Former XHS AD/Alumnus, Mike Winker (R83) Inducted into IHSADA Hall of Fame

Congratulations to former XHS Activities Director, alumnus, and former coach, Mike Winker (R83), on being inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association Hall of Fame! Mike was inducted at the 53rd State IHSADA Convention in Coralville on March 29, 2021.

Mr. Winker worked in Catholic education the majority of his professional life, including teaching at St. Jude Elementary School and serving as a coach and faculty member at Regis High School from 1989-1993. In 1993, Winker was named the Athletics Director at Regis where he was instrumental in procuring a spot in the Mississippi Valley Conference, making a path for Xavier High School to join the conference when it opened in 1998. When Xavier opened, Winker was named the school’s activities director and notably served as the chairperson on the committee which determined Xavier’s nickname and school colors.

During Mike’s tenure at Xavier, the activities program established itself as one of the most successful in the state of Iowa. Xavier’s programs earned 30 state championships across nine different programs under Winker’s watch in addition to building a Division-I caliber fine arts program. Xavier was selected by Sports Illustrated as the best athletic program in Iowa for the 2006-2007 school year and was named the Des Moines Register’s “All Sports Champion” for mid-size high schools in Iowa for the 2006-2007, 2012-2013 and 2014-2015 school years. Xavier’s activities program has been, and remains, popular with students with over 94% of Xavier students participating in at least one co-curricular activity year-in and year-out.

Mike was awarded the IHSADA Northeast Iowa District “Athletic Director of the Year” in 2009 and the IHSSA “Fine Arts Administrator of the Year” award in 2016. Additionally, he served as the chair of the IGHSAU/IHSAA bowling advisory committee from 2012-2016; tournament manager for the 2015 Class 4A IHSAA Boys State Golf Meet; and still serves as a regular color commentator on KMRY’s radio broadcasts of Xavier football games. He was inducted into the LaSalle-Regis-Xavier Alumni Hall of Fame in 2018 and was recently honored as the recipient of the Iowa High School Athletic Association's Administrator Award at the 2021 boys state basketball tournament. 

Mike currently serves as a lecturer at the University of Iowa in the Sport and Recreation Management program where he helps to develop future generations of activities directors. 

Congratulations on this well deserved honor, Mr. Winker!