2017 Inductees

Post date: Sep 22, 2017 3:15:52 PM

Maurice Carr

Distinguished Graduate (Maloy Class of 1930)

Athlete, Coach, Administrator

Maurice Carr was born in Beaconsfield in 1911. His family moved to Maloy in 1926, settling into a house across the street from the school. Maurice took advantage of the location, spending many hours in the Maloy gym perfecting his jump shot.

He played on Maloy basketball teams that won the county tournament in 1929 and 1930. The 1930 team started the year 27-0 and qualified for the state basketball tournament, where they were eliminated by Newton.

Carr was a 3 year basketball starter at Iowa State Teachers College (now UNI). He was twice named to the all-conference team, and as a senior he led the team in scoring and was named MVP. During his senior season, one newspaper writer called him “the best guard in the Midwest”.

In the fall of 1935, he returned to Maloy as a teacher and basketball coach. He led his first team to the state tournament, where they were defeated in the opening round by Ottumwa. Maloy made it back to state the following year, falling to Marshalltown in their first game.

Answering his country’s call, Coach Carr enlisted in the Army in 1942. After his discharge, he taught and coached at Redding before returning to Maloy. In 1955 he was hired to coach basketball in Mount Ayr, but health issues forced him to relinquish his coaching duties. During 18 seasons at Redding and Maloy he compiled a record of 329 wins and 98 losses, and he never experienced a losing season. He was honored for his coaching prowess with his selection to the Iowa Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1981.

Carr became a school administrator at Mount Ayr, supervising several of the outlying elementary schools. He was highly respected by both students and staff, and he was one of the key figures in the reorganization of the Mount Ayr Community School District. He was hailed by many as a “peacemaker” during that sometimes tumultuous process.

Mr. Carr closed his career as Assistant Superintendent and Director of Transportation at Mount Ayr, retiring in 1975. He passed away in 1985 at his winter home in Arizona.

Lori Sickels Friedman

Distinguished Graduate – Class of 1982

Lori Sickels is a 1982 graduate of Mount Ayr Community High School. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology, and went on to earn her PhD from the University of California-Berkley in Molecular and Cell Biology. She completed post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Washington and Cambridge University in England.

While at Berkley, she was part of a research team that isolated the genetic defect for breast cancer, and her post-doctoral work at Cambridge expanded her study of breast cancer genetics.

Dr. Friedman began her career in breast cancer treatment research in 1988 at Exelixis, where she served as Oncology Program Leader, Senior Research Scientist, and later advancing to become Director of Signal Transduction Research.

In 2004 she took her talents to Genetech, one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies. She has held a number of positions at Genetech, and is currently the Senior Director of Translational Oncology.

Dr. Friedman has published 77 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the area of breast cancer genetics and treatment; and she is also an accomplished inventor with 20 issued patents related to cancer research.

She is regarded as one of the top experts in her field, and she is broadly sought as a mentor by aspiring scientists. She serves on the Scientific Advisory Board at the Cambridge Cancer Center, and she leads the Genetech Women in in Science & Engineering team.

Dr. Friedman is the recipient of numerous professional awards and academic fellowships, including the 2014 Healthcare Businesswomen’s Rising Star Award in 2014.

Ron Landphair

Distinguished Graduate - Class of 1968

Industrial Arts Teacher; Cross Country, Track, & Wrestling Coach

Ron Landphair is a 1968 graduate of Mount Ayr Community High School. After receiving his education degree, he began his teaching & coaching career at Clear Lake. From there he moved to Central Decatur, where he coached many state wrestling qualifiers and one state champion.

He returned to Mount Ayr in 1980 as an Industrial Arts instructor and assistant wrestling coach, working with Hall of Fame member Ron Scott. Upon hearing the news of Coach Landphair’s hire, one Mount Ayr wrestler recalls thinking that now Mount Ayr had the two best wrestling coaches in the state.

Mr. Landphair taught many different Industrial Arts courses over the years, but he was especially renowned for his building trades and drafting classes. Students in his classes built houses, designed commercial buildings and school additions, and restored local landmarks. Under his tutelage, Mount Ayr students won many awards for their craftsmanship and drafting skills. Ron played an active role in shaping the future of Industrial Arts through his long-time involvement in the Iowa Industrial Arts Technology Education Association.

At the urging of his daughter, Coach Landphair agreed to revive the dormant cross country program at Mount Ayr. His cross country teams would go on to win 9 conference championships, and qualified for the state meet 10 times.

Coach Landphair also coached boys track, assisting Brad Rumple for 13 years before serving as head coach from 2000-2006. During his time with the track program, the Raiders won 10 conference team titles. As head coach, he had numerous state place winners, including 2 individual state champions.

Since retiring from the school in 2006, Ron has been an active community volunteer. His signature project in retirement was restoring and refurbishing the Princess Theater. He also built and donated the walnut podium that is used for school events. He continues to offer assistance to the Industrial Arts program at the school, and he also helps with track and cross country meets.

Ron is respected and admired by former students, athletes, and colleagues for the many life lessons he taught; as well as his integrity and his tremendous dedication to our school and community.

1988 Girls Track Team

State Team Champions

The 1988 Raiderette track team was the first state team champion in Mount Ayr school history. They were a true undefeated team, wining every regular season meet they entered, as well as the district and state meets.

Extremely competitive, and with a knack for delivering their best when it was needed; they set 3 school records and placed in 6 individual events at the state meet.

In the shot put, Kim McGinnis topped her best throw of the year by nearly 2 feet to win the gold medal. Laurel Moe was 2nd in the 800, 4th in the 3000, and 5th in the 1500. Dawn Huff finished 2nd in the Long Jump and 3rd in the 100m hurdles. Three relay teams also qualified for the state meet, but did not place.

Lawton-Bronson trailed Mount Ayr by just one point heading into the 4x100 relay, and with the fastest qualifying time it looked like they would edge the Raiderettes for the team title. However, a mishap on the first exchange kept Lawton-Bronson from scoring any points in the event; and after a 45 minute delay to check the score, Mount Ayr was declared the state champion.

The team was coached by Hall of Fame members Dave Still and Mark Larsen.