Bemidji - Margie Anderson and Alec Newby formally cemented their legacy of lumberjacks on Monday night.

The duo was named Male and Female Athlete of the Year at the Bemidji High School Hall of Fame banquet, adding another honor to one-to-many sports competitors who already have a lot in the trophy.

"It's very exciting, but there are a lot of other athletes who deserve it, too," Anderson said. "But it's cool. It's an opportunity, it's a blessing."

This is Newby's eye award, and it's been a while now. His brother Seth received the same honor in 2023.

"That's my goal, and when he wins the game, I want to win the game, too," Newby said. "It feels good to achieve that. ... Every day, countless hours, just) hard work. It's amazing to see the results."

Newby is the captain of football and wrestling teams, and has been successful in every sport of his.

On the grill, he is a multi-year starter for offense, defense and special teams. On the mat, Newby played in the state championship twice in a row, four times into PlaceWinner and helped Jacks compete for the 8-3A title this season. On the track, he qualified for state races for two consecutive years and ranked fifth in pole vault.

"I have had great coaches over the years," Newby said. "Greg Skerik, who is the one who makes me wrestle. I don't want to do it in my junior year, and he contacted me and convinced me to stay.

Anderson's high school season looks a little different from her first three years at BHS, but still has a range of achievements. She joined the women’s basketball team, playing a key role as a lumberjack and ended with a team-high three-point shooting percentage of 32.7%.

Anderson was injured after the season ended, possibly keeping her from returning to the women's golf rival. However, she still put together an excellent career on the link, serving as the first golfer as a sophomore and junior.

“With golf, even if my arms are outdated, it’s great to see how the team really strengthened,” Anderson said. “They have played their roles well and it’s amazing to just watch their success and I love them and still make me part of it.”

Despite some changes in her last game, a mid-stream tay was her outstanding performance in the volleyball team. Anderson has a school assist record, breaking Alexa Greendahl's previous 2,982 record. In the final game of her preparatory career, she took 3,000 careers to 3,003.

"Sometimes it's definitely a grinding," Anderson said. "There are some highs and some lows, but during tough times, the lessons you learn, the perseverance and how to get back on your feet.

Several other members of the BHS Sports family received honors at a banquet on Monday.

Ryan Aylesworth was awarded the Mark Fodness Head Coach of the Year Award for his leadership in the cross country team.

Jim McKeon Assistant Coach of the Year Award won Kristina Vanwilgen-Hammitt's collaboration with the women's soccer team.

The Danny Dickinson and Dickinson families have awarded the "Big E" lumberjack award to BHS's top supporters of track and field.

Five athletes were added to the Bemidji High School Track and Field Hall of Fame at Monday's banquet.

Cody Rutledge is a 2012 graduate, three-body athlete for basketball, basketball and soccer players, and was very familiar with state games and statewide honors during his time as a lumberjack.

He was a four-year starter for the baseball team and his career ended with a great senior season, ending with a state championship berth. Rutledge beat the .492 with six home runs, four 3s and 10 doubles, earning a spot on the first team statewide and collecting game goals from one of the seven finalists! Mr. Baseball.

In football, Rutledge was named second team all-state in his senior season, earning seven interceptions while the BHS entered the state championship. Rutledge was also a three-year champion of the basketball team in 2012, called Co-MVP.

During his time at BHS, Rutledge brought his talents to the college level and played baseball for St. Cloud State. He eventually graduated with a degree in Industrial Technology Management.

Lee Fawbush played for Jacks from 1959 to 1961, playing for football, basketball and baseball teams. He played quarterback in the unbeaten season of the Lumberjacks in 1961 and played in the state baseball championship that same year. Fawbush was a member of the 1959 state basketball team and joined in the state championship game two years later.

After his career, Fawbush jumped into college sports. He received all football scholarships from Wisconsin and was transferred to Minnesota State Moorhead for the last two years of college where he became captain.

After graduating from college, Fawbush served as captain of the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam. During his service, Fawbush and his wife Ginny owned six women's clothing stores in the Minneapolis area and raised two adopted children, Matt and Katy. From 2005 to 2018, Fabwush retired in Naples, Florida.

Betty Fulton Novotney's track and field career went far beyond her time at Bemidji High School. After graduating in 1975, Novotney competed in track, basketball and field hockey at Bemiji State University. The Beavers are eligible for the 1976 National Championships and finished seventh in the AIAW National Championships, and her time hockey is particularly fruitful. Novotney was inducted into the BSU Track and Field Hall of Fame with his field hockey teammates in 2006.

Novotney also coached for three seasons at the BHS and two seasons at the BHS during Bemidji State. She continued to coach volleyball, baseball and tracks in four different states, which took her career across 44 years.

Novotney is also a player, engraving lettering on both basketball and track. She led the Lumberjack Basketball team to score junior and juniors and was selected as the District 29 Plenary Session Team in the final season.

Novotney immediately played the mark on the track and field team, setting a school record on discus on her first meeting. The record persisted for her three years at BHS and surpassed her graduation.

Bailey Drewes Smith is getting used to leading at Bemidji High School. Smith is the captain of cross country, track and field and Nordic ski teams and was named the 2010-11 female lumberjack athlete of the year. She also participated in college football.

After high school, Smith competed in cross-country and track and field competitions in St. Benedict, running a fourth highest 6k time among freshmen and a sixth highest 5k time in school history. She continued running after graduating from college and participated in nine marathons from 2015 to 2020. Smith's best time is 2:40.09 from the 2019 Twin Cities Marathon. She is also eligible for the 2020 Olympic marathon, ranking 66th with 2:42.11.

Mike Fogelson became a pillar of BHS track and field even after his years as an athlete. Fogelson's quarterback was a 1998 third-pointer from 1996-99, and when Bemidji entered the era of "recovery pride", Fogelson quarterback won three-pointer from 1996-99.

Fogelson ended his college career at Bemidji State and joined Lumberjack's football and baseball coaching staff, both programs for more than 20 years.

He held the helm of the baseball team in 2005 and led the lumberjacks until 2023, collected two state championships in 2012, and won the state runner-up in 2012. Fogelson ended his time as head coach with 258 wins, breaking Des SageDahl's record of all-time victory.

Fogelson's career as a baseball coach expanded to the Legion baseball team, where he became head coach and led the program to three state games. He won the Minnesota Legion Coach of the Year in 2012.

Fogelson is still in the community and coaches in youth and high school golf programs.