Rod's Monday Sports in Things

Pierre finished 5th in the State ESD Tennis tournament that wrapped up on Saturday in Sioux Falls. Pierre finished ahead of all the other 7 ESD teams in the final standings, edging out ESD champion Watertown. It was the second best finish since Governor head coach Jeff Schlekeway took over the program behind last year's 4th place. Nathan Ellenbecker had a 4th place finish at number 3 singles for the top finish of the tournament for any of the 6 singles players and he and teammate Jerrod Smith finished 4th at number 2 doubles. Number 1 player Conner Forney, one of two seniors on the team finished 5th as he recorded 73 victories in his career for the Governors, placing him in 4th place ahead of Steven Cordts who recorded 68 victories from 1982 to 85. Chris Williams is the all time leader with 111 wins from 1999 to 2005. Tj Kracht has 86 wins to be second on the all time list Mike Trautner with 83 wins is third.

The Pierre Governor and Lady Governor Track and Field teams are gearing up for the State Track and Field meet this weekend in Brandon and Sioux Falls. 22 girls have qualified while 18 Governor boys have qualified. The 22 girls qualifying for the state meet is the most that has gone in several years for the Lady Govs. We will have live reports from the State Track and Field meet Friday and Saturday on 1060 AM KGFX.

And it has been almost a week since Harmon Killebrew passed and still he is being honored as one of the great players all time in major league baseball history. His 573 homes runs ranks him 11th on the all time list. While growing up in southeast Nebraska back in the 60's, Harmon Killebrew was one of my favorite players. Even though I am a Cubs fan, the only time I could see them was on Sundays on the one of the Omaha TV stations. But I listened to the Twins on the radio and Killebrew was always as big as life. Players like pitchers Jim Kaat and Jim "Mudcat" Grant and players like Killebrew and Bob Allison and Rich Reece and Tony Oliva just to name a few were household names. At least in our household they were. He was truly one of the last breed of players spending his entire major league career with the Twins and Washington Senators before they moved to Minneapolis. And a player that always treated the fans with respect and always was there to autograph, always smiling and never turning anyone away. While I did not see Killebrew play in a Twins uniform, I did see him as a Kansas City Royal and I was in attendance in 1975 when I was going to school in Minneapolis. It was Harmon Killebrew day on that Sunday. His first at bat, hit a towering home run into the upper deck of left field. The stadium gave him a standing ovation. It is something I will never forget.