The Central Lee Community School District has inducted three new members to the Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024.
This year, the Hall of Fame celebrates a Central Lee championship baseball team and two accomplished alumni whose remarkable achievements continue to inspire the district and the wider community.
“We’re thrilled to recognize these exceptional alumni and honor their tremendous successes in athletics,” said Dr. Andy Crozier, Central Lee Superintendent. “Their stories of grit, record-setting determination, and triumphing against the odds will positively influence generations of Central Lee students to come.”
In 1989, Central Lee High School's baseball team made history by winning the state championship. The team, comprising players from grades 9 to 12, achieved remarkable success through skill, resilience, and unity.
The team defied expectations despite facing considerable challenges, including a lack of a home field during the seniors' freshman year and being the smallest Class 3A school in the state. They claimed the title by defeating Decorah High School, the largest school in their division.
This exhilarating victory remains a pivotal moment in CLHS athletic history, laying the groundwork for future program development and cementing the team’s place in the Athletic Hall of Fame.
Linda Hardin, posthumously inducted this year, was a Central Lee graduate of 1966. Her legendary track and field career, forged on gravel roads near her hometown of Donnellson, is a testament to her character and unwavering determination.
Hardin’s senior year was the pinnacle of her high school athletic career; she captured state titles in both the 440-yard dash and the 4x200-meter relay, setting a record time of 59.4 seconds in the 440. Her success came on cinder tracks and in a single-class competition, competing against top athletes statewide.
Hardin's athletic journey continued with three years in the Iowa Girls Track Club, where her talent attracted media attention and speculation about her Olympic potential. She went on to compete on the track and field team at John F. Kennedy College, graduating in 1970. Hardin had a distinguished 37-year career as an FBI Intelligence Analyst, earning accolades for her work on major investigations.
Although Hardin bravely lost her battle with cancer, her spirit endures. Her legacy is honored through an annual scholarship in her name awarded to a Central Lee senior track and field athlete and symbolized by the flying winged foot on her headstone.
Brett Azinger, a 2009 graduate, is the third inductee into the Central Lee Athletic Hall of Fame. A four-year letter winner in baseball and basketball, Azinger captained the basketball team for three years and remains one of the school's most celebrated athletes.
Azinger earned Third Team All-State honors as a sophomore and Second Team All-State honors in his junior and senior years, leading the team to Central Lee High School’s first-ever state tournament appearance. He is the school's all-time leading scorer, with 1,535 career points, and was ranked among the top 250 high school athletes nationally for the McDonald's All-American Team.
In baseball, Azinger excelled with a batting average above .350 for three seasons, earning multiple All-Conference and All-Hawkeye honors. After graduating, he continued his athletic career at Iowa Wesleyan College, where he started every game as a freshman and distinguished himself as a standout player.
The Athletic Hall of Fame was established as a platform to honor, preserve, and celebrate Central Lee’s rich history and its tradition of excellence in athletics. It highlights the significance of high-achieving graduates and former staff members who left a lasting impact on the school community during their time at Central Lee.
Community members, families, staff, and alumni are encouraged to nominate individuals for Hall of Fame recognition. To be eligible for nomination, individuals must have graduated from Central Lee schools or have been a staff member and should be at least five years removed from their association with the district. A committee reviews all nominations and determines each year's inductees. Central Lee also has Academic and Fine Arts Halls of Fame.
The Central Lee Community School District's Hall of Fame ceremony to honor the 2024 inductees will take place in the Spring of 2026 celebrating 2024 & 2025 inductees. The district has yet to announce the date of the ceremony.