Here are the six honorees for the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame induction at the Gardens of Park Hills Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 1 p.m.
They are: Swimmer Karyn Stubbs Starks from Newport High School; baseball player and coach John Siemer from Covington Catholic and NKU; baseball/basketball athlete Chuck Hablutzel from Boone County and coach at Conner; Kevin Siple, football/baseball athlete, Highlands; coach/broadcaster Steve Hensley, Newport, Ludlow, Campbell County and NKU; and baseball/football/golf athlete and entrepreneur Mark Saner, Newport Central Catholic and NKU. Event open to the public. No charge.
Goose Turtle Scrambles into 5th year for scholarships
When Keith and Linda Gosney host their fifth annual Goose Turtle Golf Scramble, Oct. 4 at A.J. Jolly Golf Course, it will be an extension of their quest to honor their son, Adam, a former Highlands soccer and baseball player who passed away in 2018. The golf scramble raises scholarship money for girls’ softball players and boys’ baseball players headed to college from both Highlands and Newport Central Catholic.
Last year, the “Goose Turtle” – Adam’s nickname – raised $4,000 for scholarships to a boy and girl each from the two schools where Adam’s lifelong friends were equally divided.
Entry fee is $100 per player ($400 per foursome) for the scramble with a deadline of Sept. 26 to sign up. First tee time is 9 a.m. with prizes for winning team, long drive and closest to the pin. Hole sponsors at $100 are welcome. To sign up, call or text Eric Theiss (859-620-9739) or Allison Gosney (859-866-3661).
New-look Gilligan salutes loads of history Friday
Bellevue High sports historian Mike Swauger reminds us that as much as fans will celebrate the nearly completed $8.4 million facelift of the 89-year-old Gilligan Field at the Bellevue Civic Stadium in Friday night’s home opener at 7 when the Tigers, who have been on the road the first three weeks of the season, return home to host St. Henry’s brand-new program, there’s so much history here.
Some of the top Bellevue football performers over the nine decades, Swauger notes, include the likes of Art Mergenthal (1939) who played at Notre Dame, Tennessee and UC. Bob Dougherty (1950) played at UK before a 10-year NFL career with the LA Rams and Raiders. Pat Uebel (1952), was an All-American for Red Blaik as an Army running back, scoring three TD in the Army-Navy game. Then there’s Ricky Buckler (2010) who is mentioned 12 times in the KHSAA record book with these school records: most rushing yards in one season — 2,851; most rushing yards in a game — 362; most touchdowns in a season — 42; most career rushing yards – 5,277; career touchdowns – 81; and career points — 506.
Gilligan Field and its adjacent Roger Klein Tennis Courts and surrounding track have hosted state football championship teams in 1951, 1977 and 1979; boys and girls state track champions in 1967, 1968, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1992 and 1993 and state tennis singles and doubles champs in 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, and 1951.
And finally, the lineup of some of the coaches here is a Who’s Who of high school sports in Northern Kentucky: Leo Gilligan, John Schaar, Homer Jackson, Edgar McNabb, Ben Flora, Norman Deeb, Steele Harmon, Ben Pumphrey, Heulyn Bishop, Dick Rothfuss, Bill Baldridge, Fred Bernier and Charlie Coleman and Woodie McMillen, to name a few.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.