Hall of Fame

Don Kukowski, Class of 1966, was an outstanding football and baseball player for the Ramblers. Don possessed both great speed and strength, at 6’2 and  235 pounds, he was clocked at 10.4 in the 100 yard dash.  Don was a strong outfielder, who hit for power and average and was excellent on the basepaths.  He was a key player on two Rambler Catholic State Tournament teams, as a sophomore on the 2nd place 1964 squad, and as a senior on the ‘66 team that was knocked out by Benilde.  Don’s best sport was football. As a junior in 1964 he was named honorable mention All–State as a guard on offense and defensive end, and in 1965 he was named 1st team  All-State. He was the second recipient of the Ben Czaplewski Memorial Award, given to a Cotter athlete for sportsmanship and character. He was the Cotter Athlete of the year in 1966. Don had scholarship offers from Notre Dame and Nebraska, before choosing to attend the University of Minnesota on a full athletic scholarship, where he played his freshman year, prior to getting married to his high school sweetheart Marsha. 

Beth (Walch) Taylor, Class of 2000, was a three sport star at Cotter, excelling in volleyball, basketball and softball.  In volleyball she was a 3 year starter as middle hitter and was a two time  All–HVL selection. Beth also started for three years as center on the basketball team, where she was also twice all conference and a key player on the first Cotter girls team to reach the section finals. She was a four year starter in softball at both catcher and shortstop. She was an exceptional power hitter who was named all-conference three times and was a member of three State tournament teams. Beth was Cotter’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2000. Beth played basketball for four years at St. Mary’s University of MN, where she was a strong rebounder and defender, and hit 47% of her 3’s as senior, to become the school’s career leader in 3 point shooting percentage.