each spring. Rodeo performances will be Saturday, May 28 (6:00 PM) and Sunday, May 29 (2:00 PM).

Contestants will be judged on horsemanship, speech, interviews, poise, personality and congeniality.

Age categories include princess (8-11), junior queen (12-16) and senior queen (17-24).

There will also be a “Li’l Miss Foothills pageant for cowgirls seven years and younger. Those contestants need to dress in their best cowgirl outfits and be there the day of the pageant.