SPORTS FEEVER – October 28, 2021

Ron Ackerman

In addition to being a registered wrestling official with the League for more than 50 years, Ackerman has been a major force with his commitment and dedication to improving the quality of wrestling officiating and providing consistency across the state of Minn

esota. On the mat, he officiated 17 League state tournaments. He also officiated wrestling at the middle school, junior college and the Division I, II and III levels. He began working Big Ten Conference wrestling matches at the age of 25. He has also served as the League’s Rules Clinician for 26 years. In that role, he presented rules meetings to officials and coaches while providing rules interpretations, training materials, and was the voice for online rules meetings. He has represented wrestling on the League’s Officials Advisory Board and still serves as a wrestling observer. A native of Pipestone, he was one of the founders of Gold County Wrestling Officials Association and is in his 40^th year as the assignor. At Pipestone High School, he was a three-time state participant, placing second in 1962 and fourth in 1963. He was the MIAC champion at 123 pounds in 1965 when he helped propel Gustavus Adolphus College to the conference crown. In 2006, he was just the second wrestling official to be inducted into the Dave Bartelma National Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 2014, he represented Gold Country Officials when the group was recognized by the League with an Officials Association Citation Award for Exemplary Mentoring Program.

Debbie Driscoll

For more than 40 years at Mahtomedi High School, Driscoll made her mark as an educator and gymnastics coach that turned potential into a powerhouse. “There is talent in every kid,” Driscoll told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “It’s what you do with that talent that counts. It’s finding the right buttons to push and giving the athletes the right guidance so they can have a positive experience.” Since beginning her coaching career in 1976, Mahtomedi has been a Class A power in gymnastics. In that span, the Zephyrs have won 28 section team championships and 10 state crowns, including seven in a row from 1987-93. That state

 meet run includes four runner-up finishes and three third-place trophies. In preparation for the postseason, Mahtomedi captured 36 conference championships. Under her tutelage, she has coached 42 individual state champions.  Driscoll, who served for several years on the League’s Gymnastics Advisory Committee, has received numerous MGGCA section coach of the year awards and has been inducted into its hall of fame. She has also been enshrined into the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Through her teaching and coaching, Driscoll has nurtured and changed the paths of many participants at Mahtomedi High School.

 

John Fogarty

Fogarty has been active in the Fine Arts as a Speech and Debate coach and as an English, Speech and Humanities teacher for more than half a century. At Cannon Falls High School

, he built the Speech program from a grassroots group into an elite-level program. In his tenure leading the program, Cannon Falls has had 123 medal winners and 14 state champions in Speech. The Minnesota Speech Coaches Association says that Fogarty “has had a tremendous positive impact on his students’ lives, as well as the speech community at large.” He began his career at Cannon Falls in 1969, one year after Speech transitioned to a competitive format. He served as head coach until 2009 when he transitioned to a role as an assistant coach. During the 1996-97 season, he was selected Lincoln-Douglas Debate Coach of the Year in the region. During the 2005-07 seasons, he was Minnesota’s Coach of the Year by the Minnesota Speech Coaches Association. In 2010, he was one of 12 national coaches honored by the National Federation of State High School Associations. In 2013, he was honored as the Outstanding Individual by the Communication Theater Association of Minnesota.

Brian Luke

Since 1978, the Stillwater girls and boys swimming and diving teams have displayed gold-medal excellence under longtime coach, Brian Luke. In girls swimming, Luke has led the Ponies to a 384-55-5 record in dual meets. At the state meet level, Stillwater has won 11 championships and seven True-Team state crowns.

Under his guidance, Stillwater has won 19 section crowns, 26 conference titles and crowned dozens of individual state champions. In boys swimming, Luke has led the Ponies to a dual record of 337-88-3 with 15 section titles, 21 conference crowns and multiple individual state champions. Combined, he has coached 365 all-state swimmers, 185 All-American swimmers and had 119 participants selected as Academic All-Americans. A native of Hopkins, he is a member of numerous coaching hall of fame and has been selected Minnesota’s swimming coach of the year five times.

 

Joe Mauer

Mauer joins unique company in the League’s Hall of Fame. He is one of just three inductees in the modern-day era, Dave Winfield and Barry Wohler are the others, to receive scholarship offers in three different sports from major NCAA Division I schools.

In his senior year at the St. Paul-based school, Mauer was the national player of the year in football and baseball. He gave a commitment to play football at Florida State, but then opted to play professional baseball when the Minnesota Twins selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft. At the high school level, Mauer hit .605 as a senior in leading the Raiders to the Class AAA crown and .567 for his prep career. In 222 high school at-bats, he struck out just once. He also tied a national record by hitting a home run in seven consecutive games. In his senior year of football, he completed 178 of 269 passes for 3,022 yards and 41 touchdowns with five interceptions. He completed his two years as a starter with 5,528 yards and 73 touchdowns and two state championship game appearances, including the Class AAAAA crown in 1999. In basketball, Mauer averaged more than 20 points per game and was a two-time all-state selection.

Larry Martin

The longtime voice of the League’s boys and girls swimming state meets, Martin served as the public address announcer at both events for more than five decades. With his 55 years behind the microphone, he is believed to be the longest-serving public-address announcer

in League history. His smooth tone and professionalism became staples during the meet as he reported times, finishes and other state tournament information. When he retired from his role in 2015, he wrote in a memo to the League: “I’ve been blessed to be ass ociated with swimming and diving for close to 60 years. The chance to assist in running meaningful competitions for young people has been a great source of joy. I have the highest respect for all the coaches and officials who give so much to the sport.” Martin began his announcing career in 1955 at Edina High School, his alma mater. Five years later, he was on the deck for the League’s boys swimming state meet. In 1975, when girls swimming was added, Martin became the voice of that event as well. In 1995, the League honored Martin with an Award of Merit.

Chris McDonald

McDonald has coached Speech and Debate since 1988, and in that span, has led dozens of participants to success at the state and national levels. Believing in the power of Speech and Debate to help students grow, McDonald’s teams and participants from Eagan High School are annual entrants, and champions, in the various disciplines at the state and national levels. His success at Eagan High School has been sustained for decades.

Larry McKenzie

McKenzie is well known for his passionate and experienced leadership in the community, as well as his motivation of student-athletes in guiding them to success on the basketball court. He is the first boys basketball coach in League history to lead two schools to multiple championships. From 2003-06, he led Minneapolis Patrick Henry to four consecutive championships. In 2017, he led Minneapolis North to a successful defense of its state championship to secure the milestone achievement.

The state championships ranked third all-time among Minnesota boys basketball coaches. He ranks second all-time in state tournament winning percentage with a 21-3 record (.875).  He ranks eighth all-time with eight consecutive seasons with 20 more victories. His career record is 449-162. In 2014, McKenzie became the first African-American coach selected for the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. A certified national speaker, he has served on numerous community boards in the non-profit sector. With his wife, Pamela, he is the co-founder of the Above the Rim Youth Sports Foundation. In 2019, he received a Living Legend Award from the NCAA.

Mindy Myhre

Myhre completed a dazzling high school gymnastics career that stands alone. By the time she graduated in 1994, she had won 13 individual state championships and was the

cornerstone of three team state titles. She is the only gymnast in League history to win four consecutive all-around championships, a feat completed from 1991 through 1994. At the state meet, she also had six runner-up places and one third-place finish. In accumulating a state-record 20 medals at the state meet, she never finished lower than third place. In qualifying for the state meet, she had 13 individual section championships and was a part of four team section crowns. A four-time conference all-around champion and four-time team most valuable player, she competed collegiately at the University of Minnesota where she was a part of one Big Ten Conference championship team.

Dr. William Roberts

Internationally recognized for his leadership and advocacy for the health, safety and well-being of students, Roberts is one of the founding members of the League’s Sports Medicine

Advisory Committee and its longtime chair. From its formation in the late 1980’s, the SMAC has been a national driving force in increased education of medical issues and stronger emphasis on safety for student participants. Under the direction of Roberts, the SMAC has developed an abundance of guidance that includes, but is not limited to: weight certifications in wrestling, standardizing health forms and establishing guidelines for participation in the heat and sub-zero conditions. “A lot of the things we have done, and delivered, have been modeled around the country,” he said in a League interview in 2017. During the global pandemic, the SMAC created COVID guidance recommendations and protocols for member schools that ranged from general hygiene to sport-specific information. Roberts is a professor and vice chair of Faculty Affairs in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health with the University of Minnesota.

John Washington

Washington, a 1964 graduate of Minneapolis North High School, returned to serve his home Minneapolis Public Schools district in 1969. Much of his 43-year career in education and administration was spent at Minneapolis Patrick Henry High School as a physical education and health teacher, basketball and baseball coach, assistant principal and 17 years as an activities director. He then served for 10 years as the

activities director for the Minneapolis Public Schools before retiring in 2012. As the district administrator, he successfully consolidated the boys and girls hockey programs, restructured coaches pre- and postseason workshops and pursued the vision to provide every Minneapolis city school with turf fields. He also served on the Region 5AA Committee, the Minnesota State High School League Foundation Board of Directors and the AD Advisory Committee. He is a member of Patrick Henry’s Hall of Fame and was honored by the Minnesota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association as an Athletic Director of the Year. In 2013, he was recognized by the Minnesota State High School League with an Award of Merit.

 

Jim Weinzierl

For more than four decades, Weinzierl is synonymous with excellence in officiating, leadership, and administration, and serving with professionalism and dignity. He served as a basketball official for 41 years, a run that included working more than 1,800 varsity games.

In that span, he made 23 appearances in the League’s state tournaments and 10 championship games. He also officiated volleyball (27 years), football (10 years) and softball (26 years). Weinzierl gives back to officiating by serving in many leadership roles. For the past 26 years, that includes serving as the League’s Northwest Minnesota Basketball Officials Coordinator and Rules Clinician, an observer of League officials and a role on the State Tournament Selection Committee. He also officiated basketball at the Division II and III levels for 20 years. He currently serves as the Region Executive Secretary for Region 8A, a role he has had for the past 13 years. Through his leadership, the Region 8A Academic, Arts and Athletics recognition program has grown and flourished. His influence extends beyond the playing field of competition where he has created participation and excellence through the fine arts activities of Music, Speech, Debate and One Act Play.