Lehnhart father and son inducted into Alaska High School Hall of Fame
- Klas Stolpe
- 2 days ago
- 12 min read
JDHS coach Gary Lehnhart, Crimson Bears athlete Jackson Lehnhart honored
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Family, friends, colleagues and admirers were in attendance at the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) Alaska High School Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Anchorage’s Special Olympics Alaska Building on Sunday to witness Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé coach Gary Lehnhart, his son Jackson Lehnhart, a 2013 JDHS graduate, and 12 other honorees selected into the 2026 class.
“It is fun,” Gary Lehnhart said. “So much of athletics is that you are living in the moment. You’re trying to win a game, you’re trying to be successful in a season. You’re trying to figure out how to help, like, this decision I had yesterday about who to leave home and who to take on the next road trip. So much of athletics is right now, in your face…It has been fun in this process to really reflect back, to have someone like Justin (Dorn) here, and some of the messages I have been getting, and the letters I read that the players wrote. That part has been much more significant than I realized. Just to be reminded, and I am reminded in a significant way, about how lucky I have been to have so many young people in my life and they are still a part of my life. I still have a big connection with alumni through emails, and we talk, just hearing about their growing families and how much they look back at their time that we spent together, positively. And to be able to do this with one of my kids is really special.”
A condensed version of Gary Lehnhart’s induction biography stated that he stands as one of the most accomplished and transformational high school soccer coaches in Alaska history. As head coach of the Juneau-Douglas High School boys soccer program in 1993, he built a small-town program into a statewide powerhouse while shaping generations of young men into leaders of character. He has guided Juneau-Douglas to seven state championships while compiling more than 400 career victories and is a multiple-time state and regional coach of the year.
When asked if youth had changed from when he started his coaching and teaching career, Gary Lehnhart said, “Sure, we can’t diminish what COVID did to a lot of kids, and we learned quite a bit about mental health and things that I never really even thought about…even now talking with some past players about how insane some of the drills that I ran back then. So I do feel like I am a much better coach now than I was. Especially in the health and well-being of my players. But as far as people, I don’t think there is that much difference. Kids still have the same challenges. They are trying to fit in, trying to figure out their place in the world, trying to balance success and failure. Sports puts it on such an immediate plane — you strike out or you hit it, you score a goal or you give one up, you lose or you win — it is a place that you really can watch kids have to manage it and stand up to it, in a way that other things don’t do. I have always enjoyed that and I really enjoyed my teaching career as well. There is something about athletics, I never had to motivate. Kids wanted to win a game. My teaching strategy was more, how can I get these people to pay attention? In sports it was always the other way around, how can I get these guys to deal with what just happened, positive or negative? But comparing players across my career, really there are similarities.”
He was asked for advice for those entering teaching and coaching.
“Well, given what is going on with the financial part of education, setting that aside, it is still the same job,” he said. “And I feel like it is a profession where you wake up in the morning and you look in the mirror and you know, today I can make a difference, and, today I can do something significant. I have always appreciated that. It just gave my life meaning, and I would hope that other people would see the same and look past the current financial stuff.”
A condensed version of Jackson Lehnhart’s induction biography stated that he stands among Alaska’s most accomplished multi-sport athletes. A 13-time varsity letter winner and three-time state champion, he combined elite performance, academic excellence and leadership across five sports. He was the 2013 Gatorade Alaska Soccer Player of the Year as a senior and finished his career as the state’s all-time leading goal scorer with 60 goals. He later earned All-American honors while helping Amherst College win the 2015 NCAA Division III national championship.
“This means a ton,” Jackson Lehnhart said of the ceremony. “It has been fun just to reminisce about the experiences I had in high school and how much that went into making those experiences possible. I had such an incredible career and high school experience that is being represented here, but I think so much of it is just being able to appreciate what made that possible. That is the coaches, the administrators, ASAA, just so many different contributions to such a special experience of which I am just really grateful for.”
When asked what advice he would give to young athletes, he said, “Just enjoy it. There is so much there for you to experience and benefit from. It is such a special time of your life. It is a unique experience that you won’t have beyond the initial four years so embrace it, have fun with it and just don’t take it for granted. There are so many people that make it possible and make it such a fun thing.”
ASAA Executive Director Billy Strickland and GCI Public Relations and Communications Strategist Austin Siong were award presenters. Inductees received a hall of fame plaque from ASAA and a legislative citation from the Alaska Legislature. Anchorage’s Don Winchester, Alaska’s foremost sports historian, was master of ceremonies.
Also inducted into the hall of fame Sunday were Wrangell’s Fred Angerman Jr. (Lifetime Achievement), Yakutat’s Rose Fraker (Athlete), Ben Eielson High School’s Joe Balash (Athlete), Bethel High School’s Thomas Dyment (Athlete) and Hayden Lieb (Athlete), Tok’s Diana Ervin (Lifetime Achievement), Dimond High School’s Colton Lauwers (Athlete), Seward High School’s Dan Marshall (Coach), Chugiak High School’s Tom Rollman (Athlete), Cordova High School’s Dick Shellhorn (Lifetime Achievement), Matanuska-Susitna School District’s Jamie Smith (Coach) and Fairbanks’ Robert Walkotte (Official).
A condensed version of Fred Angerman Jr.’s induction biography stated that he was the gold standard of Alaska high school basketball — as a player, an official and a lifelong ambassador for the game in Wrangell and across Southeast Alaska. His legacy spanned five decades and touched nearly every level of the sport. A four-year varsity starter who led Wrangell to a Southeast title in 1975 and earned all-tournament honors, Angerman later became a pillar of Region V basketball as an official for three decades. He also dedicated more than 40 years to the Elks Hoop Shoot and coached youth basketball.
“This is such an honor knowing that Fred is being acknowledged for all his decades of volunteering and refereeing,” his widow, Sumi Angerman, said. “For me, I miss being in the stands, cheering my sons on, trying to protect Fred when he was refereeing. But this means a lot to us, our whole family and all these friends that came.”
Fraker, a 2009 graduate, was noted as a four-year standout for Yakutat who helped lead her team to four consecutive Region V 2A titles and three straight 2A state championships from 2007-2009. She is a two-time 2A Player of the Year and multiple-time All-Tournament selection.
“Honestly, it is reassuring in the fact that what I did in the days that helped me earn this recognition now keeps me going,” Fraker said. “Because now it is about my kids. For them to be here today and watch this happen and see why, it is just reassuring. I am always preaching to them that you are only going to be as good as you want to be. Show up every day, do your best, always play at game speed. If you play half effort, you will do half effort. If you are going to do something, do it right.”
Bethel High School 2018 graduate Thomas Dyment is one of the most accomplished wrestlers in Alaska history. He is a four-time ASAA state wrestling champion who earned four varsity letters and was named outstanding wrestler at the 2017 state tournament. The 2018 Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winner for Alaska, he also earned national recognition as a Wrestling USA Senior All-American honorable mention. He is known for elite competitive success with humility, leadership and commitment to service.
“This is very special and I am very stoked to be here,” Dyment said. “It is unbelievable, I wasn’t expecting this and I am grateful…Hard work and being humble are core values. Mental strength and commitment are important, many times I have been pinned or lost matches, but there is always a benefit, a life lesson, to learning from a loss and moving forward.”
Bethel High School 2020 graduate Hayden Lieb is another of Alaska’s standout wrestlers. The four-time ASAA state wrestling champion was twice named outstanding wrestler at the state tournament and earned multiple national All-American honors. The 2020 Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winner, he continued his career on scholarship at the University of Wyoming and is known for character, leadership and community service.
“I can’t put this into words,” Lieb said. “It is something special to be a part of. It is cool to see as a little kid coming up being able to accomplish things I did and looking back on the whole career is such a blessing. For me, the biggest thing was being goal-driven. Growing up, my dad had me set a lot of goals, such as a goal for the week. If you didn’t accomplish that goal it was fine, you worked on the next one and just kept going. Keep having fun in everything you are doing, through the whole process, all the losses and wins.”
Tok High School 1976 graduate Diana Ervin helped lay the foundation for girls’ basketball in her community before the sport was fully established statewide. A former athlete, coach, referee, mentor and longtime school secretary, Ervin had an impact spanning more than four decades and embodies the spirit of the Alaska High School Hall of Fame. She dedicated decades of service to Tok School as a coach, substitute teacher, Indigenous education mentor and administrative secretary, retiring in 2024 after 17 years in the front office.
“So humbled,” Ervin said. “I never played basketball before becoming a four-year starter and just wanted to keep giving back when I graduated. Just being able to be a hostess and make students feel welcome from other villages and communities is so fulfilling…My advice to others is to listen to students' struggles. Everything is not always what it appears to be or what might seem to be. Some struggle with academics, some might have a difficult home life. So just spending time with them so they can achieve and encouraging them so they can do more for themselves is important.”
Dimond High School 2009 graduate Colton Lauwers was a standout in basketball and baseball, leading Dimond to state championships in both sports and added an American Legion baseball title. He was selected as the 2009 Alaska Player of the Year in basketball and baseball.
“I am really honored, it wasn’t like a goal of mine back in the day,” Lauwers said. “It means a lot to me and my family, just our sports pedigree. It is more or less a family tradition, I think my mom (Kim) is in three hall of fames (Illinois) and my dad (Brad) is a legendary coach (Heritage/Dimond), but I only had him for baseball, so I am humbled and excited to get this opportunity to experience with my family…My advice for high school athletes is to enjoy the moment. I was very serious, and you need to be around like-minded individuals that way, but don’t be around knuckleheads. You can have fun, but if you want it to mean something, find teammates and friends that you can be around and be good influences with.”
Seward coach Dan Marshall is one of the most influential and successful cross-country coaches in Alaska high school history. During 23 years as head coach at Seward High School, Marshall built a culture of excellence that produced championships, individual state titles and generations of lifelong runners. Marshall guided his teams to seven state cross-country championships, one team state track and field title and six relay state championships.
“This is a tremendous honor and I am grateful,” Marshall said. “To have been coaching for so long and to have something like this later, it is not that it validates everything that we try to do, it is just that when people appreciate you enough to make the effort to go through this process to get you there it is a humbling experience…You have to be coaching for all the right reasons, and you have to set the standard and hold to it. Kids will rise to the occasion, don’t lower the bar.”
Chugiak High School 1985 graduate Tom Rollman was a first-team all-state basketball player, 1985 Region1V and state champion high jumper, and National High School All-American honorable mention. Rollman helped elevate Chugiak athletics to statewide prominence in the early 1980s as a three-year starter in basketball, earning first-team All-Region and All-State honors as a senior.
“It is cool, and strange, to be recognized for something so long ago, but it has been fun to share with my kids and family and kind of reminisce a bit,” Rollman said. “When I was working in the high schools, I always told kids to do something, get involved in sports or drama or something, it makes your high school experience so much more valuable and rich. You may not be super successful at it, but being a part of it, the relationships that are made is pretty special…We ask a lot of our coaches. I think it is crucial as parents of athletes to be understanding that those folks are doing a lot for kids and to step back yet be as supportive as you can.”
Cordova’s Dick Shellhorn represents more than five decades of dedication to Alaska high school basketball. A player, coach, referee, broadcaster, journalist and community leader, Shellhorn’s lifetime of service to Cordova High School and the state embodies the spirit of the ASAA Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a 2021 Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame inductee.
“This is the highlight of my career,” Shellhorn said. “I have refereed for 50 years and never thought I would be here. My advice for others is to go for it. It is very rewarding. Believe it or not, it is fun. If you make it fun you can referee forever. Forget the people yelling, it is the kids that make it fun. We couldn’t afford to fly refs into Cordova so I just kept at it, and I like to say we broke the fans in so there was a lot of good camaraderie.”
Wasilla High School 1984 graduate Jamie Smith is an accomplished and respected hockey coach. A multi-sport athlete turned transformational coach, Smith has spent more than 35 years building championship programs while shaping generations of young athletes across the Matanuska-Susitna valley. He led Houston High School to five state championships and later guided Colony High to four region titles and three third-place state finishes.
“It is a culmination of coaching, athletic directing and being with kids and dealing with kids your whole life, and for the time and effort,” Smith said. “It is quite an honor…You have to be aware. There are a lot of things kids are dealing with these days, and you have to be aware and you have got to be cognizant of what is going on out there in the real world.”
Fairbanks’ Robert Walkotte has officiated hundreds of varsity football, basketball, softball and volleyball games for four decades, including 14 football state championships — eight as referee — while also serving as an assignor in multiple sports and mentoring generations of officials and student-athletes.
Ben Eielson High School 1993 graduate Joe Balash is a three-time state wrestling champion and four-time Region VI champion. Balash was a three-year team captain and helped lead Eielson to three team state titles. A USA Wrestling All-American, he went on to compete collegiately before building a career in state and national public service.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
