Some things just come natural to some people, while others have to work at it.

Bev Nathe has had to work at becoming a proficient horseshoe pitcher, but all of the toiling has resulted in championships.

Nathe is the two-time defending women's World champion and a member of the Minnesota team which finished third at the 1998 Team World in Beloit Sunday.

``Some people are naturals and they don't have to work at it,'' said Nathe, who pitched for the Minnesota world title teams in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997. ``I have to work at it. It's taken me a long time to get where I am.''

Nathe started pitching horseshoes about 20 years ago in a local league, although she wasn't all that enthusiastic about it at first.

In fact, it took a bit of a challenge from her sister, Phyllis Negaard, a five-time world women's champion and five-team member of the team champions, to get her into a league.

``I had never heard of horseshoe pitching before that, but my sister was a real avid horseshoe pitcher and she asked me if I would join one,'' Nathe said. ``I thought it was the dumbest thing I ever heard of, but she challenged me to pitch and I pitched.''

And not so well either.

Her first season, she finished with a ringer percentage of about 10 percent and it wasn't until 15 years later that she finally broke the 80 percentile.

Along the way she added the first championship to her belt _ the Minnesota state championship.

``I beat the 14-time Minnesota champion. That was the most wonderful day of my life,'' Nathe said. ``I woke up smiling every day for about two months.''

Despite all of her solo accomplishments, Nathe would much rather pitch in the team competitions.

``I love to be a part of a team much more,'' Nathe said. ``I've known a lot of these people for almost 20 years now and it's so much more fun to play with them than against them.''

By Steve Clark, BDN staff writer