2018
ELK RIVER HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME 2018
John Barth, Ken Bartelt, Laura (Bleyhl) Longie, Sara (Fredrickson) Cogger, Matt Leshovsky, Jessica (Pullar) Juntunen, Eric Ostmoe, Laura Ryan
John Barth Barth was a teacher, coach and administrator at Elk River High School for 34 years, including a stint as the school’s athletic director. During his time with Elk River, he received multiple honors, including the Region 7AA and 8AA Outstanding Athletic Director Award (2011, 2005), Northwest Suburban Conference Distinguished Service Award (2012), Superintendent Award as District 728 Outstanding Teacher (1996) and was also a Class AA Athletic Director of the Year finalist (2005). Barth was also a part of the Elk River Rotary Club (2005-11) and served as an assistant boys basketball and football coach and was the first Elks cross-country coach in school history. Additionally, he was a director and board member of Elk River Boys Youth Basketball for 20 years and served as a Big Brother and YMCA mentor. Prior to coming to Elk River, he was an all-conference football, basketball, baseball and track athlete at Howard Lake High School before playing basketball at St. Cloud State University from 1971-1975.
Ken Bartelt Bartelt is a member of the Elk River Class of 1965 where he was a four-time hockey and three-time tennis letterman. He was named to the 1965 all-Skyline Conference team in hockey, while making two state tournaments in tennis (1964, 1965). He reached the tennis state semifinals in 1965 and was a national junior tennis champion in 1963. He went on to spend four years at Valparaiso University (1965-1969) on an academic scholarship, where he was the team’s No. 1 singles player. Following college, he was a participant in the United States Tennis Association from 1995-2004, earning several invitations to national events. Most recently, he earned gold medals in the Montana Senior Olympics in mixed doubles pickleball (2017) and men’s doubles pickleball (2018). Bartelt received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Valparaiso before earning a M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 1972 and 1976, respectively. He worked for 3M Company in St. Paul as a technical director from 1984-2015.
Laura (Bleyhl) Longie Longie was a six-year letter winner on the Elk River girls golf team, qualifying for four state golf tournaments. In 1989, she was the Minnesota State High School League girls golf champion and placed eighth in 1987, sixth in 1988 and fifth in 1990. She also was a Minnesota Golf Association state junior champion in 1990 and a three-year qualifier for junior tournaments in Massachusetts, North Carolina and Minnesota. Following her high school graduation in 1990, she received a Division I golf scholarship to play at Oregon before transferring to play her final three years at Wisconsin-Madison. With the Badgers, she won four individual golf tournaments, placed third in the Big Ten golf tournament and was a part of Wisconsin’s Big 10 championship team during her senior season as captain. She also made the all-Big 10 golf team. From there, Longie has placed four times in state amateur golf tournaments and has worked as a registered pharmacist since 1997. She is married to former Elk River athlete Tim Longie.
Sara (Fredrickson) Cogger Cogger earned 12 varsity letters in three sports during her time with the Elks. The 2003 graduate will go down as one of the top cross-country athletes to come through Elk River, as a six-time all-conference selection and 2002 all-state runner. She was also voted team MVP from 2000-2002 and was a member of two conference championship teams in 2001 and 2002. In track, Cogger made several all-conference honorable mention team and was the Elks team MVP in 2002 and 2003. She was an all-state runner in the 3200-meter run in 2003 and still holds the school record in the event. Cogger also received one letter in basketball. After high school, she went on to run for the University of Minnesota-Duluth Cross Country team from 2003-2006, where she also was a member of the indoor and outdoor track teams. She continued her collegiate track career at Montana State for the 2007-2008 season. During her collegiate athletic career, she was an All-American cross country runner in 2004 and received multiple Athlete of the Year honors, MVP awards, and all-conference selections.
Matt Leshovsky Leshovsky dominated in two sports during his time at Elk River High School from 1981-1985. As a wrestler, he boasted a 123-24-3 record over five years with the program and was a five-time all-conference and three-time all-state selection. The former Elks captain and team MVP placed in three state tournaments and was a three-time Region 4AA wrestling champion. Currently, he holds four Elk River wrestling records and was a part of the Elks state runner-up wrestling team in 1981. On top of a successful wrestling career, Leshovsky also put together an outstanding career as a soccer player, making two all-conference teams and one all-state team during his three-year high school soccer career. He went on to wrestle at Willmar Community College and Southwest State University before beginning a high school wrestling and soccer coaching career from 1991-2011, making coaching stops with Elk River, Rogers and Anoka High School.
Jessica (Pullar) Juntunen Juntunen is one of the top girls hockey players to come through Elk River. She currently ranks second in school history with 248 points and made the all-conference team four times, all-metro team three times and all-state team twice. The 2004 graduate was a part of two conference and section championship teams, including the Elk River state consolation champions in 2003 and state champions in 2004. Her 157-career goals ranks first all-time in school history, while she also holds records for most points in a season (91) and most goals in a season (57). She also was on teams that won a combined 104 games, making her the winningest player in school history. Juntunen lettered twice with the softball team, leading the team in batting average in 2004. She went on to play collegiate hockey and softball at Bemidji State, scoring 17 goals and 16 assists in 139 hockey games. In softball, she led the team in slugging percentage and home runs in 2006 and hit .280 in 51 career games. Since then, she has been working as a teacher in the Milaca School District and has been nominated for their Teacher of the Year Award the past three years. She is married to former Elk River athlete Josh Juntunen.
Eric Ostmoe Ostmoe was a two-time all-conference baseball player and one-time all-conference basketball and football player with the Elks. The 1995 graduate was a captain for all three sports programs, as well as the football team’s MVP in 1994. Currently, he is the third leading passer in school history with 2,829 passing yards and led the metro area in passing yards in 1983. In basketball, he ranks in the top 10 for three-point field goal percentage in school history and was the second-leading scorer on the 1995 conference championship team. In baseball, he ranked second in the metro in strikeouts in 1994. Ostmoe went on to be a starter on the Southwest State University conference champion baseball team in 1996 before joining UW-Eau Claire as a wide receiver. He was a WIAC honorable mention wide receiver in 1998 and was named to the all-WIAC team in 1999 as a quarterback. After college, he spent five seasons with the Franken Knights in the German Football League, scoring 76 touchdowns and amassing nearly 7,000 receiving yards. He had his No. 11 jersey retired with the Knights. He also hit over .400 with eight home runs for the Class B amateur baseball champion Hamel in 1997 and enjoyed a football, baseball, basketball and golf coaching career at Elk River. He is still an active coach for several Elk River youth sports teams.
Laura Ryan Ryan enjoyed one of the most prolific swimming and diving careers in school history. The 2010 graduate currently holds the school record in the 6-dive and 11-dive events and was the Minnesota State High School League diving champion in 2007 after finishing runner-up in 2006. She also placed at state in the 50 freestyle (eighth in 2006), 200 freestyle relay (seventh in 2006) and 400 freestyle relay (sixth in 2006). Ryan’s diving career quickly reached the national level, finishing as a Junior Pan American Games bronze medalist in 2009, while becoming a three-time AAU Junior National champion diver and eight-time U.S. National Champion Diver. She dived collegiately for Indiana University (2010-2012) and the University of Georgia (2012-2014) and was a two-time NCAA national champion, a NCAA Diver of the Year in 2014 and seven-time NCAA All-American diver, while receiving multiple honors in the Big 10 and SEC conferences. With Georgia, she was a member of two NCAA championship teams in 2013 and 2014. Ryan continued diving after college, making the World Championship team in 2014 and 2016 and being named as a U.S. Olympic team alternate in 2016.