Danville, IA- Legends of Danville athletics will be honored this Saturday, January 20th, betwixt the Junior Varsity and Varsity boys’ basketball games as former head boys’ basketball coach Ken Laffoon and the 2017-2018 girls’ track team will be inducted into Danville’s Athletic Hall of Pride for the 2024 class.
Ken Laffoon was hired to be the head coach of the Bears back in 1994 and for the next 23 years at the helm Danville was a powerhouse in Southeast Iowa. During his tenure he collected a 433-121 record, brought the Bears to the state tournament seven times, and earned the NFHS Iowa State Coach of the Year award in 2015.
In his seven trips to state, he tallied two state championships in 2001 and 2002, two runner-up performances in 2011 and 2012, and berths in 2013, 2015, and 2016. This culminated into an induction into the Iowa Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2019 and personal career record of 508-181, a 0.737-win percentage.
The 2017-18 girls’ track team made history for Danville as they raced home with the program’s first state championship. Coached by Lucas Gourley, Amanda Richardson, and Natalie Ford, the team tallied four first place finishes and collected two other medals to finish on top of the podium for the Class 1A title.
Here are the members of the team: Alyssa Pfadenhauer, Alexis Bauer, McKenzie Speer, Kathryn Luers, Grace Grothe, Addison Parrott, Ashley Pfadenhauer, Kaley Eisenmann, BreAnn Yaley, Kenzi Downing, Drew Fox and Breanna Teel.
The ceremony will take place at approximately 2:45 pm or at the conclusion of the JV game against Davis County scheduled to start at 2 pm.