The second annual Kimball Area High School Activities Program will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 25, in the cafetorium. The event honors KAHS students who have participated in Minnesota State High School League activities – athletics, speech, band, choir and visual arts – throughout the school year. The Kimball Area High School Letter Winners, the Wrestling Boosters, the Sports Boosters and the Band Boosters sponsor the celebration. This year, the first class of inductees to the Kimball High School Hall of Fame are Todd Spaulding, Kathy (Hunt) Eisenbraun, Dennis Muehring, Jerry Robinson and Howard Konkol. Tickets for the event are $3 for adults and $1 for students. They can be purchased at the high school office or at the door. Social time will begin at 6:30, with hors d’oeuvres served. The Kimball Choir and Jazz Band will provide entertainment, and student artwork will be on display. The program will begin at 7 p.m. with the presentation of the Senior Athletic Awards and Hall of Fame induction. Mr. Walter Bond, a former U of M and pro basketball player is the guest speaker. Todd Spaulding, Class of 1984. Spaulding earned 11 letters in baseball, basketball and football during his high school career. He was the first player in state history to play in all three high school all-star games. He was a four-year starter in baseball, earning all-conference honors three times. The baseball team was conference champion his junior and senior years and district champion his sophomore year. Spaulding was also a four-year starter in basketball, scoring 1,688 career points. He was a three-time all-conference and all-area choice and named St. Cloud Times Area Basketball Player of the Year. He was a two-time All-State selection and an honorable mention to the McDonald’s All-American team. The basketball team was conference champions his junior and senior years and District 20 champion his senior year. In football he started at quarterback for three years and at safety for two. He was all-conference and all-area two years. The football team was the undefeated conference champion his senior year and was rated number one in the state. He went on to an outstanding career at St. Cloud State University, starting and lettering in basketball all four years. Todd and his wife Robin live in Annandale with their three daughters Mykenzie, Hannah and Allie. Kathy (Hunt) Eisenbraun, Class of 1978 Eisenbraun earned nine letters in gymnastics and track. In 1977, she became Kimball’s first state champion in 180-yard hurdles. She repeated this achievement in 1978, winning the 180-yard hurdles and the 110-yard hurdles. Eisenbraun holds the state record in both events. She was a two-time conference champion in the long jump, 110- and 180-yard hurdles. She was a three-time winner of the district and region championships in those events. In 1978, she was named Kimball Area High School’s Female Athlete of the Year and was invited to compete in the International Friendship Games in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. In gymnastics she was a two-time winner and district champion in the conference vault. She competed at the region level four times in the vault and all-around competitions. She has had great pleasure watching her two oldest children Alisha and Preston compete in the Kimball sports and is looking forward to watch her two youngest children, Klarissa and Kyleigh, in the future. Dennis Muehring, Class of 1958 Muehring earned 12 letters in four sports. He was a four-year starter in baseball and a two-year starter in basketball and football. He was the leading hitter on the conference champion baseball team. He was an All-District team selection in 1958 and averaged 20-plus points per game. In football he was an All-State Honorable mention and a Minneapolis Star & Tribune Player of the Week selection on a team that completed Kimball’s fifth consecutive undefeated season. In 1958 he also won the conference discus throw. He went on to play basketball for two years at St. Cloud State University and has followed Kimball sports since graduation. Jerry Robinson, Class of 1955 Robinson earned twelve letters in basketball, baseball and football. He was captain of the basketball and football teams his senior year. In 1954, he was Kimball’s first basketball player to score 40 points in a game without the three-point shot and finished with 355 points his senior year. He was an All-District 19 selection in basketball his senior year. As a junior and senior in football he was a member of the first two undefeated football teams. He scored 89 out of 172 points his senior year, in one game scoring five touchdowns. Robinson went on to play service baseball and basketball during his three years in the Army. He presently resides in Kimball with his wife, Janet. Howard Konkol, Coach, 1952 to 1958. Konkol came to Kimball in the fall of 1952 as a math teacher. After volunteering as a football coach he was asked appear before the school board to try and save the football program. The board was considering dropping it. In the fall of 1953, the team began play in eight-man football with thirteen players. Seven new recruits were added once the season started and the team won all five of its games. The unbeaten streak continued and reached 27-0 in 1957 when the team outscored its opponents 293-0. Dave Kothe was named to the All State 6-8 Man football team that year, with three others receiving honorable mention; Lloyd Kunkel, Norman Nelson and Leslie Arens. Konkol finished his 41-year teaching career in Slayton, Minnesota where he still lives with his wife of 47 years, Margaret.
