Officials to be honored at IHSAA banquet

Released in conjunction with the IHSAA's exclusive title sponsor, the Iowa Farm BureauFOR IMMEDIATE Use Contact: Bud Legg, IHSAA Information DirectionAt 19th Annual Recognition & Awards Banquet 178 Officials to be Honored at IHSAA Ceremony, April 27 A total of 178 officials are scheduled to receive awards at the Iowa High School Athletic Association's 19th Annual Officials' Banquet and Recognition Ceremony, Saturday, April 27 at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. A social hour will start the festivities at 5:30 p.m. followed by the dinner and recognition program. The list of honoree includes five officials who each have 50 years of service. Those officials are Jerry L. Courtney of Burlington; Jack Foresman from Cleghorn; Willard Howell of Wapello; Martin Pillers from West Des Moines; and Larry C. Williams of Waverly. Deb Richarz of LeMars will be honored as the NFHS Distinguished Active Official for Section 4 (Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana). Ms. Richarz has been an IGHSAU official for 32 years and has been an IHSAA official for 19. She has officiated the State Volleyball and Softball Tournaments 13 years each including four title matches in volleyball and seven in softball. She has been the state's NFOA official of the year in each sport, and has been inducted in the Iowa Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame. She also has extensive experience in both sports at the NAIA, Division II and Division III levels at national and regional tournaments. She is active in the Siouxland Officials Association and a past president of the group. Thirty-seven individuals will be honored for 35 years of service; 45 others for 25 years and 71 for officiating 15 years. In addition awards will be given to five aspiring new officials and 15 officials will receive a plaque as the NFOA state award winner of official of the year in a particular sport. This year's keynote speaker is Mike Pereira, a former college and NFL official who appears regularly on FOX Sports as a rules analyst. Pereira spent 14 years as a college football official with eight post season bowl games before joining the National Football League for 14 seasons as a game official followed by being a supervisor of officiating, director of officiating and vice president of NFL officiating. He left the NFL in 2009. With FOX, if circumstances warrant a rules interpretation, he is on hand throughout their telecasts, communicating to the network announcers and fans. He is a regular contributor to the NFL Sunday pregame show, FOX Sports.com and the network's sports radio. His vast experience allows him to pen a weekly column, which is titled "Under Review" and ranks the 10 most impactful calls made during the previous week's games. Following are the officials scheduled to be honored at the April 27 ceremonies.Please Note - Honorees are listed alphabetical and have their home residence listed for easier media identification15 YEAR OFFICIALS Anthony Adams MASON CITY John Alden NEW LONDON Eric Anderson ORANGE CITY Mark Beltman ORANGE CITY Tom Berens TREYNOR Doug Bohlen IONIA Lyle Bushkofsky WESTGATE Mark Cameron BURLINGTON Mike Cameron WEST BURLINGTON Daniel P Cawley CEDAR FALLS Casey Christensen TRURO Kevin Clapp HIAWATHA Clarence Dawson JANESVILLE David DeVary ESTHERVILLE Bradford Dirschel DAVENPORT Dr. Patrick J. Edwards NEWTON Bill Eggers DES MOINES Jerry M. Fannon IOWA CITY Kevin O. Garrett ATLANTIC Keith Graber CEDAR FALLS Thomas J. Greenbowe AMES Joshua Greenlee AMES Mark Halverson CENTERVILLE Harold F. Hartke ROBINS Eric Hartman URBANDALE Phillip Hascall ATLANTIC Carson Hattel JOHNSTON David Huff GREENFIELD Brian Johnson HAMPTON Tom Kealy COUNCIL BLUFFS Tanya H. Keith DES MOINES Tony Klein ESTHERVILLE Andy Lebo GRUNDY CENTER Mike Madren EARLHAM Douglas Maher STANTON Mark D. Markham ATLANTIC Tom McLaren ATLANTIC Daryl Meyer LAKE PARK Dennis Miller CORALVILLE David John Mohr MARSHALLTOWN Mark L. Moine NASHUA Chad Morton JEFFERSON Craig Murray HIAWATHA Brett Myres ASBURY Jeffrey W. Neubaum ROCKWELL CITY Dennis Pagel NEW HAMPTON Charles A. Ramsay MASON CITY Adam Riley DECORAH Michael L. Ruhnke CARROLL Robert Russell EARLHAM Brent Sampson ORANGE CITY August Sankey ALGONA Bruce Schenck GLENWOOD Theodore J. Schneider WEVER Kevin Schrader MARION Brent Selix SLATER Naser Sinanovic WEST DES MOINES Todd J. Thompson GREENE Darren Tooley SERGEANT BLUFF Jim Torvik CLIVE David Treft SIOUX CITY Jason Uhlenhake INDIANOLA Terry Vaughn MT. VERNON Randy Washam BETTENDORF Jeff Westendorf WEST DES MOINES Scott Whitehill MASON CITY Rob Williamson DES MOINES Loren Wood CEDAR RAPIDS Tom Woodin FARRAGUT Jeffrey A. Young MUSCATINE Darcy Yount ALTOONA 25 YEAR RECOGNITION Ron Aguirre WEBSTER CITY Kevin Ahern SPENCER Scott Anderson MARION Neil Barrick JOHNSTON Darrel Bartling URBANDALE Brant W. Bruhn MUSCATINE James Bushkofsky SHEFFIELD Michael Cleveringa ROCK RAPIDS Bruce Eckenrod ROCK RAPIDS Doyle Engelen TEMPLETON Charles J. Graf CLINTON Dan Halder URBANDALE Steve Hamilton CEDAR RAPIDS Ronald P Herman WAUKON Jim Hollensbe WILLIAMSBURG Bruce L. Johnson HUDSON Doug D. Johnson LAKE CITY John Kinley AMES Jeff Klaudt CLEAR LAKE Don Kubesh NEW HAMPTON Robert A. Linde GLIDDEN Allen D. Ludeking DECORAH Dick McCord SPENCER Roger Menke BONAPARTE Bart Miller CLARENCE Craig J. Nelsen WEST DES MOINES Joe Nugent IOWA CITY Randy L. Poe OSKALOOSA Mark Ragaller VAIL Jeff Richards POLK CITY Dan Severidt ADEL Dave Severson TIFFIN Michael Severtsgaard VINTON Phillip H Sinnwell DES MOINES David H. Sivright, Jr. CLINTON Dean Wm. Sweet BURLINGTON Bruce Thomas MISSOURI VALLEY Joey Grant Townsell GRIMES Deb Trimble MARION Dave Turnball INDIANOLA Curtis G. Van Kley SIBLEY Phil Watson CEDAR FALLS Kevin J Wedemeier WESTGATE Clark S. Wicks PERRY Sam Yarham ELDRIDGE 35 YEAR RECOGNITION Terry Allison FAIRFIELD Stanley J. Allspach BAXTER Ronald E. Anderson WEST BURLINGTON Gerald D. Behan INDEPENDENCE Tim Bell WESTSIDE L'Dean Berns GARNAVILLO Gene O. Capps INDIANOLA Jim Christensen FONTANELLE Sonny Deke MARION Don DiLaura OSSIAN C. Leroy Dukes BEDFORD Tim Dunphy IOWA FALLS Dave Foltz ROCK RAPIDS Steve Francois DUNDEE Scott "Scooter" Hale WEST DES MOINES Rich Hejda WEST DES MOINES Bill Henrich, Jr. NEWELL Steve Julius BARNUM Kevin Long LA PORTE CITY Dave Meinders SWALEDALE Jim Molitor CARROLL Kent Pauling LE MARS James E. I. Peterson GARNAVILLO Dale "Ernie" Reinke MANNING Gerald J. Ross EPWORTH James "Jake" Schwartzkopf STUART Steven J. Scott MECHANICSVILLE Tim Smith URBANDALE Phil Streit ST. ANSGAR Tim Thomas HOLSTEIN Rich Uhl SLOAN Bill Utterback CEDAR RAPIDS Bruce Verink CEDAR FALLS Randy L. Waagmeester ROCK RAPIDS John Walsh VAIL John D. Walters CRESTON Ted Wernimont CORALVILLE 50 YEAR HONOREES Jerry L. Courtney BURLINGTON Jack Foresman CLEGHORN Willard Howell WAPELLO Martin Pillers WEST DES MOINES Larry C. Williams WAVERLY ASPIRING NEW OFFICIALS Kevin Cabbage STANTON Kelly Kreber HINTON Trent Powers NEWTON Shane Remington HIAWATHA Tyler Turner HIAWATHA NFHS DISTINGUISHED ACTIVE OFFICIAL Deb Richarz LEMARS NFOA STATE OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR Softball: Greg Buster MUSCATINE Football: Randy Druvenga WAVERLY G Soccer: John Dvorak MARION B-Swimming: Daniel Kealy DES MOINES B-Track: Fran Long FORT DODGE Wrestling: Tom Moore GRISWOLD B-Basketball: Robert L. Neswold WINDSOR HEIGHTS G-C Country: James Patterson CEDAR RAPIDS G-Track: Steve Rutz CASCADE G-Swimming: Mark Stewart CEDAR FAPIDS Baseball: Bob Sweeney ATLANTIC B-C Country: Cornie Wassink ALTON B-Soccer: Phil Watson CEDAR FALLS G-Basketball: Steve Wick LEMARS Volleyball: Ray Wilden CLINTON