Valmeyer High School hosted its sixth induction ceremony for the VHS Athletic Hall of Fame between the junior varsity and varsity boys basketball games Friday night, adding three people to the school’s legacy of sports greatness.

Prior to the induction of Kim McNiel, the late Ron Rohlfing and Wayne Rohlfing, ceremony emcee Dennis Knobloch asked those in attendance to pause for a moment of silence in honor of two prior Hall of Fame inductees who recently passed: Ray “Bud” Rippelmeyer and Ross Schneider.

Knobloch added that the class of VHS seniors graduating this spring will be the school’s 100th overall.

McNiel, a 2001 graduate, lettered in basketball (1998-2001), softball (2000) and volleyball (1999-2001) for the Pirates and went on to play volleyball at Lakeland College and Missouri Baptist University. 

She finished with 1,014 career rebounds in basketball. 

In college volleyball, McNiel was named American Midwest Conference First Team All-Conference and the NAIA Regional V All-Region Team in 2004.

Accepting the induction plaque for Ron Rohlfing, who died in 2020, was his son Chris. 

Ron graduated from VHS in 1968, lettering four years in both baseball and basketball for the Pirates.

During his senior year, Ron hit .459 and had a 14-3 pitching record on the baseball team and averaged 18.4 points per game on the basketball court.  

He received the Vernie Moffitt Free Throw Award in 1968 for having the best free throw shooting percentage in Monroe County.

Ron went on to play four years of baseball at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, finishing with a .309 career batting average and 6-1 pitching record with a 1.88 ERA.

He played on the 1972 SIUE team that placed third in the nation for NCAA Division II. That team was inducted into the SIUE Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

Ron played in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system in 1973, then played 19 years in the Mon-Clair League – 17 of those for the Valmeyer Lakers.

He was inducted into the Mon-Clair League Hall of Fame in 1992.

Wayne Rohlfing is a 1974 graduate from VHS who lettered four years in baseball and three years in basketball for the Pirates.

He was a member of the 1971 Pirates baseball team that was inducted into the VHS Athletic Hall of Fame.

Wayne was a member of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro Baseball Team  in 1973 and 1974 and received the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Scholar-Athlete Award in 1974.

He was also an all-conference basketball player in 1974.

Wayne played baseball at Belleville Area College from 1974-76 and then at Centenary College of Louisiana in 1976-78.

He went on to play in the Chicago Cubs minor league system, posting a career batting average of .280 with 15 home runs and 98 RBIs. 

He was a New York-Pennsylvania Baseball League All-Star in 1980.

Wayne played for 20 years with the Valmeyer Lakers in the Mon-Clair League and was inducted into the Mon-Clair Hall of Fame in 1998.

He served as a coach with the St. Louis Pirates Baseball Club from 2007-2015.