Prep sports: Newest Cardinal Pride class announced
· Yahoo Sports
Aug. 11—WILLMAR — The 2026 Willmar High School Cardinal Pride Athletic Hall of Fame induction class includes a cross-country team that, besides winning two state titles, also gained national attention.
The 2005 and '06 Willmar boys cross-country team highlights a hall of fame class that includes coach Lloyd Lehn and athletes Becky (Lehrer) Mazoroz, Michelle (Stone) Wilkendorf, Cass Wierschem and Nathanial Swoyer.
Visit catcross.biz for more information.
They'll be part of all-day activities on Friday, Oct. 2, which includes being introduced at the Willmar football team's game that evening against Hutchinson at Hodapp Field.
The kickoff to this year's class also includes the annual Cardinal Pride golf event Friday at Eagle Creek Golf Club. Go to CardinalPride.org to sign up for the event. Registration begins at 11 a.m. with a shotgun start at 1 p.m.
Here's a look at this year's inductees:
The '05 and '06 team won back-to-back state Class AA titles with the main contributors runners of Somali descent. It was a unique accomplishment for Willmar's newest residents and was featured in the Dec. 11, 2006 edition of Sports Illustrated.
Top runners on the '05 team included Kaafi Adeyes, who placed fourth at state, Abdi Awale, who took sixth, and Mohamed Bedel, who finished 25th. Also on the '05 team were Mike Switzer, Dustin Geselius, Paul Kimpling and Mustafa Yusaf.
The '06 team did it again, winning another state AA title. Adeyes wound up finishing third at state. Awale was fifth. Mahad Hassan took ninth, followed by Bedel in 11th and Yusaf in 25th.
Also on the '06 team were Scott Boros and Andrew Nicklawasky.
Head coaches were Disa Daucsavage and Jerry Popp.
"They (the Somali runners) just trickled in," Popp told Sports Illustrated. "Coaching these kids is like coaching any other kids. Get them to believe you care about them, they'll do just about anything for you."
Lloyd Lehn helped start the Willmar boys hockey program. He led the Cardinals to the 1947 state tournament. It remains the only Cardinal boys team to make state. The Cards went 0-2. St. Paul Johnson won the state title, beating Roseau 2-1 in the final. Minneapolis West beat South St. Paul for third place in '47.
Lehn was a 1943 graduate of St. Cloud Teachers College, serving in the Navy during World War II. He was hired to teach science at Willmar Junior High and taught there for 37 years.
Lehn built his own ice rink with grain doors that were borrowed from the Great Northern Railroad. He flooded the rink by hand. The team wore football jerseys and pads that were stitched together by the home economics class.
Mazorol was a trailblazer for female sports, specifically gymnastics, from 1968-71. She competed at a high level before the Minnesota State High School League recognized girls' sports. At the time, gymnastics was the only girls' sports available in Willmar. It was before the historic Title IX ruling in 1972 that opened up opportunities for female sports.
She won numerous accolades, culminated by a third-place finish in the Amateur Athletic Union state meet's all-around competition in 1970 in Northfield.
She also finished second in the all-around in 1970 in Hopkins in the District Junior Olympics.
In 1969, she placed first in the St. Cloud Central Area meet in all-around. She competed in an AAU event, the Burnsville Invitational, and was first in floor, second on the bars and third in beam.
At the Raymond Invitational Meet in St. Cloud, she was 1st in the all-around. The even included gymnasts from Raymond, New London, Spicer, Kerkhoven and Murdock.
In 1968, she finished second in the all-round in a regional meet in St. Cloud with 139 competitors.
She also took first in the state AAU meet in the all-around in 1969, performing with 200 other competitors. Mazoroz coached gymnastics, soccer and swimming after her high school days. She taught and coached in Silver Bay and Minnetonka, then coached the Octavia Gymnastics Club in Miami, Florida before going back to school to become a nurse.
Wilkendorf, a 1983 graduate, participated in cross-country, track, basketball, gymnastics and swimming. She was the first female Cardinal to letter six straight years in track and was a member of Willmar's first girls' cross-country team, earning all-conference and all-region honors. She was a team captain who won 13 varsity letters.
Wilkendorf went on the the University of St. Thomas, where she was named All-American 11 times in cross-country and track. She was also a nine-time Academic All-American.
She also was involved in marching band, drama, orchestra, student council and many other acitivities.
Wierschem, from the class of 2005, was a three-sport standout in football, hockey and golf, earning nine varsity letters. In hockey, he was an all-state honorable mention. Also a captain, he was a two-time All-Central Lakes Conference hockey and golf selection.
In hockey, Wierschem helped lead the Cardinals to a section final as a junior. He averaged more than 30 minutes per game on the ice and earned all-section honors.
He was also one stroke shy of winning the section in golf and earning a state tournament berth, earning honorable mention all-conference honors.
He has coached adaptive athletics in Rochester and youth level activities in soccer, baseball and hockey. Wierschem had Division I interest in athletics, but chose to focus on athletics and earn his master's degree in education.
Swoyer, a 2011 graduate, was a standout in football, wrestling and baseball.
He was a state wrestling champion at 189 pounds in 2011 and Willmar's male athlete of the year. He was a two-time captain in football and a two-time member of the West Central Tribune's All-Area team. He was a team MVP and an All-State honorable mention.
He was a 2011 Lions Award recipient who also spent 13 years as a wrestling coach.