Rick Knutson lives three blocks away, but it had been awhile since he’d been inside Riverland Community College.

Monday, November 29, 1999

Rick Knutson lives three blocks away, but it had been awhile since he’d been inside Riverland Community College.

In fact, the last time he visited the school was in 1996, when Tipper Gore made a campaign stop at the school. The FBI frisked Knutson that day, because he had something harmless sticking out of his back pocket.

His visit on Saturday was much more cordial; Knutson, a standout baseball and basketball player during his two years as a Blue Devil in 1970-72, and five others were inducted into the Riverland Athletic Hall of Fame.

"It really feels great," Knutson said. "I’ve got a lot of great memories."

The Hall of Fame class was the school’s second, following the inaugural class of 10 in 1997.

The 1999 class included Knutson, Jim Riles (basketball, baseball 1972-74), Jon Stephenson (golf 1968-69), Wendy (Dickinson) Eickhoff (tennis 1985-87, Sue Johnson (volleyball, basketball and softball 1983-85) and Jane Synoground (softball 1982-84)

Riles and his family traveled from his home in St. Michael, Minn. to attend the ceremony. Riles, now a teacher and coach, marveled at Riverland’s weight room. So did Knutson. When the two were in school at Riverland, all Riles remembered having was a single weight machine. Knutson recalled having "a couple of dumb bells."

"I kind of forgot about all the points and things," said Riles, who is second all-time in scoring at the school after accumulating 886 points in his basketball career. "I haven’t looked back on it much. This felt good. I had a lot of good games here."

Knutson, a centerfielder on the team’s 1972 state baseball championship team, echoed Riles’ sentiments.

"All the stuff I did as an individual, I don’t remember that stuff," Knutson said. "But I always remember the team and the state title."

It’s quite a time for Knutson. In January, he will be inducted into the prestigious Austin High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Wendy (Dickinson) Eickhoff also had fond memories of her days as a tennis-playing Blue Devil.

She played under her father David Dickinson, the school’s long-time tennis coach and an inaugural member of the school’s hall of fame. Eickhoff won the state singles title as a sophomore and led her teams to two National Junior College Tennis Championship Tournaments.

Eickhoff, who now lives with her family in Plymouth, Minn. still plays tennis on a pair of USTA teams.

About a month ago, Eickhoff and her father sat down and went through their scrapbook together.

"I’m so glad we kept all the articles," she said. "We have so many sports memories together."

The hall of fame ceremony was sandwiched between the school’s annual men’s and women’s alumni basketball games.

In the women’s game, the current team won 66-35, behind 25 points from freshman guard Rachel Burzinski. Sophomore post player Anna Keefe added 15 points. Kerry McAllister led the alumni with 10 points and Chrissy Clements added seven.

In the men’s game, the current Riverland team topped the alumni, 106-81.

Six current players reached doubles figures. Jesse Heiny and Garrett Ulrich led the team with 19 points each, followed by Brett Rogers, Nick Peters and Shane Fett with 11 apiece. Brandon Kettner contributed 10 and a team-high 12 rebounds. Zak Ulwelling dished eight of the team’s 27 assists.

Jon Van Beek paced the alumni with 19 points.