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2022 MHS Athletic Hall of Honor Inductees
Click on images to enlarge and scroll through them - Photo credit to Billy D. Photography
2022 Class - Athletic Hall of Honor
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Fay Raymond Cohenour - Class of 1960 - Student Athlete - Football
Alan Eaton Flitcraft - Class of 1960 - Student Athlete - Baseball
Michael Wesley "Mike" Moore - Class of 1980 - Student Athlete - Football
Frank Carl Brunner - Class of 1985 - Student Athlete - Football
Jennifer June Page Foster - Class of 1995 - Student Athlete - Softball
Ian Fletcher Murdoch - Student Athlete - Soccer
2011 State Championship Football Team
Fay Raymond Cohenour - Class of 1960 - Student Athlete - Football
With Wheeler Leeth as the head coach, Fay was a starting quarterback on JV in his sophomore year and on varsity in both his junior and senior years when he was also defensive safety and on the kickoff team. It was a season of thrills, heartbreaks, and jubilant rejoicing as the team tied for 2nd place in the Western Conference Championship Game. A 1959 newspaper article called him the “ball-handling wizard”, operating behind a powerful forward wall as he guided MHS to a 26-0 victory against Sarasota as MHS fans watched the team win the game in a rivalry between the teams that began in 1923. He was All Western Conference his senior year and voted the Outstanding Football Player in 1960. Fay was also the starting guard on the District Champs varsity basketball team all 3 years in high school with All-Western Conference mention in his sophomore year.
Coached by Mike DePalmer and slated to finish 9th in the Western Conference, the ‘Canes tied for 2nd place. Coached by Bob Stewart, Fay was the starting 2nd baseman on the varsity baseball team for 3 years and received scholarship offers for all three sports from many prestigious colleges and universities.
Rather than accept the offers, he chose to go into business with his father in Bradenton and they started Cohenours, Inc., a well-known flooring business. Hard work and excellent customer service helped build it into one of the largest flooring stores in FL with 8 stores up and down the West Coast and sales exceeding ten million dollars annually. Fay was a member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization) and you have to be President and CEO of your own company doing 10 million a year by the time you’re 30 or younger. Fay was nominated by Lloyd Koehler, a fellow classmate and 2017 Athletic Hall of Honor inductee. Fay married his high school sweetheart, Carol Hill, MHS Class of 1959, who was a cheerleader and Jamboree Queen at MHS. They have 3 children (2 are MHS graduates) and 6 grandchildren (4 are MHS graduates).
Alan Eaton Flitcraft - Class of 1960 - Student Athlete - Baseball
Alan was an outstanding athlete who participated in football, basketball, and baseball at MHS with a total of 7 varsity letters. Alan was the star pitcher for MHS on the district champion baseball team receiving All-Conference honors and on the district champion basketball team.
He played baseball at MJC for a year under Coach Bob Wynn, and they finished 3rd in the country at the national championships. He was chosen for Honorable Mention All-American for his 9-win, 2-loss record before signing a contract to play baseball with the Los Angeles Angels. That summer he pitched the first no hit no run game in the history of the Angel’s organization and was assigned to their minor league team where he was 10-2 by mid-season. He pitched professionally until 1964 when an arm injury stopped his dream of pitching in the major leagues.
Hired by FSU as the Freshman baseball coach, he brought the team to Bradenton to play against Coach Wynn’s team at MJC. After two years, he was hired by Northern Arizona University as the baseball coach for 15 years until the baseball program was eliminated to reduce the athletic budget. Alan’s teams won 325 games against many major programs which were the most by any coach in NAU history. Wanting to remain at NAU, he continued as a full-time instructor in the Physical Education department for 28 years, taught courses to students who wanted to become coaches, and handled driver’s training. He was selected to be inducted into the N.A.U. Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986 and a testament to his personality and coaching ability is an NAU Endowed Alan Flitcraft Scholarship established by his former players in 2017.
When he retired, Alan’s teaching career spanned a period of 41 years and many of his students became coaches winning state championships and playoff games. Alan was an A1A football referee for 39 years refereeing numerous state championship games, served on the board of the Big Brother-Big Sisters organization, operated the Arizona Traffic Survival School for 47 years, ran a baseball camp for young students for 25 years, and was an active player in local softball leagues. Alan lives in Flagstaff, AZ with his wife Sharon and they have three daughters, Denise Schultz, Teresa Errada and Kimberly Flitcraft.
Michael Wesley "Mike" Moore - Class of 1980 - Student Athlete - Football
Mike’s football career started with the Manatee County Youth Football League, including the Manatee Mustangs All-Star team. He played hard and didn’t mind getting muddy when playing both in little league and at MHS. He received 3 Varsity Letters, was a member of the All-County, All-Area, and All-State Teams in 1978 and 1979. Mike was featured in the Manatee Magic book, which included highlights of 75 years of football at Manatee. If you read the article, you’ll see that Mike was the first to admit he didn’t look like your average high school athlete with a profile of long hair, torn jeans, and good times. After one recruiting visit to UF during his senior year he realized he was a square peg trying to squeeze into a round hole. On his next visit to University of Miami, he cut his hair, bought new clothes, and suddenly this 6 ft 3, 240 lb rebel looked like a clean-cut Gator. One night with the Miami players was all it took for Mike to know this was where he belonged.
With a full athletic scholarship, he received 4 Varsity Letters, was a starter for thirty games at left guard, a member of the All-Independent Team in 1982 and the 1983 National Championship Team. A fluke accident in practice took Mike’s career in a strange and painful direction when a player from another drill fell on his leg while Mike was standing on the sideline. The ligaments were ripped in the right knee requiring surgery 2 days later. From the sideline, he saw a once-in-a-lifetime season when Miami went on to win the school’s first national championship and a last-second 31-30 victory over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Mike signed a free-agent contract with the Miami Dolphins in the spring of 1985 but soon discovered that pro ball wasn’t what he thought it would be like.
Mike left the Dolphins, transferred to the University of South Florida, and graduated with a degree in secondary education. He worked for Tropicana for 21 years, served under Coach Joe Kinnan for a short time, and joined the coaching staff at Valrico Bloomingdale. Mike lives in Bell, FL, with his wife, Janie, and they have three daughters, Samantha, Alexandra, and Jeanie Caracciolo.
Frank Carl Brunner - Class of 1985 - Student Athlete - Football
Frank not only excelled on the football field as a tight end at MHS but also lettered 3 years in soccer and was the first football player in MHS history to earn a Varsity Letter in both football & soccer. He was a member of the 1983 State Championship Football Team and one of the original "Hurricane Hogs", the nickname for the Offensive Line that became a hallmark of MHS football. Frank moved to the position of center where he anchored the O-line and was selected as Team Captain. The team made it to #3 on the USA Today National rankings and Frank went on to earn 1st team All-State at center and was selected to represent Florida in the first "Florida/Georgia HS All-Star Football Game where they beat Georgia 24-7 in the Citrus Bowl. If you attended the MHS football games at that time, you’ll remember Frank and his “flying dutchman” after each touchdown.
Frank was very active in many other school activities while excelling academically and was selected to the 1985 MHS Hall of Fame. He received a Congressional Appointment and scholarship at West Point where he played on the Army Football Team and started all games at center in his senior year. He was the Honorable Mention Center in NCAA Division I All-East.
Frank graduated from West Point in 1989, was commissioned as an Infantry Officer, and lead a Combat Infantry Platoon in the first Gulf War. Upon his return to Manatee County, Frank continued to lead and serve our community while sitting on various civic and non-profit boards. He currently is the Executive Director of Crimestoppers and was nominated by his fellow classmate, Chris Burtless. Frank lives in Palmetto with his wife Tamara, a 1990 MHS graduate, and their twin sons, Joshua and Luke.
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Jennifer June Page Foster - Class of 1995 - Student Athlete - Softball
Jennifer started her athletic career as a T-Ball player against the boys in little league. When she got to high school, she excelled in the classroom at MHS as well as on the softball field where she displayed her amazing athletic ability. She batted right and threw left and supported her teammates while striving to do her very best in everything. With Steve Olsen as her coach, she was a four-year varsity starter in softball with a career batting average of .460. She was the most valuable player and team captain in her senior year, Bradenton Herald Softball Player of the Year, and both Bradenton & Sarasota Herald All-Area. She was selected for Team Florida, a team of 22 players from each state chosen to participate in ESPN televised national tournament in Kansas City.
In addition to the softball field, Jennifer graduated with a 4.2 GPA, the top 4% of her class and was a member of the National Honor Society. She was the Drum Major in the band in her junior and senior years and a member of the chorus and Orchestra Winds. She continued her love of softball by walking onto the collegiate softball field at Auburn University where she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in political science.
Jennifer is now a high school government teacher and volleyball coach at Auburn High School where she shares her values of being the best you can be with her students. She was nominated by Coach John Carlock and is the daughter of Gina and Gene Page. Jennifer is married to Chris Foster and they have three daughters, Madeleine, Ella, and Anna.
Ian Fletcher Murdoch - Class of 1996 - Student Athlete - Soccer
Before Ian enrolled at Manatee High School, he lead the Manatee Magic Soccer Team to the State Final 4 where they finished 3rd in the state. His nomination stated, “as a young lad, he was respected by his peers not only because of his soccer skills but because of his dedication, persistence, hard work, and integrity”.
He brought those qualities to Manatee High and when he graduated in 1996, he was the Captain of the 1996 Soccer team that was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Honor in 2018. As captain of that team, they were the first MHS team to make it out of Districts, the State Regional Finals, the Elite 8, and the State Tournament where they tied for 3rd in the state. The team finished the season with a record of 23-2-3 and Ian scored 38 goals and was the MHS all-time leader in goals scored with an MHS career record of 96 goals. A record that is believed to still stand today. Ian represented the West Coast in the Florida All-Star Classic and was the 1995 Bradenton Herald Player of the Year. He lettered all 4 years at Manatee and graduated in the top 10% of his graduating class.
Ian received a grant to attend Columbia University, a Division 1 school, where he lettered all 4 years and graduated with a major in Economics Philosophy and a minor in Psychology. Ian lives in Brooklyn, NY where he is a Portfolio Manager for MacKay Shields. Ian was nominated by both his teammate, Michael Cruikshank, and Michael’s father, David. Ian and his wife, Jennifer Law Murdoch, MHS Class of 1996, live in Brooklyn, NY with their daughters Isla & Elyse.
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2011 State Championship Football Team
It was a magical season, the fans were excited and the stands were full at every game whether it was at home, out of town, or out of state when the Manatee fans were definitely noticed. The hometown newspapers were full of articles about the team and accolades for individual players.
The 'Canes finished the 2011 season with a record of 13-2 losing only to national powers in Maryland and New Jersey. Coach Joe Kinnan crafted the 2011 schedule which he considered the most challenging in Hurricane’s history and he wasn’t alone. Max-Preps ranked Manatee’s schedule the strongest in FL with a rating of 44.3. In the season’s final game, Manatee bulldozed their way to a total of 429 yards of offense and gave up just 108. The defense limited their opponents to 12 points per game the entire season and held First Coast in the State game to just 108 yards and seven first downs.
The defensive front four teamed for five sacks, forced three fumbles, and held First Coast to a state final record minus 71 yards of rushing. Team members went on to play in D-1 programs at impressive colleges and universities and eleven starters would be back in 2012 to start their quest for another state title. The team was nominated by Carolyn Keller, a very proud grandmother. The players went on to college and played for schools such as Marshall University, Auburn University, McNease State, University of Akron, Baldwin Wallace, University of South Florida, State College of Florida and Florida State University. One of the players signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, one is currently playing for the Canadian Football League and some are currently coaching.