Ashland schools honor past, current athletes

The School District of Ashland inducted three athletes and one team into its Hall of Fame with Friday, June 17th, at the Bay Area Civic Center. Honored were John Paitl, Milton Gardner, and Kevin Pufall, as well as the 1984 state-champion football team. In addition, senior student athletes David Granados and Elaina Seeger were selected for the Coach McLeod Oredocker of the Year Award, presented to the male and female senior athletes who demonstrate the same passion in competing for the Oredockers as did Coach Bob McLeod. The award was created to honor the memory and legacy of the Oredocker Hall of Fame coach. As recipients of the McLeod Award, Granados and Seeger will direct some funds raised to be distributed to a district program of their choice.

The Friday ceremony highlighted a weekend of fundraising events for the Oredocker Foundation that included a golf tournament — won by the foursome of Jerry Henderson, Blake Bretting, Derek Erickson and Scott Ekstrom — on Saturday, June 18, at the Chequamegon Bay Golf Club in Ashland. The Oredocker Foundation was created in 2007 to provide additional resources to support the district’s co-curricular programs. The ceremony and events offer an opportunity to honor former Ashland standouts, according to current Oredockers football coach Travis Larson, a 2004 AHS graduate and himself an accomplished Oredocker athlete who played football at St. Scholastica University before graduating from UW-Superior in 2009.