Three individuals and the Bennett-Durant girls’ cross country teams from 1999-2002 will be inducted into the Cedar County Sports Wall of Fame during the Cedar County Fair at noon July 14 on the Family Foods Stage at the Custom Builders Pavillion.
Individuals are Amy (Koering) Jackson, a 1993 graduate of Lincoln High School, Michaela Osborn, a 2001 graduate of Tipton High School, and Lance Pedersen, a 1990 graduate of West Branch High School.
Pedersen is the son of Butch Pedersen (a member of the 2009 inaugural Cedar County Sports Wall of Fame class). He participated in basketball, baseball, and football for the Bears, but football was his greatest passion. As a junior, Pedersen led West Branch to its first playoff appearance in school history and was voted first team All-Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference. As a senior, the Bears again advanced to the state playoffs and won the Class 1A championship with a 20-14 win over Logan-Magnolia in the title game. He was again named first-team all-conference and the center on the 1989 Des Moines Register Elite Team.
While attending the University of Northern Iowa, Pedersen began his coaching career at Hudson in 1992 where he was the head seventh grade coach. In 1993, Pedersen went to the high school staff as an assistant coach on the undefeated 1994 Class 1A state championship football team. His next stop was at Iowa Valley High School starting in 1999. As a defensive coordinator, he was part of two state semifinal teams. From 2004-13, Pedersen rebuilt the program at Wilton High School, taking the Beavers to the playoffs for the first time in 2004. In Pedersen’s 10 years at Wilton, the Beavers made the state playoffs eight times and three times they were undefeated district champions. He also coached many successful softball teams at Wilton, taking the 2009 team to the state tournament.
Pedersen coached football at Mount Vernon from 2014-23, leading the Mustangs to the playoffs in 2014, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17, ‘22, and ‘23. Mount Vernon was runner-up in Class 2A in 2015, losing to Spirit Lake in the championship game, 70-56 and in Class 3A in 2022, losing to Harlan, 30-23. Pedersen was named head coach at Clear Creek-Amana on March 18. In 20 seasons as a head coach, he has a record of 149-61 (71.0 winning percentage).
Koering teamed with her twin sister Susan (a member of the 2009 inaugural Cedar County Sports Wall of Fame class) at Lincoln High School, where the Panthers exceled in volleyball, basketball, and softball. A 16-time letterwinner, Koering played on four state tournament volleyball teams (including the 1992 Class 1A state champions). The Panthers won four conference titles in volleyball, three in basketball, and three in softball.
She was named first-team all-state in volleyball in 1992 and was twice named all-state special mention. Koering was a three-time first-team all-Mid-East Conference selection in softball, and was first-team all-conference in six-player basketball where she scored 1,532 career points with 462 assists.
As a volleyball player at Drake University, the Bulldogs compiled three straight 20-win seasons and made a postseason appearance for the first time in school history.
Osborn was a four-sport standout at Tipton High School, where she graduated in 2001. She was honorable mention all-state in basketball, a state-qualifier on the shuttle hurdle relay in track, and a big-hitting right fielder in softball. As a junior, Osborn was a first-team all-conference guard on Tipton’s only Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference championship girls’ basketball team.
Her specialty was swimming. Despite training and competing in a short-course pool at Tipton, Osborn was a state qualifier all four years (12 total events), placing in the top 10 at the one-class state championships five times. As a junior in 1999, Osborn was third in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.98) and followed that with a runner-up finish in the same event as a senior in 2000 (1:09.02). Tipton was the smallest school in the state with its own swimming program.
At Division II Truman State University, Osborn was a six-time event national champion and an 18-time All-American. The Bulldogs won four straight national team championships with Osborn on the roster from 2001-05. She was team captain during the 2004-05 season.
From the late 1990s to the early 2000s, the Bennett-Durant girls’ cross country program was a Class 1A power. From 1999-2002, the “Bombcats” won four Big East Conference championships and three district titles (finishing runner-up in 2001). They were third at state in 1999, state champions in 2000, runner-up to Tipton in 2001, and state champions in 2002.
The team won 33 of 42 meets during that span under three different head coaches: Tonya Johnson (1999-2000), Mary Morris (2001), and Susan Adams (2002). Key contributors were Jackie Adams (46th at state in 1999, 27th in 2000, 20th in ‘01, sixth in ‘02), Dawn Heinrich (11th in 2000, 27th in ‘01, 10th in ‘02), Chelsi Henderson (seventh in 2002), Margaret Morris (33rd in 1999, 26th in 2001), Robin Schroeder (58th in 2001, 64th in ‘02), Jesslyn Von Muenster (64th in 1999, 17th in 2000, 32nd in ‘01, 27th in ‘02), Shannon Von Muenster (13th in 1999), and SuAnn Woods (24th in 2000).
The Cedar County Sports Wall of Fame was formed in 2008 and is under the control of the Cedar County Historical Society. To nominate for the Wall of Fame, contact committee members Randy Dernyk (Clarence), Pat Kedley (Lowden), Verl Lekwa, Jeff Linder (Stanwood), Darren Miller (Tipton), Bruce Seehusen (Mechanicsville), Derek Sawvell (Durant), Kerri Timmerman (Bennett), or Mike Quinlan (West Branch).
CEDAR COUNTY SPORTS WALL OF FAME CLASSES
2009
Martin “Farmer” Burns
Marv Cook
Susan Koering
Ashley Miller
Butch Pedersen
Clement Wilson
2010
Frank “Kinney” Holbrook
Bill Huckstadt
Al Koch
Jim Wheeler
1925 Stanwood baseball team
2011
E.W. Breneman
Dave Fetterman
Scott Jehle
Linda Lafrenz
2012
Sean McCarty
Shawn Stolte
1992 West Branch football team
2013
Robert Hartig
Ryan Kedley
Arnold “Bud” Paulsen
Jon Roehlk
2014
Ann Cavey
Jamie Cavey
Matt Fields
Dave Vogelgesang
1989 Tipton High School girls’ cross country team
2015
Norman “Doc” Paul
Carroll Rugland
Stacy Schlapkohl
Larry Stolte
2016
Les Hipple
Kathy (Siebel) Heedles
John Sissel
1988-89 Durant girls’ basketball team
2017
Royce Alger
Linda Jennings
Todd Sturdy
Lauren “Bumps” Willert
2018
Lee Crawford
Shane Light
Marilee Oldorf
1999-2000 North Cedar girls’ basketball team
2019
Betty McGregor
Ryan Morningstar
Stan Stolte
Sandy (Slach) Tuttle
2020
Suzanne Friday-Mathieu
Warren Pierce
Jake Soy
1968 & 1969 Tipton football teams
1989-92 West Branch boys’ golf teams
2021
Dave Rummells
Gary Stamp
Gary Bachus
Cheyanne (Boddicker) Kofmehl
Mearl Naber
2022
Kevin Braddock
Dave Paul
Chris Schaefer
2003-06 Tipton girls’ cross country and 2004-07 Tipton girls’ track and field teams
2023
Darrell Burmeister
Jerry O’Rourke
Tom Penningroth
Chris Weih
2024
Amy (Koering) Jackson
Michaela Osborn
Lance Pedersen
1999-2002 Bennett-Durant girls’ cross country teams