L to R: Rachel Guentzel (Bona), Jim Roback, Ally Anderson (Heida)

Jim Roback
Jim Roback served thirty-four total years as a teacher/coach in the Anoka-Hennepin School District including 26 as an assistant coach for Cardinal Football and numerous other activities. He retired in 1997 and spent an additional 12 years coaching at the collegiate level. Roback’s success as student-athlete has also been recognized through membership in his high school and Augsburg College Hall of Fame. As a coach, he is a member of the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Roback served as offensive coordinator of the 1983 Coon Rapids Class AA state football championship team plus seven conference championship teams
In 1984, he was the recipient of the Butch Nash Award in the first year it was presented by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association for outstanding work by assistant coaches. 

Rachel Guentzel (Bona) 
Rachel Guentzel (Bona) collected all-state honors in hockey and soccer and holds the all-time scoring record in school Girls' hockey history. She led the Cardinals to a third-place finish in 2011 while also being part of the U-18 National Team at the World Championships that same year. Her success on the ice continued at the University of Minnesota, winning three NCAA championships and finishing as runner-up once. She served as team captain her senior year.  She was a semifinalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the Nation's Top Women's Hockey Player and also received a Golden Goldy Award recognizing her as the Female Breakout Athlete of the Year her senior year.
 
Ally Anderson (Heida)
2011 graduate Ally Anderson (Heida) is a 21-time letterwinner in athletics and academics. She was a four-time captain, four-time team MVP, and seven-time All-Conference selection in soccer, cross-country skiing, and lacrosse, and was also named to the All-state Team in soccer. Ally earned Distinguished Academic Achievement Awards in every season of athletics, was a member of the National Honor Society, Health Occupations Students of America, and she graduated with High Honors and earned her Associate of Arts degree.  After graduation, Ally continued her athletic career and academic achievement success at the University of Minnesota-Morris, where she played Women’s Soccer and collected numerous all-conference and all-region honors. 

L to R: Semhar Araia, Logan Shore, Dan Dehnicke, Lonnie Dupre.

Semhar Araia

Semhar Araia is a 1995 graduate of Coon Rapids High School where she was involved in numerous clubs including National Honor Society, Student Council, Cardinal Pals, Advocates for Humanity, and Cultural Diversity. She was named the school’s homecoming queen her senior year.

Semhar is the founder and CEO of the Diaspora African Women’s Network (DAWN), an advisory firm supporting African diaspora professional women and partners committed to diaspora engagement and gender equity. With nearly 25 years of public policy and advocacy experience, Semhar is a recognized thought leader, public speaker and practitioner on diaspora engagement, African affairs, women’s leadership and international development.

She has advised multiple public and private entities, including governments, international organizations and over 100 African, Asian, European and Arab diasporas. She began her career as an attorney for the implementation of the 2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia peace agreement. 

Her leadership includes recognition from President Barack Obama as a White House Champion of Change, The Root’s Top 100 and being named among the Top 100 Most Influential People of African Descent. Semhar was born in New York City to Eritrean immigrant parents and currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Dan Dehnicke

Dan Dehnicke spent his entire career in education and over 37 years held a variety of roles, including social studies teacher, football coach, girls track and field and basketball coach, activities director at Coon Rapids and Andover high schools and principal of Andover High School. 

Dan grew up in Chicago and attended Augustana College (now University) in Sioux Falls where he played football for four seasons and graduated with his teaching degree in 1973. He started teaching and coaching at Mitchell High School in South Dakota before moving to Coon Rapids High School in 1974. He taught and coached at CRHS from 1974-1986 before spending two seasons as an assistant football coach at the University of North Dakota. Dan returned to CRHS in 1988 to serve as the head football coach and in 1989 he was named activities director, a role he held until 2001. 

Some of Dan’s career highlights as a coach and activities director at CRHS include overseeing the construction of the new fieldhouse, leading girls track and field to two conference championships, twice being named the Northwest Suburban Conference (NWSC) Coach of the Year, and being named the region 4AA track and field coach of the year. He was the defensive coordinator of the 1983 state champion football team, was twice named region 4AA activities director of the year, and he coached multiple state champions in track and All-State players in football.

After retirement from teaching and coaching, he served as the executive secretary of the NWSC and in 2016, he was inducted into the Augustana Athletics Hall of Fame. Dan and his wife Sue have two sons, Adam (Brooke) and Drew (Katie), and six grandchildren. 

Lonnie Dupre

Lonnie Dupre is a 1979 graduate of CRHS. 

After high school, Lonnie achieved many accomplishments through his outdoor adventures. He completed the first west-to-east 3,000-mile winter crossing of Canada’s famed Northwest Passage by dog team. He achieved his first circumnavigation of Greenland, a 6,500-mile, all non-motorized journey by kayak and dog team. Lonnie has pulled sleds on skis from Canada to the North Pole, twice achieving over 68 million impressions worldwide on issues surrounding climate change. 

Lonnie has received countless awards for his travels. His earliest award was received in 1989 for the Soviet “Sportsman’s Medal” from Mikhail Gorbachev. In 1994 he participated in the winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway with a dog-sled team. Lonnie was an elected fellow of the National Explorers Club in 1996 and was featured twice in National Geographic for Best of Adventure. In 2019, Lonnie was elected as a Fellow in the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. 

Lonnie currently lives in Grand Marais, enjoying woodworking and back-country skiing in the Quetico/Boundary Waters Wilderness of the Minnesota/Canadian border.

Logan Shore

Logan Shore graduated from CRHS in 2013 as a highly successful student-athlete. 

Logan was a three-sport athlete for the Cardinals, participating in nordic skiing, hockey and baseball. He was a first team all-state selection from 2010-13 and was named the state’s Mr. Baseball award winner his senior year. Shore was also named the 2013 Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Minnesota. He still currently holds career records in wins, earned-run average and strikeouts at CRHS.

After graduation, Logan continued his academic and athletic career at the University of Florida. In 2014, he was named the Southeast Conference (SEC) Freshman of the Year and earned All-America honors. As a junior for the Gators, Logan posted a record of 12-1 in 18 appearances to go along with 96 strikeouts. He was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year in 2016 and was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award while earning first team all-America honors.

Logan was drafted with the 47th overall pick in the second round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft by the Oakland Athletics. He is currently in his seventh season in professional baseball, making stops at Class A, AA and AAA ball. Logan was signed as a free agent by the San Francisco Giants on March 9, 2023 and was assigned to the Sacramento River Cats (AAA). He made one appearance in 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury.

L to R: Don Timm, Trish Curtis, Jerry Coe, Digger Anderson.

Jerry Coe

Jerry Coe began his coaching career at CRHS in 1973 as an assistant hockey coach and spent the next 14 years with the Cardinal hockey program, helping CRHS to its first and only Northwest Suburban Conference championship in 1982. Coe was also instrumental in starting the girls soccer program at CRHS, helping launch the team in 1976 and serving as an assistant coach through 1980. Perhaps his most profound impacts, besides serving as a teacher at CRHS, can be found on the baseball diamond. Coe was named head baseball coach at CRHS in 1993 and built on the foundation set by former legendary coach and fellow CRHS Hall of Fame member Ken Sundstrom. Coe amassed 384 career wins as the bench boss of the Cardinals, winning six conference titles, four section championships and two state titles (1993 and 2008) in four appearances. He was named the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Association (MSHSBCA) Coach of the Year following the team’s state title in 2008 and was inducted into the MSHSBCA Hall of Fame in 2012.

Don Timm

Don Timm taught history at CRHS from 1973 until his retirement in 2011. He helped launch the AP European History and U.S. History classes and earned the school’s Outstanding Performance Award in 2006. Timm coached numerous all-state performers in both boys track and field as the distance running coach as well as the boys and girls cross country head coach. He was inducted into the Minnesota Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2001 and into the University of Minnesota’s M Club Hall of Fame in 2004. Timm was arguably Minnesota’s best-ever steeplechaser, winning the Big 10 title in 1971, setting a conference record and placing fourth at the NCAA Championships that same season. He was a two-sport athlete for the Gophers, also participating in cross country where he was the Big 10 runner-up in 1970 and 1971. In 2021, Timm was enshrined in the Minnesota Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame and in 2014, he earned the Breaking Barriers Award from the National Girls & Women in Sports.

Trish Curtis

Trish Curtis is a 1997 graduate of CRHS, where she was a three-sport athlete for the Cardinals. In 1997, she was named the Athena Award winner, which is given to one senior female athlete who has distinguished herself in special individual athletic achievement or superior achievements in one or more sports. She was a two-time letterwinner in soccer, three-time letterwinner in basketball and four-time letterwinner in track and field. On the basketball team, Curtis was a two-time all-conference and team MVP selection earning all-state honorable mention honors and state all-tournament team honors in 1997. She holds the school record for single-game rebounds with 22. She was also a standout in track and field for the Cardinals, earning all-conference honors four times and twice being named all-state. In 1997, she won individual state championships in the shotput and discus throw events. Curtis owns school records in discus (133 feet, 6 inches) and shot put (43 feet, 6 inches). She was also a member of the 1996 state championship track and field team. 

Digger Anderson

Digger Anderson graduated from CRHS in 2001 as a three-sport athlete. Anderson participated in track and field, earning four letters, as well as hockey and football. He was named a team captain of the hockey team as a junior and senior and earned all-conference honors as a senior. On the football field, Anderson was a three-time letterwinner and two-time first team all-conference selection. He was named the team’s Defensive MVP twice during his career and was the Northwest Suburban Conference Defensive MVP in 2000. He earned Star Tribune and Kare 11 first team all-metro honors and was a first team all-state selection by the Pioneer Press. He finished his career with 280 tackles and holds records in tackles and assisted tackles. Anderson continued his academic and athletic career at the University of North Dakota, where he was an Academic All-American and a 10-time First Team All-America selection. He finished his career at UND first in career solo tackles and still ranks fourth all-time in total tackles.

L to R: Roger Gorham, Katie “Bestul” Lakanen, Mark Hodsdon.

Katie “Bestul” Lakanen

Katie “Bestul” Lakanen graduated in 1996 as a decorated track and field student-athlete. She was a team captain as a junior and senior while earning all-conference honors in four straight seasons. Lakanen earned all-state honors as a sophomore, junior and senior and set school records in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles. She also won three individual state championships and helped lead the Cardinals to a team Class AA State Championship in 1996.

Roger Gorham

Roger Gorham spent 36 years as a teacher and coach at Coon Rapids High School. From 1976 to 2005 Gorham was the head coach of the girls track and field team where he led the Cardinals to eight conference and section championships, two Class AA state runner-up finishes and the 1996 Class AA State Championship. Gorham led CRHS to three runner-up finishes at the true team state meet and was named the state girls track and field coach of the year in 1994. In 2011, Gorham was inducted into the Minnesota Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Mark Hodsdon

Mark Hodsdon graduated in 1975 after a successful multi-sport career as a student-athlete. Hodsdon was the captain of the baseball team in 1975 where he earned all-conference and all-state honors. He was selected to play in the Minnesota Lions All-Star Baseball Tournament his senior season. Hodsdon earned all-conference honors in football in 1975 and earned the Dan Klint Red Scarf Award. He was also named the CRHS student-athlete of the year in 1975 before earning a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Minnesota.

L to R: Bob Board, Amber (Affeldt) Gunderson, Ron Scott, Joan (Schroer) Montague, Bob Pivec.

Amber (Affeldt) Gunderson

Amber Affeldt Gunderson graduated in 1995 following a successful run in cross country and track and field for the Cardinals. She won five state titles and was a three-time all-state selection in cross country. On the track, she excelled in the 400 and 800-meter distances, setting school records in both events while also establishing record times in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Affeldt continued to succeed in athletics following high school as she went on to compete in the Big 12 for Texas Tech University. She won a Big 12 Championship in the 800-meter run and still appears in the Texas Tech track and field record books.

Bob Board

A 1955 graduate of Anoka High School, Bob Board launched the wrestling program at CRHS in 1963 and spent the next 34 years as a teacher and coach. He compiled a career record of 411-138 and was named the state’s coach of the year in 1997, his final year as head coach. He twice served as president of the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association during his career and is a member of two Minnesota wrestling hall of fames, including the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Board was a physical education and health teacher and also coached fastpitch softball for 20 years. 

Bob Pivec

Bob Pivec began teaching at CRHS in 1969 and was once voted as one of the toughest teachers in the school by the student newspaper. He coached boys tennis for 32 seasons and girls tennis for 29. During that time, CRHS tennis teams represented the Cardinals in over 1,200 team matches and hundreds more individual section and state tournament matches. He finished his career with over 900 wins, leading the Cardinals to 22 conference championships and 20 region and section championships. At the time of his retirement in 2002, his 903 wins ranked third best on the all-time list of winningest high school tennis coaches in the United States.

Joan (Schroer) Montague

Joan Schroer Montague graduated from CRHS in 1979. She excelled in athletics and in the classroom, graduating with honors and participating in National Honor Society. By the end of her senior year, she was a nine-time letterwinner and had earned seven all-conference honors. She was named the Most Valuable Player of the volleyball and basketball teams as a junior and senior and helped her teams to six state tournament appearances (three in volleyball, one in basketball and two in softball) on her way to being named the school’s Athena Award winner in 1979. She earned all-state honors in volleyball as a junior and in basketball as a senior. She finished her career with 826 points and 1,127 rebounds in basketball and held the school’s scoring record prior to the 3-point line being introduced in 1987-88. Joan went on to play volleyball and softball for one season at St. Cloud State University before finishing her career at Anoka-Ramsey Community College where she earned All-America honors. 

Ron Scott

For over 20 years, Ron Scott and CRHS football were synonymous. Scott began coaching the sophomore team in 1965 before being named the head varsity coach in 1969. After two winless seasons, Scott and his staff spent the next 19 years as one of the best programs in the state. By the time he stepped down in 1988, his leadership had developed teams that produced 110 wins, four state playoff appearances and the 1983 Class AA State Championship. Following his coaching career, Scott spent six years teaching biology at CRHS before moving on to an administrative position at Anoka High School. In 1991, Scott was inducted into the Minnesota State High School League Football Coaches Hall of Fame and in 1995, the Augsburg College Athletics Hall of Fame.

L to R: Ken Sundstrom, Shelley Carter, Sharen Keller, Tom Kopa, Dottie Carlson on behalf of inductee Roger Carlson, Jim Rainbow

Roger Carlson

Roger Carlson served Coon Rapids High School and the community for 26 years from the very day the school opened in 1963. Serving as Athletic Director, Carlson led the foundation and development of athletics and activities, and is credited with championing girls sports to ensure equitable access for all students.

Shelley Carter

For 1978 graduate Shelley Carter, success on the field or court was equalled in the classroom. A member of the school’s National Honor Society and recognized as honor athlete graduate, Carter excelled in volleyball, basketball and softball serving as team captain for all three sports and earning Most Valuable Player honors in each sport. A nine-time letter winner with eight all-conference awards, Carter helped the 1977 Cardinals softball team win the state championship.

Tom Copa

Named Minnesota’s “Mr. Basketball” and a high school All-American in 1983, Tom Copa built on his high school success to play professional basketball in the NBA following a successful college career at Marquette University. Copa was a three-sport standout at CRHS, earning all-state and all-conference honors twice in football and setting a school record in the discus. He served as captain in all three sports.

Sharen Keller

Teacher and coach Sharen Keller is a key person in the development of girls sports at Coon Rapids High School. Keller started the volleyball program and coached for 25 years, earning four-state tournament appearances and seven conference titles. She was named Region 4AA coach of the year in 1995. She also started the fastpitch softball team at CRHS, leading the Cardinals to the first-ever state champions in that sport for any team. Keller also coached basketball, dance, cheerleading, golf, and track and field for the Cardinals.

Jim Rainbow

Jim Rainbow served as principal at Coon Rapids High School from 1971 to 1987, playing an essential role in forming the programs and traditions that are still in place today. Rainbow was known for his ability to develop a quality staff and his legacy of excellence lives on through the staff and students whose lives he touched. Under his leadership, Cardinal athletics, arts, academics and activities programs experienced great success and set high expectations that continued into the future.

Ken Sundstrom

Serving as head baseball coach from the day the school opened for 28 years until retirement, Ken Sundstrom’s Cardinal baseball teams compiled a record of 377-160 and a state championship in 1980. Under his watch, Coon Rapids won 12 conference titles and played in three state tournaments. Sundstrom gained entry into the Minnesota High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2006.

Photos surrounding the Hall of Fame: 

• View photos from the recognition reception: https://goo.gl/9BQpRM.
• View photos from the on-field pregame ceremony: https://goo.gl/ZgGf8m.
• Read more in the program for the event: https://goo.gl/H6z4fw.