May 20, 2011 at 5:52 p.m.
Three enshrined into HOF
Crossen, Byrka and Makris enter Hodag Hall of Fame
Three enshrined into HOF
By Jonathan Bailey-
Jim Crossen (Class of 1965), Lindsay Byrka (Class of 1996) and Mike Makris (Class of 1999) all did just that and as a result were formally inducted into the prestigious Rhinelander High School Hodag Hall of Fame Wednesday evening at the Athletic Booster Club's annual banquet, held at Holiday Acres Resort.
The banquet, which also recognized current student-athletes and honored two community individuals with "Heart of the Hodag" awards, highlighted and honored the careers of three individuals that combined for at least eight state titles.
Crossen, a distance specialist in the 60s during the RHS boys' swim team's heyday under coach Bob Smith and a state champion in both the 200- and 400-yard freestyle in 1964, was unable to make the trip from Alaska Wednesday, but said via a telephone recording that he learned life lessons from his time in the pool.
"I grew more confident in myself, which stayed with me throughout the years," Crossen said. "I learned that if I thought I was spent, I could dig a little deeper and find the reserve to finish. Through swimming I learned that bluffing and close enough didn't work. The race was either won or it wasn't and you couldn't fake it. This translated to honesty in my daily life. A man's word should be his bond."
He went on to thank coach Smith for being tough yet fair and his father, who was always his biggest fan and the reason he tried out for the swim team. Former teammate and longtime friend Bob Maass accepted the award on his behalf.
The second 2011 inductee also comes from Rhinelander's rich swim tradition. Byrka captured six state titles in a three-year span and is widely considered the most decorated swimmer in RHS girls' history.
In 1992, as a freshman, Byrka won the state title in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle. She followed that up a year later by capturing three more - the 200-yard medley and freestyle relay and the 50-yard freestyle.
Byrka, who is now the head swim coach at Deluth East, was a part of another state champion relay team in her junior season and bettered her times in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, re-establishing new school records in both, but finishing with silver medals. She medalled four more times as a senior.
"It's just an honor to be remembered and to be recognized for some of these things," Byrka said. "You don't really think about what you're doing. You just go out there and do it because you love it. It is just amazing that I'm back here and looking out at all these faces - coaches, teammates, classmates - that are here."
Byrka was presented into the Hodag Hall of Fame by her former coach Dan Jesse, who remembered her much anticipated high school arrival.
"All I'm hearing as a coach was that next year Lindsay is going to be here," Jesse said. "So, I'm expecting the young, big ego state champion to come in, having to deal with personality of somebody who has already won at that level and what I ended up getting was just exactly the opposite of what I expected."
Jesse gave an example of Byrka's unselfishness and leadership as he remembered a relay race in her freshman season.
Going up against a team that was in the finals of the state meet a year before, Byrka entered the pool for the anchor leg facing a steep three-second deficit. She slowly chipped away at the other team's lead, but was narrowly touched out at the end.
"I'm running over there to congratulate her on the fantastic swim, it was probably a lifetime best by a considerable margin for her, and (she) just did a super-human job of anchoring this relay ... and instead of Lindsay being excited or looking at one of the other swimmers as to how come we didn't win, who didn't get me enough of a lead, it was Lindsay apologizing to the other swimmers because she couldn't touch (the other team's swimmer) out," Jesse said. "That's Lindsay."
The third and final inductee into the 2011 Hodag Hall of Fame was three-sport standout Makris. Makris was a 12-time letter winner, all-state linebacker, state champion in wrestling and state qualifier in track and field.
While he excelled in all three sports, it was on the mat where Makris enjoyed the most success, winning a state title in 1999 as a heavyweight. During that season he picked up 38 victories, fourth most in school history. Makris finished his career with 98 wins, which ranks him fifth all-time.
Presenting Makris into the Hodag Hall of Fame was former RHS wrestling coach Mike Piehl.
"In a coach's career, one does not get many athletes to work with like Mike," Piehl said. "He not only had the natural talent, but also the other qualities that allow an athlete to reach the top of his sport. Qualities like desire, dedication, determination and a great work ethic.
"As good of an athlete as Mike was, he was even a better person," Piehl added. "He was a young man with great character and probably one of the nicest and politest and humblest athletes that I've had the pleasure to coach in my many years of coaching."
Makris, who expressed much gratitude to all of his former coaches and his family for making him the athlete and man that he is, remembered an interesting motivational technique used by Piehl prior to his state championship.
"We were in a suburban and there was no talking on the way over to the stadium for the semi-finals and all I see is coach Piehl's eyes look in the rearview mirror and look at me and go 'I've never had a guy lose in the semifinals,' and after that I just nodded and he went up to the CD player and popped in a very interesting motivational song that kind of became our rally cry, which was "Almost Jamaica" by the Bellamy Brothers," Makris said. "You wouldn't think it was a motivational-type song.
"When the finals came we were driving down and I see coach Piehl's eyes look up in the rearview mirror and go 'You know Rhinelander has never had a person lose in the finals,'" Makris added. "And then the finger went to hit play."
In addition to the inductions of Crossen, Byrka and Makris into the Hodag Hall of Fame, two "Heart of the Hodag" awards were given to community members as well as scholarships and recognition to current student-athletes.
Current RHS soccer coach Dan Millot presented Jerry Smith with one of the "Heart of the Hodag" awards. Smith has been a integral part of the Rhinelander Soccer Club for over a decade.
Jeff Scandin, the Master of Ceremonies presented the other award to Irv Schiek III. Schiek started the Athletic Booster Club 31 years ago with a bunch of his friends.
Receiving $1,000 scholarships from the ABC were Isaac Pierre and Ellen Bognar. They were selected based on the number of seasons they played as well as their academic success.
Bognar competed in 11 seasons and is 32nd overall in her class with a GPA of 3.849. Pierre took part in 10 seasons and has collected 10 letters. He ranks fifth overall in his class, putting together a cumulative 4.365 GPA and scoring a 31 on his ACT exam.
Priyanka Sikka, Collin Smith, Alleigh Fralick, Ashley Sachse and Lindsay Schilleman were presented with Scholar Athlete Awards for their high-class marks.
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