Five men and women who have distinguished themselves in area athletics were enshrined in the Lakeshore All Sports of Fame last night (April 26th).
Formal induction ceremonies were held at City Limits Bar and Banquet Hall for Mary Beth and the late John Dixon, Doug Free, Dave Mueller, and Dave Uhrich.
Mary Beth, who has over 900 volleyball coaching wins in her career, spoke with WOMT Sports about entering the local hall of fame with John as a Manitowoc coaching couple.
She called her induction, along with her late husband John’s induction, “a great feeling to have contributed to youth athletics all the way around. It wasn’t just football and volleyball. We tried to be very involved in all aspects.”
Mary Beth Dixon spoke about her and John’s coaching/teaching memories and finding time to watch their own four children participate in athletics.
Dixon said that she and John, along with other youth coaches, “watched your kids be involved in all those things, and because of that, they would like to see their kids do the same thing.”
Free, after a solid football career at Lincoln High School, grew into an impressive offensive lineman at Northern Illinois and later with the Dallas Cowboys.
“It’s nice to be recognized,” he said. “It’s a very small group and it’s a lot of fun.”
Mueller coached four sports successfully at Roncalli High School and served as the Jets athletic director for 2 decades during a basketball renaissance.
“My goal was always to get the kids on a team,” Mueller explained. “Get the kids on a team, let them play, and let them see what it is to be on a team.”
Uhrich had a highly-decorated running career at both Lincoln and Marquette University, before coaching the Golden Eagles to regular season and post-season prominence.
“I’ve known about this Hall of Fame for a long time,” he noted. “I have a lot of friends and former coaches and former athletes that are in here already, so it’s awesome to join them.”
Don Davey, who was an outstanding student-athlete at Lincoln High School and UW Madison before a 9-year NFL career with the Packers and Jaguars, was the featured speaker.
Don was himself an enshrine in the local Sports Hall of Fame 14 years ago.
“Manitowoc is my hometown. I love it here,” he told Seehafer News. “To be a part of the Lakeshore All Sports Hall of Fame was a big, big honor back in 2009, but then to be coming back and inducting a whole new crop of inductees to join me in the Hall of Fame, it’s really special.”
Senior College Athlete awards were presented Wednesday night to Allyson Verbauwhede of Lincoln High School and Edgewood College in Madison, and Trevor Wenzel from Valders High School and UW Milwaukee.
The Al Fenlon Commitment to Excellence Award recipient was Glenn Mella.
Seven others received Achievement awards last night.
They were Kirt Carviou, Rosemary Hickman, Rick Hoffman, Kaitlyn Lewis, Bob Satori, Karen Schuh and Scott Willems.
Proceeds from the banquet are distributed to youth sports organizations across Manitowoc County.
