Celebrating 50 Years of Athletic Excellence at Anoka-Ramsey

Celebrating 50 Years of Athletic Excellence at Anoka-Ramsey

July 05, 2016

An article from the Summer 2017 Issue of the Anoka-Ramsey Community Newsletter

Community Newsletter

The Athletics Department celebrated its inaugural Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in February. The event focused on athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made exceptional contributions to Anoka-Ramsey Athletics.

Hall of Fame Inductees

Marjorie Rosendahl, a former physical education/adapted physical education teacher in the Fridley and Anoka-Hennepin school districts, has supported the Anoka-Ramsey athletic community for more than 20 years, serving as scorekeeper for men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball.

Bob Barnette, a former high school basketball champion and retired counselor from Fridley High School, where he served as an assistant football and basketball coach. He has been a basketball timer for Fridley High School and Anoka-Ramsey since 1973.

 

Bonnie Johnson, a former member of the Anoka-Ramsey Women’s Basketball team in 2004, named MVP after her team won the 2005 National Championship. During two years at Anoka-Ramsey, she scored more than 1,000 points and was named All-American, going on to play at Missouri Valley College (MVC). In her final year at MVC, she scored 1,015 points and earned another First Team All-HAAC All-American honor.

Kenneth Mauer, a former football, basketball, and baseball player for the Golden Rams, was named All-American in baseball at Anoka-Ramsey in 1974. He continued playing baseball at the University of Minnesota, named All-Big Ten in 1977. Over the past 30 years, Ken has become a highly-respected basketball official in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Jeff Peland, who was named first team All-American for the 1993–94 season, earned All-Division Honors in basketball at Anoka-Ramsey. He then attended the University of Minnesota at Morris and joined the Cougars’ National Tournament Team in 1994 to 95. In his senior year at Southwest Minnesota State, he earned first team All-Conference for the Mustangs. Jeff returned to Anoka-Ramsey to serve as assistant basketball coach from 1997 to 2004.

The ceremony also honored the 1993–94 Anoka-Ramsey Women’s Basketball Team. Head Coach Dan Meilke was selected regional and national Coach of the Year; he led the team to an overall record of 30–1. Team members DeDe Nelson, Lisa Lashinski, Joleen Mattilla, Linda Lashinski, Linda Klug, Tana Wurm, Mary Schueller, Sarah Cecka, Carolyn Perman, Colleen McGuire, Jennifer Mueller, Cari Hartwig and Jenny Fernholz won the National Junior College Division III National Championship.

Excellence in Women’s Basketball

College Athletic Coordinator Dave Alto would not single out one athletic program (Men’s Baseball, Women’s Softball, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Men’s and Women’s Soccer and Women’s Volleyball) as the strongest—but the Women’s Basketball team certainly has an outstanding record, including the 1993–94 team, and the team that won the National Championship in 2005 that included Anoka-Ramsey Hall of Famer and MVP Bonnie Johnson. The Golden Rams Women’s Basketball team has won the NJCAA Division III Women’s Basketball national championship seven times.

The team won the Region XIIIA Championship this past year, beating Minnesota West Community and Technical College 78–68. They advanced to the national tournament in New Jersey in March, where they finished sixth.

Team members Paris Finklea, Nicole Howard, Tacita Gonzalez, Olivia Antilla, Kelli Schramm, Cami Bauer, Erica Parker, Natasha Ambrose, Kendra Norman, Nicole Schaub represent a variety of academic disciplines and backgrounds. Their head coach is Dave Dewitt, and assistant coach is James Fassett.

Supplementary Information