The Insider: 3 from area going into MSHSL HOF

Two area athletes and a former coach will be inducted into the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame on Oct. 25 in St. Paul.
Former Dawson-Boyd cross country runner Carrie Tollefson, former Bird Island-Lake Lillian three-sport star Barry Wohler and former Willmar tennis coach Hal Miller are part of the 12-person class.
Tollefson set a national record with five consecutive individual cross country state championships while running in a league of her own. She also won eight state championships in the 1600 and 3200 meter races during the track season. At Villanova University, Tollefson won five NCAA championships and was a part of the 1999 national championship cross country team. In 1998, she was selected the NCAA indoor track athlete of the year. She also made history by becoming the first person in NCAA history to win both the 3K and the 5K titles.
Wohler is one of just three Minnesota prep athletes to be invited to all-star games in three different sports, along with Dave Winfield and Joe Mauer. He quarterbacked state championship football teams in 1979 and ’80. He was also the guard that led Bird Island-Lake Lillian to back-to-back Class A basketball championships. Wohler had planned to play football for the Gophers, but instead played basketball and baseball at Minnesota. He was a part of the Gophers’ 1982 squad that won the Big Ten title and also helped the Gophers’ baseball team to Big Ten titles in 1982 and ’83. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, playing from 1983-88, and advancing to Triple-A Albuquerque.
Miller began his education career in 1970, teaching elementary physical education in the Willmar school district. After a sabbatical to teach at Springfield College, he returned to Willmar in 1976 and remained until his retirement in 2004. His first coaching assignment in 1978 was an assistant coach on the varsity baseball team where he spent six seasons. He then became the head coach for the girls’ tennis program. He coached the team for 28 seasons and compiled a 377-154 record, which included eight Central Lakes Conference titles and eight state tournament appearances. In 1988 he coached the boys’ tennis team to a 174-119 record in 17 seasons claiming one conference title and trips to the state tournament by several individual players. Miller also was an assistant coach for Willmar’s girls and boys basketball teams. He helped lead each team to three state tournaments. For the past 29 years, Miller has served as the tournament manager for the girls’ and boys’ state tennis tournaments.
Former Stinger Barnes assigned to AFL
Former Willmar Stingers pitcher and Milwaukee Brewers prospect Jacob Barnes was assigned to the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League.
Barnes, who pitched for Willmar in 2010, is 4-5 this season for the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers with a 3.47 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 72.2 innings.
He joins another former Stinger in Steven Brault in this year’s AFL. Brault, a Pittsburgh Pirates prospect, will play for the Glendale Desert Dogs.