MARSHFIELD — A former standout athlete and a longtime coach and educator will be inducted into the Marshfield High School Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend.
Sara Craig and Irwin Johnson will be inducted in a ceremony at River Edge Golf Course on Saturday, Sept. 29.
Tickets for the banquet are $20 and are available at the high school office. A social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m. and a program to follow. Both inductees will also be honored at the Marshfield homecoming football game against Oshkosh North on Friday, Sept. 28, at Beell Stadium.
Johnson was an English, history, physical education, vocational school and driver education teacher for the School District of Marshfield from 1953-1985 at Purdy Junior High and Marshfield Junior High School.
Following graduation from Mondovi High School in 1942 and one semester at Eau Claire State College, Johnson served in the Navy until 1946 during World War II, and was a member of the Great Lakes Naval Base, Navy Pier, and National AAU track teams in 1942-43.
After completing his service, Johnson returned to Eau Claire State College and earned his degree in 1950, leaving as a four-year letterwinner in track and football, and also earned a letter in basketball.
Johnson taught at Durand High School from 1950-53 before moving to Marshfield, where he still lives today.
Johnson coached the Marshfield junior high football team from 1953-65 and the boys basketball team from 1953-64, as well as spearheading the start of the boys track program in 1953, the wrestling program in 1965, and the tennis program in 1968. He served as head coach of the track team from 1953-68, the wrestling team from 1965-68, and the tennis team from 1968-71.
Johnson and his wife Nancy have been avid fans and attend many Marshfield High School and Marshfield Middle School athletic events in retirement.
Craig is a 1988 graduate of Marshfield High School, where she earned three letters in basketball and one in volleyball, while also participating in cross country and track during her freshman year.
Craig graduated as the girls basketball program’s third all-time leading scorer with 754 points. She currently ranks No. 15 on the list. Craig was a first-team all-Wisconsin Valley Conference selection as a senior and a second-team pick as a junior after leading the team in scoring both seasons.
Craig was an honorable mention all-state selection and a Class A state all-star game participant in her senior season. She was team Most Valuable Player as a sophomore and junior, and also the team’s Most Improved Player her junior season.
Craig went on to attend the University of Wisconsin in Madison, graduating in 1992 with degrees in Russian, International Relations, and History. She spent her final semester abroad at Moscow State University.
She earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley in 1996 and a Masters of Strategic Resourcing from the National Defense University in 2017.
After two years as an attorney for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Craig has been a Foreign Service Officer for the past 20 years, working at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., as well as completing nearly 13 years of diplomatic assignments at U.S. Embassies in Columbia, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and Guatemala.
Craig is married to Jorgan Andrews, who also is a Foreign Service officer, and the couple has three children – Soren, 16, Karsten, 15, and Dagny, 11.
Paul Lecker is publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com and a contributor to focusonmarshfield.com.
Author: News Desk
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