Two past teams, three individuals entered into 2025 Class of Inductees
Hat Tip Katelynn Farley
Friday, February 14th marked a special evening hosted at Norwell High School - three individuals and two past athletic teams were named to the school’s 2024 NHS Athletic Hall of Fame class. The individuals were Rick Park, Matt Kinzer and Kurt Krick. The teams that were chosen were the 1973 Boys’ Basketball team and the 2007 Baseball team.
Below are short biographies for each of the inductees into the NHS 2025 Hall of Fame, as presented by Norwell High School.
Rick Park – Rick is a 1969 graduate who lettered in track and cross country while at Norwell his junior and senior years. Before the schools consolidated, he attended Lancaster. He was ACAC Champion in both cross country and track his senior year. He was the first in the county to break the 10-minute barrier for the 2-mile in track. He also held the Norwell school record for this event for 25 years. Rick placed second at the Sectional and was the Regional Champion in the 2-mile his senior year. He was in the first group of athletes to represent Norwell in the State Track Meet. After graduation, Rick ran track and cross country at Taylor University.
Matt Kinzer – Matt is a 1981 graduate who lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. He was All-Conference and All-State in football his junior and senior years. He was All-Conference and All-County in basketball his senior year. In baseball, Matt was All-Conference two years, All-State his senior year, and was selected as a 1981 North All-Star. Matt punted and pitched for the Purdue Boilermakers following graduation and was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1984. He pitched at the major league level for the Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers, and he appeared in an NFL game with the Detroit Lions.
Kurt Krick – Kurt is a 1996 graduate who was a 4-year member of the football, basketball, and track teams. He was named first-team All-Conference twice in football. He was a 3-time champion in shot put at the NHC Championship, the IHSAA Sectional and Reginal meets, and the North Side, Goshen, and Lime City Relays. He was a 3-time state qualifier in shot put and a 2-time state qualifier in discus. Kurt was the 1996 State Champion in shot put and Runner-Up in discus. He was also the State Runner-Up in shot put in 1995. Kurt competed in throws at Indiana University, where he was an Indoor Big-Ten Champion in shot put. While at IU, he earned All-American honors in 1998.
1973 Boys Basketball Team – The 1973 Boys Basketball Team won their second consecutive sectional title and first regional title at Marion to advance to the Ft. Wayne Semi-State. The team set school records for wins in a season (21), points in a game (103), average points per game (76.8), largest margin of victory (49), and points in a season (1,844). They had a 12-game winning streak, a perfect record in ACAC play (9-0), and a perfect record at The Castle (9-0). All five seniors averaged double figures in points.
2007 Baseball Team – The 2007 Baseball Team became the third team in state history to finish the season undefeated (35-0) after their victory over Evansville Mater Dei in the 3A State Championship. The team finished the season in the top 10 in the Indiana High School record books in Runs in a Season, RBI’s, Consecutive Wins, Team Batting Average, and Total Bases. They were ranked #2 in the Midwest by USA Today. They also received
national rankings from 6 different publications, the highest of which was 10th in the nation from Collegiate Baseball/Easton Sports.
The Hall of Fame presentation took place between the junior varsity and varsity basketball games against Huntington North High School. The final score of the game was ________.
Next up for the Norwell Knights is a trip to Jay County on February 21. Huntington North next hosts South Side High School on February 15, followed by another home game against Bishop Luers on February 18.
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