March 19, 2024

CMB to welcome six new Hall of Fame members

Collins-Maxwell/Baxter began a CMB Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. This Saturday, the schools will introduce six more members to that elite group.

Joining the club this weekend will be longtime boys track coach Neil Seales, three-star athlete Ryan Cakerice, football and track and field standout Scott Foreman, Michael Holdren, former Maxwell Rockets star Gary Plunkett and four-sport standout Kevin Thompson.

There will be a ceremony to induct these six members in Maxwell on Saturday. The current Raider basketball teams will host Colfax-Mingo in a non-conference affair beginning with the girls contest at 2 p.m. The six inductees will be recognized at halftime of the boys game, and the induction ceremony will take place after the doubleheader.

Anyone in the CMB community can nominate a former Raider athlete for induction. An eight member committee then votes on which nominees earn Hall of Fame status each season.

The eight-person panel includes Baxter Athletic Director Lori Fricke, Collins-Maxwell Athletic Director Chad Grandon, Baxter Principal and football coach Rob Luther, Baxter teacher and assistant football coach Jason Aker, Collins-Maxwell teacher, cross country and girls track and field coach Jerry Meinerts, 2012 Hall of Fame inductee Stan Allspach, Marcus Fricke, Dana Berry and Collins-Maxwell teacher and assistant varsity softball coach Jean Birchmier.

Seales is a no-doubt selection. He served the CMB athletic community for 40 years, winning a state track and field runner-up trophy in 1986. He was the first CMB boys track coach and won seven Heart of Iowa Conference titles before retiring from his position this past spring.

Seales also coached football at Baxter and CMB from 1976 to 1992.

Cakerice graduated from Collins-Maxwell High School in 2000. He participated in football, basketball and track and was the starting quarterback for the Raiders in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Cakerice was a three-time all-district selection on the gridiron, a three-time all-conference selection in basketball and ran at the state track meet in 1999 and 2000. He played football at Buena Vista for three years. He is currently the director of Athletic Facilities and Game Operations at Duke University.

Foreman graduated from Baxter in 1986. He was a four-year letter winner in football and track. Foreman played on the 1984 and 1985 football playoff teams, which were the first two playoff teams at Baxter High School.

On the track, he was part of the 1986 state runner-up team and was the runner-up in shot put in both 1985 and 1986.

Holdren was a team captain during his time at CMB. He was most noted for his work in the classroom as he was the school’s salutatorian his senior year. He earned degrees from Iowa State University and Drake University and currently enrolled in the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin.

Plunkett was a former Maxwell Rocket. He plays a big role in the rec co-ed softball and volleyball programs in Maxwell. He played football, basketball and baseball as a high school athlete, served five years as a junior high basketball coach at Collins-Maxwell and was a high school boys basketball coach at C-M and CMB for five years.

Thompson participated in football, basketball, baseball and track in the Collins-Maxwell community. His biggest athletic highlights include an all-conference honor in basketball and an honorable mention all-state honor in football.

Hawkeyes eye college football playoff

It’s a win and advance to the College Football Playoff for the Iowa football team.

The Hawkeyes are nearing the end of a dream season, but they want three more wins. That’d be a national championship no one predicted. If Iowa loses, it likely goes to the Rose, Fiesta or Peach bowls, which would be a great consolation prize.

The Big Ten Conference championship against Michigan State on Saturday should be an old-fashioned football game. Both teams like to run the football and bring their hard hats to the gridiron. The game also features two of best quarterbacks in the conference in C.J. Beathard and Connor Cook.

Cyclones have their man in Matt Campbell

Campbell won the press conference. That happens a lot though. Paul Rhoads won a lot of press conferences.

It’s easy to like Campbell. He seems like a good fit. He said at the press conference he was in it for the long haul. Gene Chizik said the same thing and left in two years.

If Campbell wins, takes Iowa State to a few bowl games and leaves in three to five years, it will still be worth it. I can’t predict if Campbell stays long-term or if he works out in Ames, but the press conference at least gave Cyclone fans hope.