The 2017 Elkhorn Area High School Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony will include the induction of seven former EAHS athletes and a former coach.
Those being honored are: Jeff Anderson, Bill Morrissey, Tammy Reu-Leach, Markie Schmidt, Bridget Seegers, Dan Sullivan, Richard Van Scotter and Dean Wilson.
The event will be held Saturday, Sept. 30 at Elkhorn Area High School, beginning with a social, featuring hors d’oeuvres at 11:30 a.m. and a program at 12:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the Elkhorn Area High School office, Frank’s Piggly Wiggly or at elkhornboosters.com.
About the inductees
Below is an overview of the history about those that will be inducted during the Sept. 30 ceremony.
Jeff Anderson made a name for himself and Elkhorn from 1975-1979, through his athletic and leadership skills in basketball, football, baseball and track. He was given the nickname “Chopper” by coach Fred Suchy who said Anderson, “was one of the most tenacious defenders and rebounders” that he ever coached.
Anderson was part of the state championship basketball team in 1978 and 1979, selected to the State All-Tournament Team, where he set a rebounding record of 29, named to the Wisconsin High School Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game and earned All-Conference Awards for his performance as a quarterback. In 1979, Jeff also won the American Legion Award.
Anderson and his wife, Dana, live in Elkhorn where they raised three children: Austin, Ashlyn and Arik. Jeff owns and operates his own company, J.B. Anderson Construction; Dana is a technology teacher at Elkhorn High School.
Bill Morrissey earned 11 letters during his high school career, four each in football and baseball and three in basketball. He was also the 1946 American Legion Award winner.
After graduating high school Morrissey enlisted in the U.S. Army and while stationed in Italy, played on the 88th army division football team, comprised of 40 players from a group of 600 invitees. In 1948, when the Delavan Red Devils were forming, Morrissey joined them and helped the team win 34 out of 37 games in two years.
Other than his two years of service, Morrissey has lived in Elkhorn his entire life and spent his career has been at First National Bank where he eventually became president and owner.
Tammy Reu-Leach moved to the Elkhorn area with her family during her sophomore year of high school where she played volleyball, basketball and track at EAHS. While excelling in all three sports, running sprints and sprint relays as well as high jumping are areas where she won numerous conference regional and sectional championships, and won the state championship as a member of Elkhorn’s 4×200 relay team in 1978.
After graduation from UW-Whitewater, she returned to coach at EAHS and was later hired by EAMS as a physical education teacher. As an assistant track coach, she coached Elkhorn’s conference championship boys track teams in 1988, 1991, 1992 and 1993. She also became the assistant volleyball coach at Elkhorn, described as an easy transition for her.
Reu-Leach lost her battle with cancer in 2003 at the age of 43.
Markie Schmidt, as a cross country runner at EAHS, made First Team All Conference in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2005, she won in eight of the 10 meets she ran. She was a state qualifier in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
Her high school basketball records include the following accolades: most points in a season, most rebounds in a game, a season and a career. During her senior year Schmidt was the number one rebounder in the state, played the Mac Fund All-star Game and was nominated for the McDonald’s High School All-American Game. She is also the first Elkhorn recipient of the WIAA Scholar Athlete Award.
Schmidt also excelled in track, setting many school records, several of which stand today. She qualified for state in numerous events throughout her high school career and in 2005, she placed third in the 800 and first in the 4×800.
Dr. Bridget Seegers is a 1997 EAHS graduate, salutatorian and three-sport athlete of her class. In volleyball and soccer, she consistently earned the title of MVP between her freshman and senior years, as well as All Conference in volleyball in 1995 and All Conference and Team Regional and Sectional Champions for soccer in 1997.
But Seegers most notable athletic contributions occurred on the basketball court, as she was awarded MVP from 1995 to 1997, the Wisconsin Coaches Associate Award for Academic Excellence in 1997 and the SLC Athlete of the year in 1997. She was instrumental in leading the team to regional, sectional and state championship appearances.
At Carleton College, as co-captain, she led the women’s basketball team to its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
She currently resides in Washington D.C.
Dan Sullivan was a two-time state qualifier in cross country at EAHS, set the school record for the state meet course at a time of 16:34, and was a two-time First Team All Conference athlete. He was team captain for two seasons as well as team MVP for two seasons.
He also excelled in track in high school including: four-time state qualifier and four-time conference champion. He holds three school records in the 800, 1600 and 3200 events. While representing Team Wisconsin at the Senior Spotlight Meet, Sullivan was victorious in the 1600 and 3200 events and was awarded Team Wisconsin athlete of the meet.
Sullivan’s success continued at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, he was Rookie of the Year his freshman season, was named two-time team MVP his sophomore and junior seasons and was Athlete of the Year for an individual sport all three of those years.
He is a three-time NCAA Division III National Champion.
Richard Van Scotter was diagnosed with rheumatic fever at the end of 7th grade, which ultimately delayed his high school career by two years because of restrictions from strenuous activity.
In 1954-55, he was finally able to wear an Elkhorn basketball uniform, his sophomore year of high school, but was only cleared to play 50 percent of the time. In one game, he scored 23 points in only 16 minutes of play, going 7-for-9 from the field and 9-for-9 from the free throw line.
That spring, he played baseball full time and became starting centerfielder with a .300 batting average.
Despite the delayed start, Van Scotter earned 10 varsity letters, captured the American Legion Medal in 1957 and was also selected to attend Badger Boys State after his junior year.
Van Scotter went on to become a multi-sport college athlete.
After graduation, he attended Naval Officers Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island and later earned a PhD from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He resides in Longmont, Colorado.
Dean Wilson graduated from Freeport High School in 1960 where he was a three sport athlete – football, basketball, and baseball, however, it was football he played for a year while at Northern Illinois University, where he graduated with a major in mathematics education.
In August of 1970, Wilson accepted a teaching and coaching position at Elkhorn Area High School, as an assistant football coach until 1994, followed by head coach for 15 years, during which his staff and teams compiled a 102-53 record, won the Southern Lakes Conference seven times, and made the WIAA playoffs 12 times.
Wilson also coached wrestling for both EAHS and EAMS and eventually became the athletic director at EAHS for 17 years and ran the Elkhorn Recreation Program for 23 years.
In 2012, Wilson was inducted into the Wisconsin Sports Hall of Fame.
He and his wife, Kathi, reside in Elkhorn.
