By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Tyler Brown, a state meet qualifier in swimming for Highlands High School last season, competed in the Deaflympics Summer Games earlier this week in Samsun, Turkey.
Brown made the trip with a contingent of deaf athletes from the United States, one of 38 counties represented at the games that included 21 summer sports. There were eight swimmers on Team USA and they won three gold, two silver and three bronze medals in men’s, women’s and co-ed events.
After the preliminary heats in each event, swimmers who recorded the top eight times advanced to the finals at Atakum Olympic Pool in Samsun.
Brown did not qualify for the finals in any of his 12 individual events, but the 16-year-old sophomore was on the men’s 4×100 medley relay team that placed seventh and the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay team that placed eighth in the finals.
As a member of the Northern Kentucky Clippers, Brown trains year-round to compete in USA Swimming events. When he was 14 years old, he got a taste of international competition at the 2015 World Deaf Swimming Championships in San Antonio, Texas.
The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf is the main governing body for the international swimming events. Their mission is to promote sports for deaf athletes without discrimination for political, religious, economic, disability, gender or race reasons.
Beechwood football coach receives award from Cincinnati Bengals
Noel Rash of Beechwood received the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award during the Cincinnati Bengals training camp media luncheon last Tuesday.
The annual award honors outstanding high school football coaches in the region. Rash received it for the 2016 season when his Beechwood team won the Class 1A state championship. The Bengals also donated $5,000 to the high school’s athletic department.
In his 11 seasons as Beechwood’s head coach, Rash has compiled a 123-33 record. His teams won back-to-back state championships in 2007 and 2008 and claimed a third one last year to cap a 14-1 season.
Most of the starting players on last year’s team were underclassmen so the Tigers should be among the leading contenders for the Class 1A state title once again this season.
Rash is the 16th winner of the Paul Brown Excellence in Coaching Award that’s named in honor of the Bengals’ first head coach. The previous award-winners from Northern Kentucky were Holy Cross coach Bruce Kozerski in 2011 and Highlands coach Dale Mueller in 2008.
McMillen’s work with awards program benefited high school sports
Funeral services were held Friday for Dale McMillen, a sports broadcaster who provided play-by-play coverage of Northern Kentucky high school football and basketball games from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.
McMillen, who was 74 when he passed away, also deserved credit for his work with the Famous Recipe Stars program that awarded college scholarship money to outstanding Northern Kentucky high school athletes for many years. A nationally known coach or athlete would always be the guest speaker at the Stars of the Year banquet each spring.
McMillen was also involved with the Famous Recipe Classic boys’ and girls’ basketball tournaments that were held in Northern Kentucky from 1983 to 1999. Local teams would compete with some of the top teams from around the state in those tournaments each year.
In addition to his broadcasting career, McMillen was inducted into the Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors Hall of Fame because of his involvement with those other projects that benefited local high school sports.
Kenney Shields selling signed copies of biography at two locations
Kenney Shields, a successful high school and college basketball coach in Northern Kentucky, will be selling signed copies of his self-published biography for $15 next week at two Barleycorn’s restaurant locations.
The book, “Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else, ” covers Shields’ life before, during and after his Hall of Fame coaching career. He and author Dave Schabell will conduct book signings at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Barleycorn’s restaurant in Lakeside Park and 7 p.m. Thursday at Barleycorn’s in Cold Spring.
A copy of the book can also be ordered online at www.shieldsbook.com
Shields compiled a 766-427 career record coaching boys’ basketball at St. Thomas and Highlands high schools and men’s basketball at Northern Kentucky University. The list of his Hall of Fame inductions on the book’s back cover is a testament to his remarkable career.
A portion of the money from the book sales will go to the Kenney Shields Scholarship Fund that he established at NKU for men’s basketball players.