Anoka High Hall of Fame, Class of '11

Anoka High School has established a Hall of Fame and will induct the first class at 6 p.m. Thursday at the school auditorium, 3939 7th Av. N., Anoka. A reception will follow. Both are free and open to the public.

In addition, the class will be honored during Friday's Anoka football game against Andover (7 p.m. at Goodrich Field). A news story on the Hall of Fame appeared in Tuesday's Star Tribune; it is available at www.startribune.com/a646.

Here's a thumbnail look at the 24-member inaugural class, based on a school district release.

• Jim Alley, coach: Hired in 1953 as a teacher and the high school's hockey coach, he started building the youth hockey program in Anoka. He became known as the "Father of Hockey" in Anoka.

• Steve Alley, Class of '72: Jim Alley's son, he was a three-year letter winner in hockey and was leading scorer in the state as a senior. He played on national championship teams at the University of Wisconsin, was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic team and played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League.

• John Bauer, Class of '87: He was a two-time state champion in Nordic skiing and later was a member of the U.S. Olympic teams in 1992, 1998 and 2002. He also competed in national and world championships.

• Duana Blaska, Class of '59: He earned all-state honors in football and went on to play at the University of Minnesota, where he was a member of the 1961 and '62 Rose Bowl teams and starting quarterback his senior year for a team that was ranked 10th nationally.

• Gretchen Carlson, Class of '84: The valedictorian of her graduating class, she was also a standout violinist and, in 1989, became the first classical violinist to win the Miss America Pageant. She went on to a career in journalism. She is a former co-anchor of "The Saturday Early Show" on CBS and is currently co-anchor of "Fox and Friends" on the Fox News Channel.

• Willis Castle, Class of '44: An all-state football player and multiple-letter winner in basketball and baseball, he was offered a contract by the Brooklyn Dodgers after a tryout but entered the armed services instead. He served with the Marines during World War II and took part in the battle of Okinawa. He played three sports at Hamline University and went on to a 30-year career with ABC Newspapers in Anoka.

• Dan Chandler, Class of '70: After wrestling in high school, he was a captain of the University of Minnesota team. He made three U.S. Olympic teams, won two Pan American Games titles, placed in three world championships, and won 12 Greco-Roman national titles. He was head coach of the 2000 U.S. Greco-Roman team at the Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

• Wayne Dietz, coach: He taught in the district from 1956 to 1985 and coached the high school baseball team for 24 years. He also was an assistant football coach for 14 years, coached Anoka's America Legion baseball team, and was a longtime Minnesota State High School League official. He has been named to the Minnesota Baseball Hall of Fame, the Minnesota Coaches Hall of Fame, the Minnesota State High School Hall of Fame and the Minnesota Officials Hall of Fame.

• Tod Hartje, Class of '86: A hockey and football standout, he was a member of a Team Minnesota squad that rallied from a 7-1 deficit to win the U.S. Junior Olympic Hockey tournament championship. He scored the tying and winning goals. He played hockey at Harvard and was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets.

• Jeff Hymanson, Class of '72: A three-year varsity hockey player and draft pick of the Minnesota North Stars, he played on the 1976 U.S. Olympic team and was a member of a division I Swedish team after that.

• Robert W. Johnson, Class of '34: He was a member of the 1933 Anoka football team that went undefeated and unscored-upon. He also played basketball and was a member of the track team. He played tackle for several of Bernie Bierman's football teams at the University of Minnesota, including the 1936 national champs. He served in the military during World War II, where he was wounded in action. In 1950, he was elected Anoka County attorney, a position he held for 32 years.

• Kristi (Kropp) Wagner, Class of '82: She was a state champion in track and a member of two state championship track teams, and also won multiple letters in volleyball and basketball. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she was a Big 10 champion in three events: javelin, 400 meter hurdles and 4 x 800 relay. She also was a member of the U.S. national handball team.

• Dick Mueller, Class of '51: After winning three state high school wrestling championships, he competed at the University of Minnesota, winning a national title in 1953. After serving in the Army, and wrestling there, he returned to the U and won two more Big Ten titles. Along the way, he was also an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team and a member of the wrestling team for the Pan Am Games.

• Cheryl (Nelson) King, coach and Class of '66: She was a four-year member of the Augsburg College basketball team. In 1976, she became Anoka's girls' tennis coach. She was state Coach of the Year in 1990. She also coached track, and her 1981 and '82 teams were state champions. She was named state Coach of the Year in 1982.

• Steve Nelson, Class of '69: A high school letter-winner in football, basketball and baseball, he earned All-America honors in football at North Dakota State and had a 14-year career with the New England Patriots in the NFL. He was a three-time Pro Bowl pick and played in the 1986 Super Bowl.

• Charles B. Olson, band director: He became the school's band director in 1967, and his bands earned numerous honors, including performing at the inaugural parade for President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Olson is the founding conductor of the Lake Wobegon Brass Band, founder and conductor of the Encore Wind Ensemble, and orchestra director for the Anoka Theatre Ensemble, the Anoka Civic Opera and the Anoka Community Theater.

• Brandon Paulson, Class of '92: He was a three-time state wrestling champion and was named Minnesota Wrestler of the Year as a senior. He was a silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at 114.5 pounds in the 1996 Olympics, and an All-American in 1998 at the University of Minnesota. He was an assistant wrestling coach at Anoka from 2005-08.

• Tom Pearson, athletic director: Working in the Anoka-Hennepin School District from 1961 to 1987, he taught math, was the audio/visual coordinator, and served as AD for more than 20 years. The introduction of girls' athletics was among the biggest developments during his tenure.

• Briana Scurry, Class of '90: She was goalie for the 1989 state championship girls' soccer team and also played basketball and softball and competed in track and field. She was goalie for the 1999 U.S. World Cup champions, the 1996 and 2004 U.S. Olympic gold-medal winners and the 2000 Olympic silver-medal team. She now serves as an ESPN soccer analyst.

• Chuck Wennurlund, Class of '57: He won 14 letters while playing football, basketball and baseball and was all-state in football. He won letters in basketball and baseball at Hamline and later started the basketball program at Coon Rapids High School, where he was head coach from 1963-72. He also was head tennis coach and an assistant in football and baseball, and later became head golf coach at Anoka, as well as assisting in football, basketball and girls' tennis.