The 20th annual Westside Athletic Hall of Fame banquet will take place at the St. Robert Bellarmine Mainelli Center on Friday, May 5. Over the years they have inducted 81 athletes, 15 coaches and 11 teams. 

The first inductee is from the class of 1979. Jim Korff was an outstanding swimmer for the Warriors. He was a high school All-American, a seven-time state champion, and led the Warriors to three NSAA state championships.  Korff went on in college to swim for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he led the Husker swim team to four Big Eight Conference championships, where he also set the record in  the 50-yard freestyle. 

Next is Drew Daubman, class of 2007, where he played baseball and football for the Warriors. Daubman was named to the Omaha World Herald All-State first team as a safety for football and catcher for baseball. Daubman led the Warriors to the 2006 NSAA state championship in baseball. He went on to play collegiate baseball for Rockhurst University. 

Tim Bierre is from the class of 2008, where he was a tri-sport athlete playing baseball, basketball, and football. He was a part of the 2006 state championship baseball team, as well as winning the B’nai B’rith Metro athlete of the year award in 2008. Bierre played on both sides of the ball in football, he caught 50 passes for 759 yards and 13 touchdowns.  The defensive back also had 166 tackles, and three interceptions. He went on to play for the University of Kansas and was named team captain. Biere was also awarded the Robert Frederick Award, which is given to the top senior athlete at Kansas for all of the sports. 

Rebecca (Crabb) Sutter is from the class of 2008, when she played soccer for the Warriors. Crabb has been considered the one of the best women’s soccer players in Westside athletics. She scored all of Westside’s six goals in the 2008 NSAA state tournament. She went on to play college soccer for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Crabb also trained for the Youth National Handball Team and was invited and competed with team USA. 

Andy Miller graduated in 1984 and will be inducted into the hall of fame for his contribution as a student athlete and a volunteer coach for the Westside football program. He was a member of the 1982 NSAA state championship team. Miller was an All-State and All-Metro selection and continued his career at New Mexico State. 

Doug Krecklow was a legendary swim coach for the Warriors, who is respected around the metro area. Krecklow was one of the best swim coaches in Nebraska history leading the Warriors for 43 years and winning 20 state championships. In his career, Krecklow has been recognized for multiple awards including National Federation of State High School Associations, both Regional and National Coach of the Year Awards. 

The final inductee is the 1999 girls basketball team coached by Curt Peterson. As they were destined to win the state championship, this team was highly talented and was led by WHS Hall of Fame center Carla Bennett. Not only did they have Bennett, they also had Raeven King, who was a All-State guard in Class A, who set the record for steals in the season. The Warriors set a school record for the most wins in a season with a 23-2 record.

Westside athletic director Thomas Kerkman runs down how the inductees are decided for the Hall of Fame.

“A list was made 20 years ago of all the stand-out athletes, all-staters, and state champions,” Kerkman said.  “That list is updated yearly by the committee.  The Hall of Fame also recognizes former coaches of WHS who had successful programs.  The committee also recognizes contributors and some of the best teams in school history.”