SEEKING JUSTICE

     Alright.....its a cold, windy but beautiful day......and the Kornerman isn't completely happy......and I feel compelled to tell you why. 

     Our Toreador girls swimming team has been badly short-changed all season and it breaks this old BHS'ers heart. That's why!

     Full disclosure: Perhaps there will be a glowing tribute to this team in tommorrow's (Thursday) Ames News Republican. Front page coverage? It should be or, at least, front page of the sports section. But then (?) a survey of the ANR's all-season coverage could best be described as "spotty." Admittedly, because of my long connection with BHS, I do take this slight of any of our student athletes high achievements personally.

       Let me explain this adulation with a bit of boredom. Once a Toreador, always a Toreador and this author has been privileged to be a program "insider" for a huge portion of my life. A 1953 BHS grad, I participated in almost every sport offered, from seventh grade on up. Then, as a local radio sports reporter (KWBG) and newspaper sports editor (Boone News Republican) I, simultaneously, covered all Toreador sports from the late 50's into the 2000's. Lots of Boone high athletes from that period, particularly the earlier years, still boast and appreciate having newspaper clippings of sporting events I had written about that they were involved in. Since I attended all the games, home and even away, the school hired me, on occasion, to transport athletes and even cheerleaders to the away contests. They were certain I'd be going. Speaking of swimming alone, all the away meets, as well as the home meets, were personally covered and many of the swimmers may remember riding in my vehicle to those contests. Oh, did I mention over 40 years of public address announcing at BHS football games?

     My heavy involvement with BHS activities was true and lengthy.

     The community was blessed this season with one of the best, if not THE best, BHS girls swimming teams ever, in a school sport that began in the 1930's. They broke school, pool and meet records, won or finished high in regular season events and represented us well in the just completed state competition, However, I'm sadly aware that, so far, their yeoman efforts have been badly understated, through no fault of their own.

     Yes, today our world is different, if that can be a satisfactory excuse. Newspapers are in a steep decline. Our once daily Boone News Republican succumbed to a once weekly paper and when new ownership left Boone County, the current once-weekly publication began leaning more and more away from Boone, favoring Ames and even copy regurgitated from a sister publication, the Des Moines Register.

     So, what can we do about it? Nothing I guess.

     But that isn't going to stop this old guy from providing state meet written newspaper material that, locally, I haven't seen yet.

     In final events, here were the Boone results.

     Diving: Jacie Flockhart, sophomore, 25th place, 180.10 diving points.

     200 medley relay: Liz Purtle, senior; Regan Peter, senior; Anna Gute, sophomore: Emily Wingert, senior, 7th place,1:50.53, 24 team points.

     50 freestyle: Purtle, 15th place, 24.89, 2 team points.

     200 free relay: Gute; Wingert; Marin Powell, senior; Purtle, ninth place, 1:40.27, 18 team points.

     400 free relay: Lexi Gradoville, sophomore; Wingert; Powell and Sierra Sherry, sophomore, finished 23rd in 3:47.51.

     There were no relay preliminaries. They were all final events.

     The Boone team finished with 44 points and a 17th place finish.

     In the diving prelims, Flockhart had a score of 399.80. 

     In the swimming prelims, Gute just missed qualifying in the 100 free. She swam 17th in 56.64 but only 16 swimmers advanced. Purtle swam 25th in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.79 and did not qualify for the final and Peter finished 29th in 1:11.01 in the 100 breaststroke and did not qualify for the final in that event. Purtle was 13th in the 50 freestyle prelims in 24.41 prior to her 15th place performance in 24.89 in the final.

     CONGRATULATIONS LADIES......your year long dedication has paid off and those who truly know, have great admiration for what you've accomplished as individuals and as a great team. 

K-----K

     BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Dan Veeder, 93, Boone. Belmond HS-44. Navy vet. Married Chris Halvorsen in 1950. Was a barber in Belmont and then Boone, 1951-75. After that, he worked for the U.S. Department of Energy on the ISU campus, retiring in 1992 but still doing some barbering. Survivors include a daughter, Corrine "Corky" Anderson of Boone and two sons..........Sharon Tilley Engnell, 80, Boone. BHS-58. Married Don Engnell in 1959. Did lots of volunteer work at Augustana Lutheran Church. Survivors include her husband, Don, of Boone, a son, a sister and three daughters including Joni Sheriff and Julie Dorr both of Boone........Don Shirley, 85, Boone........Harold "Marv" Nicholson, 74, Tecante, Mexico. BHS-64.........Wayne Bray, 88, Boone. Married Susan Harris in 1969. Worked at Moffitts as a mechanic until retirement in 1993. Survivors include a brother, Robert, and a sister, Frances Bass of Boone.........Carl "Dean" Westberg, 92, Boone. Born in Boone. BHS-47. Married Janette Ruth Foster in 1950. Was a machinist at ISU for 25 years. Survivors include his wife, Janette, and three daughters, including Jennifer Foley and Mary Conrad of Boone........Lila Woodruff Scott, 89, Boone. Born in Boone. Married Wendell Scott in 1951. Was a housewife. Survivors include a son, Ron Scott, of Boone, and four daughters, Dianna Ray of Pilot Mound, Patty Myers of Grand Junction and both Linda Galvan and Patsy Smith of Boone........Claire Rohwer Moore, 82, Boone. Formerly of Ames. Married Paul Moore Sr. in 1956. Earned a degree at ISU and served the Ames Community School District until retirement in 2000. Survivors include a son, four daughters, including Denise Dykstra of Boone, and a brother.........Russell Root, 93, Boone. Formerly of Burnside. Army vet. Married JoAnn Downing in 1957. Worked many years at Brick and Tile in Lehigh. Survivors include two adult ladies and two adult men........Patricia McComber Bergstrom, 88, Ogden. Formerly of Marshalltown. MHS-50. Married Richard Sexton in 1951 and he passed in 1985. Married Norman Bergstrom in 1985. Was a librarian and writer. Survivors include three daughters, two sons, four step-children including two girls and  two step sons, including Carl Bergstrom of Ogden..........Betty Mae Allie Mackey, 94, Ames. Born in Boone. Married Glen Mackey and they divorced. Worked 20 years at Friley Hall on the ISU campus. Survivors include a son, three daughters and a sister..........Dr. Edward John Hertko, 91, West Des Moines. Dr. Hertko created a camp for diabetic children and the first four sessions were held at the 4-H camp near Madrid. Temporarily, it was called Elm Camp. But then the participants renamed it Camp Hertko Hollow. In 1972, the camp was moved to the Y camp northwest of Boone and it has remained active there to this day.

K-----K

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