Holy Angels Inducts New Athletes into 'Activities Hall of Fame'

Editor's Note: The following is a Academy of Holy Angels press release.

The (AHA) recently inducted new members into its Activities Hall of Fame. AHA’s Activities Hall of Fame is a testament to the spirit and tradition of excellence established by athletes, musicians, artists, and performers who set the standard for today’s students.  The 2012 inductees are:

Gretchen Dahl Breyen (Class of 1990)

She was both a basketball and a volleyball star at AHA. She was AHA’s MVP in both sports for two years, earned All-Conference honors in both sports for three years running, was named All-Metro in both sports, and achieved All-State honors in basketball twice and in volleyball once. She earned AHA’s Athena Award in her senior year. At the University of Minnesota, Gretchen was a four-year volleyball letter winner and served as co-caption for two years. She remains among the University of Minnesota’s top-ten record holders for block assists and total blocks. Gretchen earned the Patty Berg Academic Award and the Kathleen Ridder Scholarship for Women Athletes in Math and Science. Gretchen has coached volleyball at the high school and club levels and has served as a Minnesota State High School League volleyball official. Gretchen teaches high school math at Convent of the Visitation School in Mendota Heights. She and her husband Paul, and their daughters Laura and Catherine, live in Prior Lake.

The 1994 State Championship Golf Team

This was the first AHA boys team to earn a state title. Members were Erik Nerhus ’94, Ben Poehling ’94, Wade Susse ’94, Brad Lindow ’95, Travis Meyer ’95, Loren O’Brien ’95, Nick Berg ’96, and Coach Randy Nelson. “This was a team with lots of depth,” said AHA art teacher Randy Nelson, who was the boys golf coach in 1994 and still coaches the team today. “They were all solid golfers, and every week someone different would come through. When it came to the tournament, they all bore down and played well. It was an eclectic group of personalities that came together as a team. They were good athletes; four of them also played hockey. And several of them also were excellent scholars. We got Academic All-State honors that year, too. I was really proud of that.”

John Stocco (Class of 2002)

John played football and baseball at AHA. He was named All-Conference, All-State, and team captain in both sports. He quarterbacked the AHA football team when it made its first state tournament appearance in history; he was named MVP his senior year, and still holds school records in pass yardage and touchdowns. In baseball, he led the team to a third place finish in the state tournament during his junior year, and was named the Gatorade Minnesota State Player of the Year in 2002. Stocco earned nine varsity letters at AHA and was named Minnesota’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2002 by Minnesota Prep Sports. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins but chose instead to enroll at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he quarterbacked the Badger football team. He holds a 29–7 record as starter for the Badgers. After college, John played for the Rhinos Milano in the Italian Football League.