Photo submitted by Winona Area Public Schools
WINONA, Minn. — The four inductees into the Winona Senior High School Hall of Fame have a few things in common.
They all tried multiple sports. They all took great pride in competing for their school. And they all leave a lasting legacy that will be remembered for generations to come.
Tim Brown, Bob Grausnick, Kristine Kreuzer Loes and Bill Squires will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2 at Winona Senior High School. The public is invited to attend the ceremony.
The class will also be honored during the homecoming parade and football game on Friday, Oct. 1.
Tim Brown, Class of 1987
Football coach Bob Urness called Brown a diamond in the rough who put forth 100 percent effort on a daily basis. In track, Brown won the Big Nine Conference title in the shot put with a winning heave of 54 feet, 1½ inches. In football, he was an all-conference honorable mention selection as a junior, then a first-teamer as a senior.
He played football and competed in track and field at Winona State for two years before injuries forced him to give it up. He then started coaching at Winona Senior High School while finishing his degree.
He started working at Fastenal as a machinist during the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift, which allowed him to continue to coach football and track alongside the same mentors that meant so much to him when he was an athlete. He is regarded as one of the best throws coaches in the state of Minnesota. He coached athletes to 19 Big 9 Conference championships and sent 27 qualifiers to the state meet — 11 of which earned top 3 finishes. Two of them — Becki Burt and Michelle Potter — won state titles.
Tim and his wife Christine have three daughters — Michaela, Hannah and Hadyn.
Bob Grausnick, Class of 1962
Grausnick earned eighth varsity letters at Winona High — two in football, two in basketball and four in baseball.
He was a senior football captain and led the Big 9 in scoring that year while earning all-conference and all-state honors. He led the basketball team in scoring and also earned all-conference honors in that sport.
Baseball might have been his best sport. According to childhood friend Dick Karnath, Grausnick was the only 15-year-old to hit the ball out of Gabrych Park — and he did it multiple times. He was brought up to the varsity as an eighth-grader, a feat unheard of during the days when it was rare for even sophomores to see varsity action.
He earned a football scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where he played for two years before suffering a career-ending injury.
He worked as a budget management analyst in Denver for 20 years and currently lives in Arizona. He and his wife Carol have three children, five grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.
Grausnick will take part in the ceremony remotely.
Kristine Kreuzer Loes, Class of 2002
Kreuzer Loes tried a little bit of everything while growing up before settling on volleyball, basketball and softball in high school. She was dominant in all three sports.
On the volleyball court, Kreuzer Loes was a three-year letterwinner, all-conference performer and the Winhawks’ statistical leader in digs, kills, aces and serving percentage. She helped lead the Winhawks to back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Big 9.
In basketball, she received honorable mention all-conference honors as a sophomore, then first-team honors as a junior and senior. She helped lead the Winhawks to their first-ever Big 9 championship, and finished as the single-season and career leader in assists.
In softball, she was a two-time all-Big 9 selection, and was named second-team all state.
She went to Winona State and later became a licensed CPA. She now works at Iowa State University. She and husband Ryan have three children — Patrick, Brynna and Lucas.
Bill Squires, Class of 1965
Squires earned eight letters at Winona — three in football, two in basketball and three in track. He also was the captain of all three teams his senior year.
He was all-conference in football and basketball, and received all-state honorable mention honors in football. He was also the district champion in the high jump.
He accepted a full scholarship to Augustana (S.D.) to originally play basketball. He also decided to play football for two years, but was forced to give it up or lose his basketball scholarship. He went on to average 10 points and eight rebounds a game in his basketball career.
He was drafted into the service after graduation and enlisted in the Marines. While stationed in Hawaii, Squires continued to play basketball and quickly became one of the best players in any branch of service. He was a member of the AAU Men’s Basketball national championship team in 1972, and invited to try out for the 1972 Olympic team.
After an honorable discharge, he worked as a phy ed teacher in Wanamingo, then the head basketball coach at Peru State in Nebraska before returning to Winona, where he worked for Lake Center Industries/Benchmark until he retired in 2010.
He and his wife Kathy have four kids and six grandchildren
(Winona Area Public Schools)
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