By Al Rabenold
This week, we take a look at two more inductees to the Montezuma High School Hall of Fame.
The class will be introduced on Friday night, Aug. 26, at halftime of the varsity football game.
The hall of fame induction ceremony will be Saturday, Aug. 27, at 4 p.m. in the North Gym.
Here are the 2022 inductees:
Katie (Maschmann) Thomason
Ruth Fleming
Brad Arendt
Marty James
The late Coach Dennis Wilson
The 1987 Boys Track Team
Brad Arendt defined versatility, leadership
Brad Arendt, MHS ’89, is one of the best four-sport athletes in school history. As a senior in the fall of ’88, he quarterbacked Coach Darrell Brand’s “Gold” squad to one of the school’s rare undefeated seasons. From his strong safety position, Brad anchored a tough Braves defense that shut out four SICL opponents while allowing a meager 46 points the entire season!
On the basketball court, Arendt led the Braves to consecutive SICL championships as well as back-to-back 20-game win seasons.
Opposing SICL coaches voted Brad 1st team all-conference three years in a row!
Surrounded by three teammates who would eventually break the 1,000 points career scoring mark, Brad did the ‘dirty work’. He defended the opponents’ best player every game. On offense, he got the ball where it needed to be in order for the Braves to be successful. He was truly a coach on the floor.
In the spring when track rolled around, Coach Dennis Wilson and Coach Jerry Rohach acknowledged that Brad was an invaluable part of all their relay teams.
Brad made sure that his relay teammates did not leave track practice until he was confident that all their handoffs were executed to perfection. As an individual competing in the 400 low hurdles, Brad earned automatic points at every meet.
Come summer from his first base position Brad led the baseball Braves to new heights. He took100 hard swings every day and also became one of the most successful bunters to ever wear the Braves’ pinstripes.
With Brad’s competitive nature, Coach Rohach never had to be concerned about his dugout not being totally focused on the game.
Brad’s ability and knowledge of the game is truly reflected in the fact that he has two sons who are now playing college baseball.
Congratulations to Brad Arendt on his upcoming induction into the Montezuma High School Hall of Fame!
Boys track in ’87 won 2nd place in Class 2A
In the spring of 1987 the Montezuma tracksters, coached by Jerry Rohach and Dennis Wilson, made a valiant effort before finishing just short of the Class 2A state championship.
Thirty-five years after their outstanding performance in Drake Stadium, they are the latest team to be inducted into the Montezuma High School Hall of Fame.
While winning the district meet at Eddyville, the Braves qualified for state in eight different events, including five individual and three relay teams.
Although they finished first at the district meet, the 1,600 medley relay composed of Mark Hutchinson, Brad Korell, Wade Eichhorn and Lance Elliott had some tough luck at state.
The 4 x 100 relay team of Bill Linn, Brad Korell, Wes Fahlenkamp and Mark Hutchinson finished ninth in Friday’s preliminaries with the top eight teams qualifying for Saturday’s finals.
The 4 x 800 relay team, made up of Tim Hansen, Wade Eichhorn, Marty James and Gary Henry, set a new school record with a time of 8:09.94, and placed second.
In the individual races, Mark Hutchinson placed seventh in the 100-meter dash while Tim Hansen placed sixth in the 400-meter run with a time of 50.51seconds.
In the 800-meter run, Hansen brought the Drake Stadium crowd to its feet as he set a new Class 2A record in his two laps around the oval, running a blistering 1:55.21. Three and half decades later, Hansen’s school record in the 800 meter run still stands!
Sophomore Lance Elliott ran two solid distance races, finishing third in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:53.6 and second in the 1,600 -meter run, with a mile time of 4:25.59.
Welcome back and congratulations to our latest Montezuma High School Hall of Fame team – the 1987 Class 2A state track runner-up!
NEXT WEEK – Two more stories about Hall of Fame inductees!