When you walk into any high school, you often notice trophy cases are full of pictures and plaques like the ones outside the gym at Potosi High School. Potosi has a rich history in sports and has been lucky to have some great athletes. Many of the school’s sports records have survived many years from when they were set.
Jeremy Leibfried is a 2001 graduate of Potosi. Leibfried is most likely one of, if not the greatest athlete ever at Potosi. He holds multiple baseball records and a key basketball record.
He still holds the all-time leading scoring record in boys' basketball with 1642 points. In baseball, Leibfried has the most strikeouts (393), shutouts (17), and no-hitters (9) over his four-year career. He also holds the best-earned run average in a single season at (0.00). I asked Jeremy if these records still mean anything to him 22 years later. He responded “Absolutely! Sports were my entire life growing up and continue to be to this day.” He also explained that he is in the gym 6-7 days a week and that he still takes lots of pride in the records he holds.
He has plenty of memories from his high school sports years that he could go on about, but there are two he still thinks about today. Losing the Sectional Semifinal in basketball his Senior season against Pecatonica was one that stood out. He believed Potosi was the best team in the state that year, but due to a key player being out, they just couldn’t get the job done. He will always remember the moment of hugging his Grandpa after the game because the sport meant so much to both of them. Leibfried said it took him years to be able to watch a recording of that game, that’s how much it meant to him. He’ll also never forget standing in the stadium with his dad, looking at an empty field after they lost in the State Championship in his record-breaking Senior year.
Jeremy played basketball and baseball all four years and went out for football his freshman year. He went on to play Division 1 baseball at UW-Milwaukee on a full scholarship. He was also part of the basketball team there for a moment too. Achievements Leibfried won in high school are very hard to get. Some notable ones are Gatorade Player of the Year for Wisconsin in 2001, USA Today Player of the Year for Wisconsin Conference Player of the Year for baseball and basketball two years in a row, and Telegraph Herald player of the year 2 years for baseball and 1 year for basketball. He was also All-State and All-conference in both sports for all 4 years, and first-team all-conference in both from his Sophomore year until his Senior.
Jeremy is still in the Milwaukee area in a suburb called New Berlin with his wife. Jeremy hasn’t come back to games as much as he’d like, but he’s been looking to go to a game if Potosi ever made it deep enough in the tournament.
I asked legendary coach Ron Kading how he would describe coaching Jeremy in his four years. He started off by saying that Leibfried was an “exceptional athlete” and named all of the awards he had won. Jeremy cared for his teammates and was ecstatic every time they did well. Even though he knew he was the MVP of the team, he realized it took a team to win and would keep praise on his teammates. Even Coach Mark Siegert said Leibfried was a pleasure to be around. Siegert didn’t coach him but had him in gym class. He said Jeremy would always try and make everyone around him better. He’d be out on the worse team and still try to build people up.
Abby Kaiser is a 2018 graduate of Potosi. Abby owns the all-time Potosi basketball scoring record for both boys and girls with 1669 points. She still is very proud of her accomplishments at Potosi, as there have been many great athletes to go through the school. She does hope someone will someday break her record.
Abby no longer lives in Potosi, but does come around these parts often. Memories that stand out to Kaiser are winning the Regional title her sophomore year and the Conference title her senior year. Kaiser was a three-sport athlete, playing volleyball, basketball, and softball.
She continued her career at UW Oshkosh where she played four years of basketball. Achievements Abby earned in high school were Conference Player of the Year, Telegraph Herald Player of the Year, and All-State recognition. She currently lives in Edgerton, Wisconsin, and works at Baker Tilly out of Madison as an auditor.
Bart Straka, a 1987 graduate still holds a couple of baseball records 36 years later. Straka owns the most runs batted in record with 102 and triples with 11. He didn’t take full credit for the RBI record, saying it couldn’t happen without your teammates being on base. He played baseball, basketball, and football all four years at Potosi.
Bart told me how much fun his four years were, and how he got to participate in many activities and have a great career in baseball. Straka did move on to UW-Platteville and play baseball his freshman year, but into his sophomore year, began working more instead of playing baseball. He was proud of his All-Conference awards because, at the time, there were so many good competitive players that it was an honor to be with that group.
Bart and his wife live in Lancaster and have for nearly 30 years. He has three children who have all graduated from high school. Being able to coach them from when they were little all the way up through high school showed as a blessing for Bart. Straka believes he grew up at a time when the sport was almost a religion for kids, and he played hundreds of baseball and softball games after high school. “Those are good memories, and it all started at Potosi High.”
Kading described Straka’s class as a very unique group. He said his classmates and the class above him were so close that they weren’t only teammates but they were best friends. Coach Kading said Straka may be one of the most feared hitters in Potosi history. He had not only a lethal swing but great focus at the plate. He thrived under pressure and his runs batted in record shows how he handled the pressure and was able to be clutch in key moments.
When you walk into the weight room and look up at the wall with all of the records, there are many names on the board. However, when you look at the rushing and interception records, there is one name that stands out more than any other. 2011 Potosi graduate Dakota Runde is the name that you see leads many of the records on that wall. Runde leads the game in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and interceptions. He leads season rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and interceptions. He leads career rushing touchdowns and interceptions and comes in 2nd in career yards by about 65. He was aware he had these records when Coach Siegert put together a display with his jersey and all of the records. He just wasn’t sure if any had been broken.
Runde talked about how Potosi is a great sports community and that it has a rich history. He said football stories still come up when he sees someone he played with or against. Runde told me he was part if some fun and successful teams in high school, but one game, in particular, was his best football memory. His Senior year, Potosi had a conference championship matchup vs. Shullsburg. Runde ran for 280 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half. He never played another snap in the second half and Potosi won the conference title.
Dakota was a three-sport athlete all four years of his career playing football, basketball, and baseball. He went on to the University of Dubuque and earned a varsity letter in his freshman and sophomore years before he transferred to Southwest Tech. His top individual achievements were making the WFCA All-Star Game, and winning the Telegraph Herald All-Area Player of the Year Award. He was also 1 of 5 finalists for the Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch where he lost it to Melvin Gordon who had a successful career at the University of Wisconsin and just recently won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Dakota recently got married and now lives in Verona Wisconsin. He works as a Controls Engineer at Big Sky Engineering, doing plc and robot programming. Runde hasn’t been able to attend games since he has been working 2nd shift for 7 years but plans to attend some this year. He still has family in the area so he does come back for holidays.
Siegert described him as an infectious personality type of guy that drew everyone to him. He had an intensity about him but was not arrogant or demanding. He also talked about how great a teammate and how he was easy to coach. Siegert believed Runde made him a better coach because of how much he tried and loved the sport.
It sounds like all of these athletes were not only great at their sports, but were great students as well. It will take a very special athlete to beat any of these records. Some of them seem nearly impossible to break.