Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) announced the 2019 Class that will be inducted into its Athletic Hall of Fame Friday, Sept. 20.

This year’s inductees will be Nate Roth, Mitch Sutton, Mike Olson, Kelly Franks and the 2003 SPASH softball team.

The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place Sept. 20 in the SentryWorld Grand Hall following the SPASH football team’s 5 p.m. game against Marshfield.

Individual tickets cost $25 and can be purchased at the SPASH Athletic Office or online at www.eventbrite.com.

The event will begin with a social at 7 p.m., with the ceremony to follow at approximately 8 p.m.

Among the accomplishments of this year’s class, Roth was the 1999 WIAA Division 1 Individual Wrestling State Champion at 171 pounds with a 35-0 record.

Sutton was a First Team All-State running back for the SPASH football team in 2006 and 2007, an Honorable Mention All-State running back as a sophomore in 2005, and the 2007 Gatorade Wisconsin Football State Player of the Year.

Olson has been a head coach for the girls cross country and girls track teams at SPASH for 40 years. He guided the SPASH girls cross country teams to State Titles in 1987, 2002 and 2003, and State Runner-up finishes in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 2014. The SPASH girls track team has had 17 individual or relay State Champions since 1983, and the team finished as the 1984 WIAA Class A State Runner-up.

A two-time First Team All-State pitcher for the SPASH softball team, Franks helped the Panthers win the 2009 WIAA Division 1 State Championship as a sophomore and the 2011 WIAA Division 1 State Championship as a senior, when she was named the Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association Division 1 State Player of the Year.

The 2003 SPASH softball team finished 26-0 and won the WIAA Division 1 State Title with a 3-0 victory over Appleton East in the State Championship Game, which was the Panthers’ 44th straight win, as SPASH won its third consecutive State Championship.