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Sports from the week of December 1, 1999

 

Panther boys open Dec. 9 at Granite Falls

The Panther boys' basketball team is preparing for their Dec. 9 opener at Granite Falls against Yellow Medicine East. New Panther Coach Jon Barsness has been working the athletes hard with well organized practices that give the them few opportunities to rest.

No one has earned a spot on the starting five. Returning letter winners include: Derek Rignell, Pat Coquyt, Jeremy Goltz, Chris Gervais and Ben Lightfoot.

"We are not at a point yet where I can name a starting five," said Barsness. "However we will be in real trouble if I can not give you a pretty good idea of who will be playing by next week."

Last year's team was 14-10, second in the 212 Conference and reached the final four in the sub-section tournament, losing to Redwood Valley, at that time the top ranked Class AA team in Minnesota.

Wrestlers have busy early schedule

The Panther wrestling team has been preparing for their opening action of the 1999-2000 season.

They will participate in quadrangular at Clara City on Friday, Dec. 3 and come right back on Monday for a quadrangular at Marshall. Friday they will wrestle MACCRAY, BDRSH and Benson, in that order, and Monday they will wrestle Minneota, Wabasso and Marshall.

"It is a tough way to start the season," said Coach Joe Kemp. "The kids will wrestle three matches on Friday, take the weekend off and then have to make weight and wrestle three more matches on Monday."

The squad is led by returning letter winners Mark Andree, Peter Jacobsen, Eric Jacobson, Aldon Struchen, Mike Kamrud, Geoff Ruppert, Paul Swenson, Matt Freeburg, Aaron Goettig, Derek Goettig, Freddie Martinez and Sue Moua.

Coach Joe Kemp is working his charges hard to improve on last year's 3-18-1 dual meet record.

Determined Ben Lightfoot makes mark as three-sport athlete

Ben Lightfoot is the consummate three sport athlete. He played a big part in bringing about the successes that the football team enjoyed this fall, and he is making a good effort toward helping the basketball team as a returning letter winner this winter.

In the spring he will be a contributing member of the track team.

Ben made the 212 all-conference football team and was chosen by his fellow team members as the most valuable defensive lineman. His team mates knew what they were talking about as Ben was always making a play when it would help the team's cause the most.

He recovered fumbles in each of the last four football games, he blocked a field goal attempt in the Luverne game when the Panthers won by a mere one point, and he also deflected the Luverne pass that Nathan Clark caught and ran in for a touchdown.

Ben is the son of Bill and Charlene Lightfoot and lives 24 miles north of Tracy. (Two miles north of Highway 19 and near Vesta). He came to Tracy in the ninth grade after finishing eight grades in the Milroy school district. He has three sisters, Shantel, Katrina and Alissa. Shantel and Katrina have matriculated to

Stout and both were active in athletics. Shantel played at Stout but Katrina had a knee injury that kept her out of sports in college. Both played basketball and volleyball for Tracy-Milroy. Alissa is in seventh grade this year.

Ben is not only a talented athlete but an excellent student. At the recent Academic Banquet he was presented with the coveted "Recent Achiever Award".