Austin High School will honor Hall of Fame Inductees

Published 7:02 pm Friday, January 9, 2009

Austin High School will make seven new inductees to it’s Athletic Hall of Fame Friday, Jan. 23 at halftime of the Austin vs. Mankato East boys basketball game.

A luncheon honoring the inductees will be held Saturday, Jan. 23 at noon at the Austin Eagles Club. The public is invited and tickets are available from any Hall of Fame Committee member or at the AHS Activities Office.

Here are the nominees:

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Kirsten Leighton Hines

Kris is a 1989 graduate of Austin High School. She lettered 11 times at AHS, including six in golf, three in tennis, and two in basketball. She qualified for the state golf meet four times, finishing fourth in 1986, second in 1987, fifth in 1988, and third in 1989. She was All-Big Nine Conference in golf four years and earned the KAUS Radio Female of the Year and Senior Class Athlete Award in 1999.

She was also the Minnesota State High School League Arts, Academics, and Athletics regional winner. She participated in orchestra, chamber orchestra, Sentinel, Austinian staff, and an Academic All-American two years. She qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Tournament three times.

Kris graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Child Psychology and earned her M.A. from St. Thomas in Early Childhood/Special Education with a 4.0 GPA.

She is currently a teacher in Early Childhood/Special Education in the Eagan/Apple Valley School District. She is also a class A golf professional at the Mendakota Country Club in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.

She resides in Chaska, Minn. with her husband Scott.

Ann Bartholomew Dublin

A 1992 graduate of Austin High School, Ann earned a letter in tennis, two in volleyball, three in basketball, and five in softball. She was a four-year starter for the softball team and All-State two years and All-Big Nine Conference four years. She was also named to the All-Region team four times. She played in the Minnesota High School All-Star Girls Softball series and was one of 18 selected to play for team Minnesota in the Minnesota/Iowa Softball Challenge following her senior season. She was co-winner of the Austin Daily Herald softball player of the year award, along with teammate Rachelle Tveter.

Her career statistics include 92 games played, .352 batting average, 102 hits including 40 for extra bases, 72 RBIs, and a .989 fielding average. Her 1987 team was the Big Nine Conference champions.

Ann accepted a scholarship at the University of Minnesota. She played there from 1993-1997 being red shirted her first year. She was a catcher for the Golden Gophers and caught every inning of every game, except one, in her four years. She was on the team council and helped lead the Gophers to the NCAA sectional tournaments, an accomplishment that has not been repeated at the U since.

She was drafted by the Georgia Pride to play in the Women’s Professional Fast Pitch League in the spring of 1997 but opted not to lay. She is still playing slow pitch softball.

Ann is a designer for Fast Signs in Roseville and also a part-time fire fighter for the city of Brookyln Park. She is the proud mother of twins, K.C. and Kaeden and is living in Brooklyn Park.

Daryl Richardson, PhD

Daryl is a 1959 graduate of Austin High School. He lettered in both football and baseball. He was on the 1959 AHS baseball team which won 19 games and was the Big Nine Conference champions, and state runner-up. Daryl batted .513, with a 14-2 pitching record. He earned All-State honors in baseball 1958 and 1959. He signed a professional contract with the New York Yankees and played infield and centerfield in their minor league system.

He worked as a Biochemical Senior Lab Technician at 3M Company Central Research from 1962 to 1965. From 1966 to 1968 he served in the Peace Corps in Brazil.

He then attended the University of Minnesota and graduated in 1969 with a B.S. degree in Chemistry and Secondary Education. In 1971 he earned an M.S. degree in Horticulture and in 1973 earned a PhD. in Plant Physiology and Biochemistry.

From 1973 to 1998 he was a University Professor of Horticulture and Plant Physiology at Oregon State University and authored or co-authored more than 150 technical publications. He has done sabbatical research, taught post-harvest short courses, or done problem solving in Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, France, India, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, and Turkey. Daryl speaks Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Norwegian, German and some Greek, Thai and Armenian, without taking an y language courses in High School.

Daryl retired from Oregon State University in 1998 and has continued doing international and national consulting work in fresh fruit and vegetable marketing. He currently lives in Corvalis, Oregon.

Roger Voss

A 1958 graduate of Austin High School, Roger played on the last state basketball championship team at AHS. He was all Big-Nine Conference and All-State in his senior year. He led the Big Nine in scoring and rebounding.

He attended the University of Colorado. In his junior year he was second in the Big 8 Conference in rebounding and fifth in scoring, while being named to the Big 8 All-Conference Team. He transferred to Northwest Missouri State University for his senior year and led the Conference in scoring and rebounding, being named first team All-Conference and MVP of the League.

He taught in La Crosse, Wis. at middle school for 30 years and was an assistant middle school football coach for 25 years. He has been married to his wife JeanAnn for 46 years and has a son, daughter, and three grandchildren.

Kevin Eckmann

Kevin is a 1989 graduate of Austin High School and earned eight varsity letters. He was a four-time All-Big Nine Conference performer. Once in football, twice in hockey and once in baseball. He won KAUS Radio Male Athlete of the Year, and Senior Class Athlete of the Year, and was named to the Austin Daily Herald All-Area teams in both football and basketball.

In football he led the conference runner up team to a 7-1 conference and 8-1 overall record his senior year as the starting quarterback and place kicker. He led the Big Nine in scoring.

As a forward on the Packer hockey team, Kevin played varsity for three years and finished 68 career points and helped his team to a 14 win season and a spot in the sectional semifinals his senior year. In baseball, his senior year, he batted .383 with 11 hits, 15 RBIs and 11 runs in conference play.

He played baseball at St. Cloud State University, where he was an outfielder.

In the summer of 1989, he played baseball in the Sweden International Baseball Tournament in Stockholm for the Minnesota Stars. He played on the 1989 Legion team that went to the state tournament and he played in State amateur tournaments in 1991 with Austin and 1999 with Richmond.

He currently lives in Eagan, Minnesota with his wife Shelley and sons Blake and Andrew.

Andy Bulson

Andy is a 1989 graduate of Austin High School. He earned eight varsity letters, including two in football, three in hockey, and three in baseball.

Regarded as one of the most dominant pitchers in school history, the left-hander was named All-Big Nine Conference two years for his pitching and hitting prowess. He won the prestigious Dick Seltz Award his senior year and played in the Minnesota Lions All-Star game. He also pitched in the 1989 American Legion Baseball team to an outstanding 24-12 record and a trip to the state tournament.

Andy was a starting pitcher at Austin Community College and St. Cloud State University and he played summer ball for Cod Spring and was the State Tournament MVP in 200 and 2001.

Andy currently lives in St. Cloud with his wife, Mishon and two sons Drew and Harry, where he is the manager of G & K Services.

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Paul Lenoch

Paul is a 1955 graduate of Austin High School. The term “Super Fan” describes him to a tee. He goes to great lengths to attend and cheer for the Packer teams at both home and away events, and it is rare when he misses a contest, especially wrestling.

His remarkably positive interaction with team members and coaches is refreshing. Even after the most disappointing loss, Paul has a smile, a handshake, and a thumbs-up for all. He understand what so many forget sometimes…each game is just that…a game, and there should be joy in just “being there.”

A fixture at almost all AHS events, everyone delights in his support for our teams. In fact when he is not at an event it makes people nervous and makes everyone wonder if his health is poor, as that is the only thing that keeps Paul from cheering on his beloved Packers.