CONCORDIA - Cloud County Community College has selected three members to be enshrined as the 15th Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted the afternoon of Jan. 29 when the basketball teams host Seward County Community College.
The three Cloud County greats who will be honored that afternoon are Laura (Herman) Mann, Craig Stromgren, and Roger Koester.
Mann was a two-year women's basketball standout under current head coach Brett Erkenbrack as the Topeka, Kansas native helped the T-Birds to the 2001 NJCAA National Championship. Becoming the first team from the State of Kansas to win the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship, Mann would appear in and start 37 of Cloud County's 38 games in 2000-2001 and averaged 13.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. In the 2001 NJCAA Region VI Title game against top-ranked and undefeated Seward County Community College, Mann would score 14 points and grab 11 rebounds to help CCCC knock off the Lady Saints and qualify for the National Tournament. The T-Birds would then go 4-0 at the National Tournament as Mann would score 20 points and haul in 11 rebounds against Midland College in the National Championship contest. For her career, Mann finished with 877 career points and 417 career rebounds while starting all 69 games that she appeared in. The 877 career points still ranks 10th in Cloud County women's basketball history.
Stromgren would play under CCCC Hall of Fame coach Dennis Erkenbrack where he would help the T-Birds go 25-5 overall in 1982-83 and 25-6 in 1983-84. During his sophomore campaign, Stromgren would play in 30 games and shoot 50.9 percent from the floor (156-for-306) and 72-for-103 (69.9 percent) from the free-throw line. Grabbing 166 rebounds to go along with 224 assists and 86 steals, Stromgren would average 12.8 points per contest for Cloud County in 1983-84. In his career, Stromgren would finish with 796 total points, 341 rebounds, 134 steals, and 343 assists. Stromgren is currently the school-record holder for field goal percentage in a game after going 13-of-14 (92.8 percent) from the field in a game against Colby and would go on to Emporia State University where he became an NAIA All-American while setting the Hornet single-season and career assists records.
Cloud County cross country and track and field runner Roger Koester would be named an NJCAA Second-Team All-American in 1988 as the Concordia, Kansas native would finish third at the 1988 NJCAA Indoor National Championships in the two-mile run. During his two seasons with CCCC, Koester would set the two-mile run (9:18) and mile run (4:21) indoor records before going on to finish his schooling at Kansas State University. Koester is also a former member of the Cloud County Community College Board of Trustees and still resides in the Concordia area.
The induction ceremony for the 15 Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame class will be held at halftime of the men's basketball game against Seward County Community College on Jan. 29. Action gets underway that afternoon at 2 p.m. with the women's game. The men's game will follow at 4 p.m. as both the women's and men's basketball teams will also be hosting a basketball alumni weekend on Jan. 29.
Dec 17, 2021
15th Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame class to be inducted Jan. 29
Posted Dec 17, 2021 11:54 PM