BLANCHARDVILLE — The Pecatonica Booster Club recently inducted six former athletes to the Pecatonica High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Tracy Powell, Steve Willborn, Larry Syftestad, Gene Palzkill, Farron Gruenenfelder and Christie Balch were all honored as members of the class of 2018.
Powell was a 1994 Pecatonica graduate that earned 11 varsity letters in volleyball, basketball and softball. A first-team all-conference selection in volleyball, she led the Vikings to a conference and regional championships in 1992. Powell was all-conference in basketball all four years with one second-team selection and three first-team selections and finished her career as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
In softball, Powell was a two-time first-team all-conference player and was honorable mention all-state as a sophomore. She helped lead the Vikings to three conference championships and three conference titles and the 1992 state championship.
Willborn was a 1970 graduate of Hollandale High School before the merger with Blanchardville. He lettered in four sports and was a three-time all-conference selection in basketball where he was named honorable mention all-state for the 1969-70 season. He averaged 32 points per game and had games of 50 and 60 points before the 3-point-line was introduced.
Willborn, the valedictorian of his class, played baseball and basketball at Northland College before getting a law degree from UW-Madison in 1973 and becoming an international labor law professor at the University of Nebraska and Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He also ran in competitive marathons in the early 1980s and finished with a 2-hour, 38-minute mark in the 1982 Boston Marathon.
Syftestad graduated from Blanchardville High School in 1943 and was a four-year captain on the baseball team. He would go on to play Home Talent League, winning a championship in 1948, and in the Madison Industrial League. In 1945 he was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies at a tryout camp held at Breese Stevens Field in Madison.
Syftestad also played basketball in high school for four years, football for one and served as Town of Blanchard Assessor and clerk for 37 years.
Palzkill graduated from Hollandale High School in 1955, lettering in football, basketball and baseball all four years. He was a two-time all-conference player in football and led the basketball team in scoring three times.
As an adult, Palzkill played many years of adult men’s softball and is still involved in Men’s Monday Night League at Dodge Point Country Club in Mineral Point.
Gruenenfelder graduated in 1997 after a prolific career as a wrestler, track and football star. Gruenenfelder was a three-time conference wrestling champion, a three-time regional champion and two-time state qualifier. He also took home all-conference honors in football at linebacker and running back, finishing his career with over 400 tackles including an incredible 239 his senior season.
Since graduation, Gruenenfelder, a dairy farmer, has been a youth coach for wrestling, baseball, football and soccer and continues to organize and run the annual youth wrestling tournament.
Balch graduated in 1999 and holds school records in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and is member of two relay teams that hold records at Pecatonica High School. She won 63 races in her track career and was the state champion in the 400-meter relay in 1997. Balch qualified for state in seven events during high school. She also lettered two years in cross country.
After high school she ran at Lawrence University in Appleton.
