Storm Lake St. Mary’s High School is proud to announce the 2026 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees on Friday, January 23. The induction ceremony will take place between the varsity girls’ and varsity boys’ Homecoming games vs. Manson Northwest Webster.
St. Mary’s Athletic Hall of Fame was established to select and honor its teams, players, coaches, administrators, and community members at any level who, by their demonstrated excellence on or off the field, have contributed to the growth or success of the athletic program at St. Mary’s.
St. Mary’s is proud to recognize this year’s inductees: Bill McCoy, Class of 1968, the 1984 Softball Team, Abby (Richardson) Jacobson, Class of 2007, and Panther of Honor, Pete Laven.
Bill McCoy, Class of 1968
A three-sport letterman at St. Mary’s, Bill McCoy lettered two years in basketball, track, and baseball for the Panthers. Basketball was the sport where Bill shined most.
Despite only playing two years of varsity basketball, Bill amassed 756 points in those two seasons. He is one of only 13 players in school history with two or more 300-point seasons, and he was playing in an era before the three-point shot was in play. He currently ranks 3rd in career scoring average at 19.4 points per game, trailing only Jim Mech and Dan Johnston, who are both members of the SM Athletic Hall of Fame.
During his junior season, McCoy scored 329 points, which at the time was the 2nd highest total by a junior. That number is now 11th on the all-time list. He averaged 16.5 points per game that year. In his senior campaign, Bill racked up 427 points, averaging 22.5 points per game. Both totals were 3rd on the all-time list back then. Now they sit at the 19th and 12th highest, respectively.
McCoy also hauled in 163 rebounds for an average of 8.6 per game during his senior year. He scored a career high 33 points vs. Cherokee Immaculate Conception and added a 30-point night against Galva that year as well.
1984 Softball Team
The dominant 1984 St. Mary’s softball squad, led by third year coach Dwight Widen and assistant coach Deb Leslie, finished the season with a 35-6 record, which is the most wins of any team in school history. They were also the first Panther softball team to advance to the one-class state softball tournament where they went 2-2, finishing in 11th place among the 16 teams that qualified.
Other notable achievements by the team include: scoring 10 or more runs in 13 games, recording 15 shutout victories, allowing only 83 runs in 41 games, having two different win streaks of 11 and 10 games during the season, and never losing 2 games in a row.
During their successful season, they notched wins against many schools with much larger enrollments, including Harlan, Fort Dodge St. Edmond, Hull Western Christian, Carroll Kuemper, West Des Moines Dowling, and Sioux City East. Three of their six losses came at the hands of other teams qualifying for the state tournament. In total, they only lost to 4 different teams during the regular season, and they earned victories against 3 of those 4 teams in separate contests.
The team captured an amazing 6 tournament titles during the course of the season. They were champions of the West Des Moines Dowling Tournament, the Quad County Invitational, the Spencer Tournament, and the Northwest Webster Tournament during the regular season. During postseason play, they captured the Sectional and Regional Tournament Championships to earn their trip to State.
Upon winning the regional title to advance to state, Panther coach Dwight Widen praised the team by saying, “These kids are like veterans. They all have proven they deserve to be there. It’s nice to be rewarded for believing in ourselves. It’s real satisfying for me as a coach to be able to know what some of these kids go through, like playing injured. That’s playing on guts and determination. We don’t let anything bother us; we just play our game.”
Seven players from the squad earned 1st Team All-Quad County Conference Honors, two earned Honorable Mention All-Conference honors, and two players received All-Northwest Iowa and All-State honors.
Team members included seniors Dawn (Hinners) Simpson, Kathy (Liske) Berg, Beth Loats, and Melissa (McKenna) Fagan. Junior members were Jill (Cavanaugh) Rotert, Molly (Connell) Crosby, Marilyn (Drey) Peters, Sue (Loats) Leuer, Christine Shearer, and Jennifer (Young) Whelan. Mary (Overmohle) Barngrover and Dawn (Wiseman) Mentzer were the two sophomores on the squad. Sharon (Zimmer) Benna and Jan (Murray) Acquaviva were the freshmen team members, and Ann (Kestel) Meyer was the lone 8th grader on the squad.
Abby (Richardson) Jacobson, Class of 2007
Abby was a 4-sport letter winner, excelling in volleyball, basketball, track and softball. Few others can say they were a 4-year starter in volleyball and basketball, a 3-time state qualifier in track, and a 5-year starter in softball. Richardson qualified for state track in the long jump and the shuttle hurdle relay during her time as a Panther and had a stellar senior season on the softball diamond, batting .420. It was on the hardwood, though, that most likely recall Abby’s athletic prowess.
During her 4-year basketball career, Richardson amassed 1519 points, which is good for third highest in school history. She knocked down 146 career 3-pointers, grabbed 411 rebounds, dished out 321 assists, and picked the opponents’ pockets for 248 steals.
Abby scored 477 points in her senior year, which was good for the 6th best in Class 1A and 13th best overall in Iowa. Her 173 field goals made that season was 7th best in Class 1A and 14th best in all classes. She connected on 52 three pointers, also 7th best in Class 1A and 17th best overall.
Thanks in part to Abby’s performance during her senior season, the Panther girls’ basketball team finished with a 20-5 record, were crowned Conference Champions and District Champions, and entered the Class 1A rankings at #13. They also earned two victories over Newell-Fonda at Newell, one of which came in the postseason.
Richardson earned All-Conference honors all four years, including a 2nd Team selection as a freshman, and 1st Team selections every other year. She was recognized with All-State honors in both basketball and softball her senior year. The Sioux City Journal chose her as Athlete of the Week during her senior basketball season, and she was also selected to play in the Iowa Girls’ Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game. The Storm Lake Pilot Tribune also selected Abby as the 2006 Girls’ Player of the Year. Abby went on to continue her basketball career at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
Pete Laven – Panther of Honor
Pete Laven will be posthumously recognized as a Panther of Honor. This special category is selected by unanimous vote of the Athletic Booster Board and is intended to recognize individuals for their service to St. Mary’s School. This allows the chance to honor those who may or may not have been St. Mary’s players or coaches, but still have contributed to St. Mary’s Athletics in special, meaningful ways.
Pete and his wife Marilyn have had six children graduate from St. Mary’s – Brenda Erps, ‘82, Tom Laven ‘84, Bill Laven, ’88, Peter Laven, ’89, Stacy Evans, ’91, and Angie Stangl ‘02. In addition to the many volunteer responsibilities of a Catholic school parent and parent of athletes, Pete was a proud Athletic Booster Club member for many years, and he could almost always be found in the front row at St. Mary’s athletic events, cheering with pride and supporting our student-athletes.
Pete was an instrumental part of St. Mary’s, pouring his time, talents, and heart into countless ways of giving back to our parish and community. His service was woven into the very fabric of St. Mary’s. He helped organize and lead carnivals, supported detasseling scholarships for students, and even brought the Barnum and Bailey Circus to town as a creative and memorable fundraising effort.
As a Grand Knight with the Knights of Columbus, Pete led with faith and dedication, contributing to many projects that strengthened our parish family – including countless spaghetti dinners and the iconic Tootsie Roll fundraiser. His heart and hands also helped build the new altar at our church, where he shared his voice as a cantor for years – a lasting symbol of his devotion and generosity.
Pete’s commitment to faith, family, and community touched countless lives, and his impact will continue to be felt for generations. He truly exemplified the very best of St. Mary’s and what it means to live a life of generosity, service, and faith.
