News

The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame will soon induct Kansas City Royals slugger Mike Moustakas, four Kansas City-area high school teams, as well as individuals representing eight sports, athletic administration and sports broadcasting.

They are all part of the Enshrinement in Kansas City presented by Great Southern Bank. It’s set for 5:30 PM on Sunday, Nov. 23 at the InterContinental Kansas City on the Plaza.

“We are so excited to be honoring this class. They all had great careers and inspired many others,” said Rob Marsh, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s CEO & President who spoke Thursday at a press conference at the InterContinental. “We also hope the community will join us in supporting their big night.”

The Class of 2025 features:

• Mike Moustakas – Kansas City Royals
• Central High School Boys Track & Field Era of 1964-1972
• Allen Wright – Kansas City Chiefs Equipment Manager
• Rhesa Sumrell – Missouri Western & University of Central Missouri Softball Coach
• Melvin Rogers – Missouri Valley College Multi-Sport Athlete & Benefactor
• Brad Gaines – High School Football & Basketball Coach
• Jim Carr – CEO & President of the NAIA
• Al Wallace – Sports Broadcaster
• Maryville High School 1982 State Football Championship Team
• Mike Ziesel – St. Joseph Benton High School Coach & Athletic Director
• Tim Richardson – Lee’s Summit & Lee’s Summit North High School Soccer Coach
• Mark Rosewell – Northwest Missouri State Tennis Coach
• Marty Kilgore – Metropolitan Community College Baseball Coach
• Helen Wilson – Mizzou Tennis Standout & Kansas City-area Tennis Instructor
• Davin Winkley – Hickman Mills High School & Rockhurst University Basketball Standout
• Park Hill High School Volleyball Era of 1987-2000
• Monachino Father-Son Coaching Duo of St. Pius X High School
• Taren O’Brien Martin – Savannah HS Basketball Player
• Smithville High School Girls Track & Field Era of 1981-1991
• Tim Crone – Blue Springs High School Coach & Athletic Director
• Sam Brown – Excelsior Springs, Grandview & William Jewell Football Coach

An individual ticket is $150 and includes the dinner and printed program full of all honorees’ feature stories. Sponsorship tables of 10 are available and include a poster of the Class of 2025. Numerous other sponsorships are available, including associate sponsorships and congratulatory ads. Call 417-889-3100.

Mike Moustakas – Kansas City Royals

Wearing No. 8 and playing third base, Moustakas became a fan favorite in his eight seasons with the Royals – highlighted by the club winning the 2015 World Series a year after coming within one victory of winning it all. Overall, “Moose” played 13 seasons in the big leagues and helped lead a revival in Kansas City, which hadn’t won a World Series since 1985. A first-round draft pick in 2007 – and the second selection overall – as the California high school home run champion, Moustakas’ positive attitude and all-out hustle fueled the rise of the Royals. He hit 215 career home runs, 139 with Kansas City, as part of 1,252 hits, with 858 coming in his time with the Royals. He also collected 683 RBI, or 441 in a Royals uniform. In club history, he ranks ninth in home runs, 18^th in hits, 12^th in slugging percentage (.443) 15^th in doubles (184), 14^th in RBI, 18^th in hits and 25^th in batting average (.251). Moose later played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels. He helped the 2018 Brewers reach the National League Championship Series.

Central High School Boys Track & Field Era 1964-1972

One of the best track & field stories can be found at Kansas City’s Central High School, where the boys team dominated from 1964 to 1972 in the state’s large-school class (out of three classes). Harvey Greer coached the team through 1969, and then Charlie Lee took over. The 1964 team was a runner-up, and then the Blue Eagles won state championships the next eight seasons. The 1965 team edged three second-place teams by 5.25 points. The next year? The Blue Eagles beat Beaumont by just one point, and then the two shared the title in 1967. The next season saw Central cruise to victory, winning by 22 points. The 1969 season ended with a five-point victory against Southeast Kansas City. Lee’s first team in 1970 won by 1.5 points but had some breathing room in 1971 and 1972, winning by nine points each season. Along the way, Central saw 11 individuals win state titles, and three relays win it all. They were: Phil Cosey (100-yard dash, 200-yard dash in 1966), Marvin Foster (220-yard dash in 1968, 420-yard dash in 1968), Kenny Randle (220-yard dash in 1971 & 1972), George Byers (120-yard high hurdles in 1964 & 1965, 180-yard low hurdles in 1964), Reggie Watson (180-yard low hurdles in 1969), Russell Williams (180-yard low hurdles in 1971), Larry Fultz (180-yard low hurdles in 1972), Norris White (broad jump in 1966), 4×220 relay (1968), Mile relay (1970), two-mile relay (1968), James Bowman (pole vault in 1969), Walter Gibbs (high jump in 1968) and Fred Cason (high jump in 1970).

Allen Wright – Kansas City Chiefs Equipment Manager

For more than 40 years, Wright has been a steady presence behind the Kansas City Chiefs’ success. He started with the Chiefs in 1983, worked in the equipment department in 1984 and became Head Equipment Manager in 2011 before becoming Director of Equipment in 2016. In 1984, it was a staff of three and, today, is a staff of eight with 20-plus gameday staff. Along the way, he has worked for nine head coaches, with the Chiefs reaching the playoffs 21 times, including 15 winning seasons between 1989 and 2009. In coach Andy Reid’s first 12 years, the team has added 198 wins, five Super Bowl appearances and two championships. Wright has overseen every detail of player preparation, from training camp – where nearly 100 players require his guidance and support – to the postseason stage. His work ensures the Chiefs are always ready to perform at the highest level. He has led the equipment operation for seven international games. He was the first equipment manager to pass the Equipment Manager Association Certification Test and earned New Era Equipment Manager of the Year in 2015, and won the same award from the NFL in 2018. He also has worked the 1993 Pro Bowl and four Pro Bowls from 2014 to 2017. In 2017, he earned the Innovation in Safety Award by the Maxwell Football Club and co-sponsor, VICIS, a developer of high-tech football helmets. Wright is a 1983 graduate of Independence’s William Chrisman High School and studied at Longview Community College.

Rhesa Sumrell – Missouri Western & University of Central Missouri Softball Coach

Sumrell coached softball from 1979 to 2006, first at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph and then at the University of Central Missouri. Overall, her teams were 822-527, ranking in the top 25 all-time in NCAA Division II history. Sumrell served as the head coach of the UCM softball program from 1988 to 2006, retiring as the winningest coach in Jennies softball history with 614-359 record in 19 seasons. Her teams captured four MIAA regular-season championships and four MIAA Tournament championships, with three runner-up finishes. The Jennies won two NCAA Division II Regional Championships (1989 & 1994) and had two regional runner-up finishes. The Jens finished fourth at the NCAA D-II Championships twice. Along the way, Sumrell coached 12 players who combined to earn 18 All-American honors. Previously at Missouri Western, Sumrell was 194-150 with three consecutive trips to the NAIA Tournament and was named the NAIA Coach of the Year after the team won the 1982 national title. She has been inducted into the Missouri Western, UCM, MIAA, NAIA, Notre Dame High School (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Chattanooga halls of fame.

Melvin Rogers – Fairfax High School/Missouri Valley College & Benefactor

Rogers was one of the most interesting athletes to walk across the sports page back in the 1960s. At Fairfax High School, he earned All-District in football, All-State in basketball and then was part of a two-man track & field team that led Fairfax to the Class C Indoor state championship. Rogers won four events, totaling 32 points himself, or 5 ½ more than the state runner-up team. He also shattered the state pole vault mark (12 feet, 7 ¼) in a regular-season meet. Despite drawing interest from football coaches at the University of Missouri, Rogers enrolled at Missouri Valley College in Marshall. Unthinkable and improbable in the modern age, he competed in three sports – football, basketball and track – and lettered in all three. In football, he was part of the team that reached the Tangerine Bowl in 1958 and scored the Vikings’ only touchdown. A knee injury cut short his football and basketball careers, but he still competed in track. Rogers graduated in 1961 and later earned a pharmaceutical degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City before launching Rogers Inc., a pharmacy that helped the athletic departments of Missouri Western State University and Northwest Missouri State University.

Brad Gaines – High School Football & Basketball Coach

Gaines coached for 53 years combined at Orrick, Oak Grove and Raymore-Peculiar high schools and may be one of the few to be an inductee of both the Missouri Football Coaches Association and the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association halls of fame. In football, his teams were 205-91. He led Orrick football to three conference titles, two semifinal appearances and a Class 1 state championship in 1975, when his team beat Greenfield 18-0 and finished 11-1. At Oak Grove, his 1986 and 1990 teams were state runners-up. In basketball, Gaines was 480-237, including 404-157 at Oak Grove – where his teams earned two Final Fours, including winning the 1992 Class 3 state title (31-0) and a runner-up finish. His teams made five state quarterfinal appearances, won seven district titles and 13 conference championships. After leaving Oak Grove, he was as an assistant coach at Avila University before coaching  Raymore-Peculiar as the girls basketball coach. He also still serves as an assistant football and track & field coach there. Gaines is a 1969 Orrick High School graduate who later graduated from the University of Central Missouri in 1974.

Jim Carr – College Athletic Administrator

The Kansas City-based NAIA, or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, has been in great hands for the past 27 years. Carr joined the NAIA in July 1998 as Managing Director and General Counsel and, in 2000, was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, while retaining the title of General Counsel. In September 2006, Carr became the seventh President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAIA. During his tenure, Jim has led the organization through significant growth and innovation. A few notable new initiatives are Champions of Character, the NAIA Eligibility Center, National Association of Collegiate esports and Return on Athletics. Growth of the NAIA is highlighted by offering 30 championship sports to more than 87,000 student-athletes, including the men’s basketball national championship that started in Kansas City in 1937 and remains there today. Carr has served or currently serves on many boards, including USA Basketball, USOPC, Kansas City Life, Police Athletic League of Kansas City, Missouri Bank and Trust, NAIA Champions of Character Foundation, National Association of Collegiate Esports, and Millsaps Board of Visitors. Carr is originally from Mississippi, where he led Gulfport High School to a state basketball championship before going on to a distinguished career at Millsaps College. He is in an inductee of both halls of fame of his alma maters.

Al Wallace – Sports Broadcaster

The son of a military family and who once shined shoes at the Army barracks at Fort Leonard Wood in central Missouri, Wallace is one of the state’s sports success stories. He covered sports for WDAF-TV in Kansas City for 33 years, from 1985 to 2018. Overall, he covered three World Series, 10 NCAA Final Fours, three MLB All-Star Games, as well as training camp of the Kansas City Chiefs and spring training of the Kansas City Royals. He also covered the development and opening of various sports venues, including the Kansas Speedway and the Sprint Center. He also was a studio host and field anchor for ESPN’s Studio 66 covering Big 12 basketball. He was also among 1,000 national voters of the John Wooden Award, which goes to the top college basketball player in the country. He has contributed to the NFL Network’s coverage of the NFL Draft and also worked with multiple radio stations and programs, including KPRS, the country’s oldest Black-owned and operated radio station. As host of “3rd & Long” and “The Chiefs Hour,” Al worked with the late Derrick Thomas, Neil Smith, Eddie Kennison and Derrick Johnson. In March of 1998, the Kansas City Globe honored Al as one of the “Most Influential African Americans” in Kansas City, and he was selected to be included among the first group of “Who’s Who In Black Kansas City.” In 2009, the Texas Tech graduate was honored with the Gordon Docking award by the GKCFCA for his outstanding contribution to high school coverage and, in 2017, he was honored by the Olathe Branch of the NAACP with its Diversity Advocate in Sports Award. He is currently an adjunct journalism professor at the University of Kansas.

Maryville High School 1982 State Championship Football Team

In a quaint community in northwest Missouri, in a town called Maryville, a group of teenagers helped put the place on the state sports map in 1982. The Maryville High School football team captured the school’s first state championship, winning Class 3 in a 23-0 victory against Duchesne at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Coached by Mike Jordan, the Spoofhounds finished the season 12-1, winning their final 12 games after a tough loss to Shenandoah. In the championship game, they generated 254 yards of total offense, with quarterback Jon Baldwin throwing for 119 yards on 11-of-27 passing and Frank Grispino and Paul Barger combining for 96 yards rushing. Maryville set the tone early, taking the opening drive 59 yards in 13 plays to score the first touchdown. And the defense? It held Duchesne to only 112 total yards of offense. That season, the Spoofhounds pitched four shutouts, won a thriller in the regular-season finale to capture their first Midland Empire Conference championship since 1977 and then found more magic. They upset St. Pius X in the playoff opener, held off Boonville in the quarterfinals and rallied to beat Republic in the semifinals.

Mike Ziesel – St. Jospeh Benton High School Coach & Athletic Director

Ziesel’s remarkable journey in the world of education and athletics spans over four decades, marked by his unwavering dedication, leadership, and impactful contributions to the communities he served. He gave 42 years to high school athletics in St. Joseph, coaching basketball and serving as athletic director. He was 331-137 as a basketball coach, including 316 wins in 19 seasons (beginning in 1984) at Benton High School. His 1985, 1990 and 1992 boys teams earned Class 3 third-place finishers – their first Final Four appearance since 1941. He was the Class 3 MBCA Coach of the Year in 1989 and 1992, and the News-Press Coach of the Year in 1989 and 1994. Those were Benton’s first Final Four appearances since 1941. Ziesel spent the final 15 years of his career as the school’s athletic director, with the athletic department seeing the baseball team (fourth in 2005, state champs 2007) and girls basketball team (2007 state champs, 2014 fourth place, 2016 state champs) reach the Final Four. The Omaha, Neb., native began his career as an assistant basketball coach at Bishop LeBlond, helping them win the 1977 state championship in Class 2. He later assisted LeBlond’s 2023 girls state runner-up team and coached the Special Olympics boys basketball team.

Tim Richardson – Lee’s Summit & Lee’s Summit North High School Soccer Coach

The sport of soccer gained popularity in Kansas City in the 1980s, and Richardson helped further it along in the 1990s and 2000s. He coached soccer at Lee’s Summit High School from 1985 to 1994 and then moved to Lee’s Summit North High School from 1995 to 2014. Overall, his boys and girls teams were a combined 743-272-84. He was 452-195-66 in 29 seasons coaching the boys, and 291-77-18 in 16 on the girls side. Those marks are easily within the Top 25 of all-time wins by a Missouri high school soccer coach. Six of his Lee’s Summit North girls teams reached the Class 4 Final Four: the 2000 team won state, while the 2002, 2009 and 2012 teams were state runners-up. The 1999 and 2007 teams were third and fourth, respectively. A total of 46 players earned All-State. Richardson is a 1976 graduate of The Americana School de Belo Horizonte in Brazil, where he played soccer, basketball, volleyball and ran cross country. He later graduated from Kent State University in 1983, where he played soccer all four seasons – and earned team MVP in his final three seasons, and earned First Team All-Region as a senior.

Mark Rosewell – Northwest Missouri State Tennis Coach

Rosewell has been coaching college tennis for 43 years, and his teams have produced 1,289 career victories. That includes 1,267 victories in 41 seasons at Northwest Missouri State – the most of any coach in any sport there. Since 1984, his Northwest Missouri State teams have won 30 MIAA regular-season championships (14 women, 16 men), 10 MIAA Tournament championships (9 men, 1 women) and have made 45 NCAA Division II Tournament appearances (23 men, 22 women). The 2014, 2016 and 2021 men’s team reached the Round of Eight. Two men’s players won regional titles, and a men’s doubles team won regionals. Six Northwest Missouri State men have earned MIAA MVP honors. The 1997 and 2003 women’s team reached the national quarterfinals. Along the way, Rosewell has coached  136 MIAA champions and 108 first team All-MIAA performers. He also is a seven-time ITA Regional Coach of the Year (Women – 1998, 2006; Men – 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021). He previously coached at his alma mater, the University of Central Missouri, where he competed in tennis. Rosewell is a 1973 graduate of Lexington High School, where he also played baseball and wrestled. He is in the Lexington Minute Man Hall of Fame, as well as those for Missouri Valley Heart of America and the United States Tennis Association.

Marty Kilgore – Maple Woods/Metro Community College Baseball Coach

Kilgore worked for the MCC baseball program from 1989 to 2023, serving as head coach starting in 1999. He helped guide the team to the NJCAA World Series in 1993 and 1998. Additionally, he earned Region XVI Coach of the Year eight times and finished well north of 600 victories. His teams have qualified for the NJCAA postseason 10 times (in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2016). For most junior college coaches, one clear measurement of success is the number of players who reached professional baseball and, in particular, the big leagues. Maple Woods alums include slugger Albert Pujols, Randy Ruiz, Logan Morrison and Ashton Goudeau. Kilgore knew the landscape well, having attended East High School in Kansas City before graduating from St. Mary’s High School in Independence in 1977. He also played in the Ban Johnson League and Casey Stengel League, pitched for MCC and Iowa State University before finishing his degree at Mid-America Nazarene. He also has long given back to the program, with a golf tournament fundraiser for the entire athletic department. He also manages MCC’s Sports Training Center, which serves as an indoor training facility for baseball and softball training.

Helen Wilson – Mizzou Tennis Standout & Kansas City-area Tennis Instructor

Wilson has given her life to the sport of tennis, both at the University of Missouri and in the Kansas City area. At Mizzou, which first offered women’s tennis as a varsity sport in the 1974-1975 academic year, Wilson became one of the most important recruits in the program’s history. She played from 1979 to 1982, including as the No. 1 doubles player and No. 2 singles player before Mizzou dropped the sport in the spring of 1982. The athletic department brought the program back four years later and continues today. And yet Wilson still ranks No. 4 all-time in single-season wins (31-13 in 1979-1980) and No. 5 all-time in career wins (73-34, from 1979 to 1982). As a freshman, she helped guide the Tigers to a 17-10-1 team record and a fourth-place finish at the Big Eight Championships. Wilson placed third at the subsequent Region VI Championship tournament, and that qualified her for nationals. She followed with a 32-13 record as a sophomore, earning All-Region honors in 1981. After the program ended at Mizzou, she finished her degree at the University of Oklahoma, playing in Norman for one season and attending graduate school. Even better, she has given back to the game, having served as Director of Tennis at Kansas City Country Club for nearly 40 years before recently retiring, having helped countless youths and adults learn the game.

Davin Winkley – Hickman Mills High School/Rockhurst University Basketball Player

When folks at Rockhurst University look back at the winter of 2002, it’s nothing but fond memories. The men’s basketball team advanced all the way to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II Tournament in what was a 24-6 season. The senior leader on that team – and those four seasons, really – was Winkley, a prolific scorer who tallied 2,063 career points. That figure is tied with Doug Wemhoff for second-most on Rockhurst’s all-time list, and Winkley also ranks fifth in rebounding with 939 boards. His scoring average of 18.26 points a game also ranks third. Those are impressive considering Rockhurst has fielded a men’s basketball team for 114 seasons. After his career at Rockhurst, Winkley continued playing professionally in France. All of which came after successful prep career at Hickman Mills High School in Kansas City. There, Winkley led the boys basketball team to the state quarterfinals his senior year in 1997 and earned All-State honors. These days, he is Manager of Financial Systems & Analysis for Caliber Financial Services in Overland Park, Kan.

Park Hill High School Volleyball Era 1987-2000

High school girls volleyball surged in the 1970s after passage of federal Title IX legislation in 1972 and, by the mid-1980s, the sport had become highly competitive. Among the programs that became a force was Park Hill High School in Kansas City’s Northland. From 1987 to 2000, the Trojans earned 11 state tournament berths, earning Final Four finishes each of those seasons. Specifically, the Trojans won Class 4 state championships in 1988, 1989 and 1997. They had four state runner-up teams (1990, 1992, 1995, 1996) and placed third in 1987 and 2000. The Trojans also were fourth in 1991 and 1993. Debbie Fay (MSHOF 2020) coached Park Hill from 1983 to 1997 before Janell Shamet DeVille, her assistant, took over in 1998 and kept the tradition going. Overall, the program had 19 athletes who were named as part of Missouri’s All-State team. Additionally, the program produced 42 collegiate players during the era. Park Hill also won nine conference championships and 11 district titles, and owned a 415-87-24 record in the era – with eight seasons seeing at least 30 wins.

Monachino Father-Son Coaching Duo – St. Pius X High School

Joe Monachino and his son, Joe Jr., have long been synonymous with St. Pius X High School and winning.

• Joe, Sr.: A New York native, Joe Sr., native came to Missouri to attend Northwest Missouri State and got his first head coaching job at St. Pius X in 1966 and stayed there until 1983. He finished his head coaching career at North Kansas City. During his time at Pius, he turned the football Warriors into a small-school, power by winning four district titles, finishing as the Class 3 state runner-up in 1979 and then earning a co-state championship in 1981 in Class 2. He was named the Western Missouri Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1979, won the Cecil O. Patterson Coach of the Year Award in 1982 and was inducted into the Missouri Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1996. He passed away in January 2024.
• Joe, Jr., spent 37 years (1986-2023) at Pius, not including when he was a student-athlete there. He was an assistant boys basketball coach for two years and then the head coach from 1988 to 1998. His teams earned three Final Four appearances (1988, 1989, 1990), finishing fourth in the state tournament each season. He then was an assistant girls basketball coach from 2011 to 2023, helping two teams reach the Final Four (third in 2016, state runner-up in 2017). He is currently the Director of Athletic Programs for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, running the youth sports programs for its elementary and middle school. All this came after Monachino graduated from Pius in 1981, where he played football, basketball and ran track. He was All-State in football and track before going on to be a 1,000-point scorer in basketball at Rockhurst University.

Taren O’Brien Martin – Savannah High School Basketball Standout & Women’s Coach

A native of Savannah, Martin graduated from Savannah High School, where she was a three-sport All-State athlete in tennis, basketball and track. A starting point guard on the basketball team, she led her team to a runner-up finish three times. On the track, she placed second in the state in the 4×800 relay. In 2021, she was inducted to the Savannah Hall of Fame. Martin played at Illinois State from 2000 to 2004. In her senior season, she averaged 11.4 points, 4.6 assists and 2.6 steals a game, while leading the Redbirds to the team’s best record since 1996-97. She received Illinois State’s Jill Hutchison Endowed Scholarship in 2003 and the Jill Hutchison Coach’s Award for her leadership and performance. Martin was the first Redbird to record 300 assists, 250 made free-throws, 150 steals and 100 3-pointers. From there, Martin was the head coach of Eureka College outside of St. Louis, from 2010 to 2013. She was the 2012 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Coach of the Year, and her 2012 team won 21 games – the program’s fourth 20-win season. She is now in her 13^th season as the top assistant of the University of Alabama-Birmingham women’s basketball team, having helped them to 211 victories, a Conference USA regular-season championship and five postseason berths.

Smithville High School Girls Track & Field Era 1981-1991

Sometimes the best sports stories come from small high schools. That was the case at Smithville High School, where the girls track & field teams from 1981 to 1991 became among the most competitive in the state. The Warriors finished in the Top 15 at the state meet in eight of 11 seasons. The highlight was winning the 1991 state championship in Class 2. The run began with a fourth-place finish, and featured two state runner-up finishes. Additionally, Smithville placed eighth in 1982, sixth in 1984, 15^th in 1988 and 11^th in 1990. Coached by Diana Tingler (MSHOF 2017), the team saw state champions in Sandy Cummings (100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters in 1983 & 1985, and the long jump from 1983-1985); and Melissa Clark (triple jump in 1991). The 1983 team came oh-so close, just four points of topping Stockton.

Tim Crone – High School Athletic Director

Crone spent a majority of his career in athletic administration at Blue Springs High School, serving 21 years. He was the assistant athletic director beginning in the fall of 1986 until taking over as athletic director in the fall of 1996 – a position he held until retiring in 2007. In his time as the AD, Blue Springs saw 15 sports combine for 38 top four finishes in state tournaments. That included 14 state championships, including in baseball (1999, 2007), girls cross country (2001, 2006), football (2001, 2003), softball (1999), girls swimming (2005, 2006) and wrestling (1999). In 2007, Sports Illustrated honored Blue Springs High School as the top athletic program in the state and one of the top 50 in the nation. As a coach, his teams won 21 conference championships, 16 district titles, two state championships and three city titles. He also has served as president of the Missouri Athletic Director’s Association, radio broadcasts for William Jewell football, basketball and baseball for 10 years and calls games on Vision Sports and Insider Sports. In 2009, Crone was awarded the National Merit Award from the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. Crone is a 1969 graduate of Independence’s William Chrisman High School, where he was a four-sport athlete who received conference and district awards in football, basketball and baseball. He was on the 1968 conference-winning baseball team and the Class 4 Final Four basketball team. He later graduated from Northwest Missouri State, having played on the 1973 MIAA championship baseball team.

Sam Brown – Football Coach

Brown has been coaching football for more than 40 years in the Kansas City area. A 1968 Excelsior Springs and 1972 University of Missouri graduate, Brown was part of the 1970 Mizzou Orange Bowl team (MSHOF 2015) and then set out on a coaching career that helped thousands of teenagers and college players. He was head coach of Excelsior Springs, Grandview, Shawnee Mission North, Shawnee Mission East and William Jewell, and was an assistant at Liberty and Jewell (2014-2019). He was 90-41 at Grandview from 1979 to 1991, making him the winningest coach in program history. They won the Suburban Conference and districts six times (1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990), reaching the state quarterfinals those years – and advancing to the state semifinals in 1984. He also is the second-winningest coach in Excelsior Springs history (55 wins). Brown coached quarterbacks at Jewell from 2014-2019, with the QBs throwing for more than 13,000 yards and completing 55 percent of their passes. He still provides lessons to KC-area quarterbacks. Overall, Brown has won the Cecil Patterson Coach of the Year award and the Kansas City Chiefs Coach of the Week award. Additionally, he is an inductee of the Excelsior Springs, Missouri Football Coaches Association, Grandview, and the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association halls of fame.