Clyde Duncan

Iowa

Although his performances came more than 40 years ago, Clyde Duncan remains the most dominant track and field athlete in Iowa history.

At Des Moines North High School from 1962 to 1964, Duncan won the 100, 220 and 440 state titles each year during his three years of competition in the state meet – a feat that has yet to be matched in the state. His nine individual championships are the most in 101 years of track and field competition in Iowa.

Duncan's accomplishment of winning all three sprint events each year was even more remarkable considering that, at that time, the state track and field meet was a one-day event, meaning that he ran two preliminaries and three finals in a span of four hours.

Duncan graduated from Des Moines North owning the state record time in all three events, and some 43 years later his 9.3 time in the 100-yard dash remains the Iowa state record. As another indicator of his dominance, Duncan never lost a race in the 100, 220 or 440 during his three years of high school competition.

At the prestigious Drake Relays, Duncan won the 100-yard dash all three years, twice setting event records. He also anchored his school's 880-yard relay and mile relay squads to Drake Relays records, including a new mark of 3:21.7 in the 1964 mile relay.
Duncan's exploits continued at Texas Southern University, where he was an NAIA All-American all four years. At TSU, he ran on relay teams that established three world records, including the 1965 sprint medley relay and the 1966 indoor mile relay. During his freshman year at Texas Southern, Duncan earned the title of "World's Fastest Human," and he was the national indoor champion in the 60-yard dash.

For the past 37 years, Duncan has been coaching track and field at the collegiate level. He started at his alma mater, Texas Southern, as an assistant under legendary coach Dave Bethany. He then led the track programs at Grambling State University and Wiley College before moving to the University of Houston in 1977, where he coached five years and recruited Olympian Carl Lewis to the Cougars program in 1980.

Duncan then coached the women's track team at the University of Washington for three seasons and the men's and women's track teams at Arizona State University. He then founded and headed the "Prime Time Sports Track and Field Club" for 12 years, where he trained world-class runners on the pro circuit, before returning to Texas Southern University, where he currently is head coach of both the men's and women's track teams at his alma mater.

Duncan was inducted into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Iowa Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1981. In 2005, the Iowa Hall of Pride honored Duncan with a life-size bronze statue in the track and field exhibit at the Des Moines museum.

Jim Johnson

Michigan

Not only is Jim Johnson the first ice hockey player to be chosen for the National High School Hall of Fame, he remains today the most prolific scorer in the history of high school ice hockey in the United States.

Johnson scored 249 goals during his four-year (1971-74) ice hockey career at Cranbrook High School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and his national record for career goals has stood the test of time for 33 years. Amazingly, many of his goals were scored on Cranbrook's outdoor ice rink.

Johnson was all-state in ice hockey all four years and was a two-time high school All-American. In addition to his 249 career goals, he registered 45 hat tricks and 367 total points. He ranks fifth nationally all-time for goals in a season with 79, according to the National High Sports Record Book. His 79 goals in 1971 was fueled by an 8-goal game, which ranks third-best all-time nationally.

In addition to his four letters in ice hockey, Johnson also earned four letters in baseball and three in football. In baseball, he played catcher and registered a .412 career batting average. He was named the school's athlete of the year in 1974. He earned all-area honors twice in baseball and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles.

Johnson instead chose to accept a scholarship to Michigan State University, where he played ice hockey and lettered all four years. In his senior season, Johnson was named assistant captain, and he twice earned "Spartan of the Week" honors and once was named Western Collegiate Hockey Association player of the week. He scored 23 goals and had 31 assists during his collegiate career.

Johnson was drafted by the Atlanta Flames in 1978 but instead chose to pursue a career in coaching and eventually high school athletic administration. Johnson was a graduate assistant ice hockey coach at Michigan State for two years and assistant ice hockey coach at Notre Dame University for two years.

Johnson worked at summer hockey camps and eventually co-owned his own camp. He returned to Cranbrook, where he worked in admissions, was the junior varsity football coach, ice rink manager, hockey coach and baseball coach. Johnson's family was instrumental in leading a campaign to enclose the ice rink at Cranbrook.

Today, Johnson is pursuing the same type of excellence in high school athletic administration that he enjoyed on the ice rink. Johnson is assistant principal and athletic director at Troy High School in Troy, Michigan, where he has earned the Michigan High School Athletic Association's "Exemplary Athletic Program Award." He recently earned his Certified Master Athletic Administration status within the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

Jim Plunkett

California

Before winning the Heisman Trophy in college and the Super Bowl at the professional level, Jim Plunkett was an extraordinary high school athlete at James Lick High School in San Jose, California. And perhaps none of his accomplishments should be surprising considering the circumstances he endured growing up in East San Jose.

Plunkett, along with his sister, spent most of his adolescent years caring for both of his blind parents by undertaking odd jobs in his neighborhood in East San Jose. His tremendous level of responsibility and work ethic paved the way for a highly successful three-sport high school career, playing football, wrestling and baseball all four years.

In baseball, he played first base and was named all-Mt. Hamilton Athletic League. In wrestling, he was undefeated in dual matches during his senior season and won a California Interscholastic Federation section title at 194 pounds. In football, he led his teams to 8-1 and 9-0 records in his last two years – the best marks in school history. As a senior, Plunkett passed for 1,200 yards and 17 touchdowns and helped his team to the Mt. Hamilton Athletic League title.

Plunkett was selected as the region's co-most valuable player and earned a spot on the North roster in the prestigious North-South Prep All-Star Game in Los Angeles. Although he was recruited by many colleges, Plunkett chose Stanford so that he could be close to home to care for his parents if necessary.

As a sophomore at Stanford in 1968, Plunkett set a Pacific-8 Conference record with 2,156 yards passing and surpassed that mark as a junior with 2,673 yards passing and 20 touchdowns. Overall, he passed for 7,544 yards, which was an NCAA record at that time, and 52 touchdowns. He was a runaway winner of the Heisman Trophy in 1970, and he was Player of the Year by The Sporting News and claimed the Maxwell Award.

Plunkett finished his collegiate career by completing 20 of 30 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown as Stanford upset undefeated Ohio State University in the 1971 Rose Bowl.

Plunkett started his pro career in 1971 with the New England Patriots, winning rookie of the year honors, and enjoyed a tremendous 16-year career with the Patriots, San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders. He led the Raiders to victories in the 1981 and 1984 Super Bowls and was most valuable player of Super Bowl XV in 1981.

After retiring in 1986, Plunkett has stayed active within the Raiders' organization, hosting game-day TV shows. He has been active as a public speaker at numerous Boys and Girls Clubs across the country. He also is an active proponent of Habitat for Humanity, the March of Dimes and the Boy Scouts of America. Plunkett has worked with the Good Tidings Foundation and the St. Francis Center, which helps children from broken families.

Terry Steinbach

Minnesota

Terry Steinbach was a two-sport standout at New Ulm High School in New Ulm, Minnesota, but the combination of ice hockey and baseball qualifies him as one of the state's all-time best athletes.

In hockey, Steinbach scored 109 goals and had 68 assists (177 points) in four years of competition. He earned four letters and was selected all-conference three times. His 109 goals and 177 points were school records. As a senior, Steinbach was team captain and honorable mention all-state.

On the baseball diamond, Steinbach was one of only two freshmen in New Ulm history to play on the varsity. He batted .433 as a sophomore, .400 as a junior and .509 as a senior, leading the team in hitting each year. Steinbach had 17 career home runs, a school record, and was all-conference three straight years. Following his senior season, Steinbach was honored with the Danny Thompson Award, given to the best high school baseball player in Minnesota. He also was Athlete of the Year at New Ulm High School.

In the fall, Steinbach kept busy on the New Ulm cross country team, earning a letter as a junior and senior.

Although he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1980 and probably could have played in the National Hockey League as well, Steinbach opted for a baseball scholarship at the University of Minnesota, where he played four years and was an all-Big Ten Conference third baseman twice and was co-Big Ten Player of the Year in 1983. He helped the Golden Gophers to the Big Ten title in 1982.

Steinbach was drafted by the Oakland A's in 1983 and played with the A's from 1986 to 1996. He then finished his career with the Minnesota Twins from 1997 to 1999. Steinbach, who homered in his first at bat in the majors, played in three World Series with the A's, winning the 1989 Bay Series against the San Francisco Giants.

Steinbach was one of the top catchers in the majors in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He participated in three All-Star Games (1988, 1989, 1993) and was most valuable player of the 1988 All-Star Game. As an indicator of Steinbach's desire to give back to his community, he donated the van he received for winning the All-Star Game MVP to the United Way of New Ulm.

Among his other awards, Steinbach received the Carl R. Pohlad Community Fund Award from the Minnesota Twins in 1998 and was inducted into the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame last year.
Currently, Steinbach is a volunteer coach for the Wayzata Youth Baseball Association and for his son's youth hockey team. He funds a Steinbach Scholarship for local New Ulm athletes and donates time to the New Ulm High School baseball boosters.

Charlie Wedemeyer

Hawaii

Charlie Wedemeyer was chosen Hawaii Athlete of the Decade in the 1960s after his stellar three-sport career at Honolulu Punahou High School; and many believe that even four decades later, "Charlie," as he is known on the islands, is the greatest prep athlete in the state's history.

Wedemeyer was all-league three consecutive years in three sports (football, basketball and baseball) – an unprecedented accomplishment in the 1960s prior to the selection of all-state teams. As a senior in 1964, he was named Interscholastic League of Honolulu Player of the Year in football.

In his senior year of basketball in 1965, Wedemeyer's Punahou team trailed heavily favored Kamehameha High School 30-16 at half and 35-28 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, Wedemeyer scored 15 of his team's 24 points to tie the game, 52-52, after regulation and assisted on the winning basket in overtime as Punahou upset Kamehameha, 58-57. Hall of Fame sportscaster Harry Kalas said it was one of the greatest individual performances in one quarter that he had ever seen.

Wedemeyer was one of the first Hawaii athletes to be recruited to play football at a Division I school on the Mainland when Michigan State University's Duffy Daugherty came calling. Wedemeyer played on Michigan State's 1965 national championship team, as well as in the 1966 "Game of the Century" between No. 2 Michigan State and No. 1 Notre Dame University. Following college, Wedemeyer played in the East-West Shrine All-Star Game and the Hula Bowl.

After graduation and marriage to Lucy, Wedemeyer settled in Los Gatos, California, where he began a successful career as a math teacher and football coach at Los Gatos High School. In 1976, however, at the age of 29, his life was turned upside down with the discovery that he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Although he was only given one year to live, Wedemeyer has now survived ALS more than 30 years. Although he has lost his ability to walk, talk and even breathe on his own, he and his wife of 38 years, Lucy, have turned defeat into victory. Charlie communicates through Lucy, who reads his lips and eye movements, and, through this process, has given inspirational speeches throughout the world.

In 1988, a made-for-TV movie was broadcast nationally, and his book, Charlie's Victory, was published in 1993. In 1992, Wedemeyer was awarded the President's Trophy for Disabled American of the Year by President Bush. Incredibly, Wedemeyer still serves as an assistant junior varsity football coach at Los Gatos because as he says, "I'm still on the field [because] I'm hoping [that] if a kid is faced with some challenge or difficulty, they will think of me and remember not to give up."

John Bagonzi

New Hampshire

John Bagonzi is a legend in New Hampshire after his stellar two-sport coaching career at Woodsville High School.

During his Woodsville career that spanned 24 years, Bagonzi won 361 basketball games and 261 baseball games, winning more than 80 percent of his games.

In basketball, Bagonzi led his teams to five state championships and had a 62-game winning streak from 1968 to 1971. In baseball, his teams won seven state championships and had a 35-game winning streak.

Bagonzi's success as Woodsville's basketball coach is not surprising considering his success as a player at the same school. Bagonzi scored 520 points as a senior, averaging more than 20 points a game. He then had a successful college career at the University of New Hampshire before returning to his alma mater in 1958.
In addition to his five state titles in basketball, Bagonzi's teams finished second three other times, registered 20 consecutive winning seasons and competed in the state's final four 11 times. His 1970 team averaged an amazing 99.6 points per game.

Bagonzi also enjoyed success as a baseball player before beginning his coaching career. During his college career at New Hampshire, Bagonzi registered five no-hitters as a pitcher. As Woodsville's baseball coach, Bagonzi won his first state title in 1959 and his last and seventh in 1977. He also had one runner-up finish in 1975.

In addition to coaching baseball and basketball, Bagonzi also coached soccer and cross country at Woodsville and garnered one state title in cross country. On five different occasions, Bagnozi won state championships in two sports in one academic school year – 1968-69, basketball and baseball; 1970-71, basketball and baseball; 1972-73, cross country and basketball; 1975-76, basketball and baseball; and 1976-77, basketball and baseball.

A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Bagonzi earned his master's and doctorate from the University of Indiana. In addition to his phenomenal coaching success, Bagonzi is a prolific author. He has written numerous basketball articles for Scholastic Coach and Coaching Clinic magazines, and he has written more than 100 baseball articles (mostly pitching) for national athletic journals. His 2001 book, The Act of Pitching, is in its fifth printing, and he currently is writing another pitching book entitled, The Inner Sanctum.

Bagonzi has been inducted into five halls of fame, including the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Hall of Fame, the University of New Hampshire Athletic Hall of Fame, the New Hampshire Coaches Hall of Fame, the Union Leader Coaches Hall of Fame and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. He has conducted pitching camps across New England and the East Coast since 1982.

Lewie Benitz

Wisconsin

Lewis Benitz has become a coaching legend during his 40 years as wrestling coach at Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Not only is he the most successful wrestling coach in the state's history – from the standpoint of victories and state championships – he has been a positive mentor and role model to many high school athletes during his storied career.

This past season, Benitz won his fifth consecutive state wrestling championship, increasing his overall number to 17 state titles, which ties for 12th nationally. Through the 2006-07 season, his career record is 689-62-2 – an amazing 91 percent winning percentage. His 62 losses in 41 years is a mind-boggling 1½ losses per year for his career. Benitz ranks fifth nationally in coaching victories, according to the National High School Sports Record Book published by the NFHS. The past four state championships have come with his son, Scott, at his side as the co-coach.

Not surprisingly, considering his record, nine of Benitz's teams have posted undefeated seasons. In addition to the 17 state titles, his teams have finished second on six other occasions, and claimed 31 regional titles, 29 sectional championships and 31 Wisconsin Valley Conference titles.

Benitz's Lincoln High wrestling teams were ranked among the top 25 prep teams in the nation seven consecutive years, and his teams have posted more than 150 team tournament championships.

Among his many honors, Benitz has been named coach of the year at the conference, district, state, region and national levels. He has been inducted into the University of Wisconsin-Stout Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, and he received the Lifetime Service Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Perhaps as significant to Benitz as his teams' state titles has been the manner in which they have become champions. On two occasions, most recently in 2006, Lincoln High has won the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Sportsmanship Award at the state tournament, and Benitz's teams have received honorable mention in other years. This award is given for positive sportsmanlike behavior on the part of the team, school and community.

A four-year wrestler himself at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Benitz has hosted the Wisconsin USA State Freestyle Tournament for more than 25 years.

Jane Hansen

New Jersey

When it comes to officiating the sport of field hockey at all levels, Jane Hansen of New Jersey is just about without peers. And when one considers her additional contributions in the sport of lacrosse, she is the most respected official in the two sports combined in the country.

Hansen has been a registered field hockey official in New Jersey since 1963 and a nationally rated field hockey official since 1970. She retired as a nationally rated official in lacrosse in 2003 after 20 years. Hansen has umpired a New Jersey state field hockey final almost every year since 1975, and she officiated New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) lacrosse championship finals from 1985 to 2003.

At the collegiate level, Hansen officiated NCAA Division I and Division III Field Hockey Championships from 1987 to 1999 and NCAA Lacrosse Championships from 1987 to 2000.

As outstanding as her on-the-field accomplishments have been, Hansen's contributions as a rules interpreter and rules expert are perhaps even more remarkable. She has served as field hockey rules interpreter in New Jersey for 26 years and served in the same capacity in lacrosse for 12 years. Hansen has also provided rules clinics for both sports in other states, and she has been the clinician at the annual NFHS Field Hockey Rules Interpreters Meeting in Pennsylvania since its inception.

Hansen served on the NCAA Field Hockey Rules Committee for 10 years and the NFHS Field Hockey Rules Committee for three terms. Within the U.S. Field Hockey Association (USFHA), Hansen was rules interpreter from 1990 to 2001 and chair of its rules committee from 1992 to 2001. Additionally, she was a member of the combined NFHS Women's Lacrosse/US Lacrosse Rules Committee for several years.

Within the USFHA, Hansen also was chair of its Umpiring Committee for four years, was a member of its Technical Committee for nine years and shared her talents at the USFHA Umpire Development Camp from 1984 to 2003. In addition to New Jersey, Hansen served as field hockey rules clinician for Delaware from 1988 to 2001.

Among her awards in field hockey, Hansen received the NFHS Officials Association Active Official Award in 1997 and the NJSIAA Award for Service and Contributions in Interscholastic Sports in 1998. She received the National Girls and Women in Sports Award for Outstanding Achievement in 1997 and an honorary award from the USFHA in 1989. In lacrosse, she was inducted into the New Jersey Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997 and received similar awards from the NFHS and NJSIAA.

Sam Short

Alabama

Without a doubt, the football and basketball rules expert in the state of Alabama for more than 50 years has been Sam Short. Amazingly, today at the age of 78, Short serves as supervisor of officials, is chief clinician in basketball and football and conducts rules clinics for the eight state district directors.

Altogether, Short has been involved with basketball officiating in Alabama for 53 years and 38 years with football officiating. He has been involved with the Alabama High School Athletic Associa-tion (AHSAA) state basketball tournament for 48 years as an official, rules interpreter and officials coordinator.

Short was instrumental in establishing state camps for officials so the state of Alabama could have better uniformity and consistency in its officiating program. He organized, developed and implemented the curriculum for the state camps in football and basketball.

Short visits local association meetings and observes and grades officials as they officiate games. He was instrumental in the development of a basketball and football officials' mechanics manual for the AHSAA, and he was the author of "Officiating the Right Way" – a book used in the training of basketball officials.

At the national level, Short served on the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee for four years and served in an advisory capacity on the NFHS Football Rules Committee for 15 years. He also assisted the late Dick Schindler, former NFHS football and basketball rules editor, with preparing rules exams in the two sports.

Short was one of the original board members when the NFHS Officials Association was formed and served in that capacity for several years. In 1999, he received the NFHS Officials Association Contributor Award.

Other awards bestowed upon Short include the AHSAA Hall of Fame in 1993 and the AHSAA Distin-guished Service Award in 1992. He also received numerous distinguished service awards from local associations in both basketball and football.
Aside from officiating, Short served 39 years as a classroom teacher, coach and administrator. He served 16 years in the Birmingham Public School system and 23 years in the Vestavia Hills School system and retired from education in 1991.

Short was the AHSAA's key leader in officiating during the days of integration in the 1960s. He was selected to work the first integrated basketball game in the city of Birmingham and was chosen for the first integrated officiating crew in the Alabama state basketball tournament.

Tim Stevens

North Carolina

As the fourth newspaper journalist to be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame, Tim Stevens of North Carolina has devoted his entire life to covering high school sports.

Stevens began his career as a high school correspondent with the Raleigh Times at the age of 15, and 37 years later he is one of this country's most recognized high school sportswriters. He joined the Raleigh Times in 1970 on a full-time basis after graduating from Garner High School and worked for the Times until 1987 when the Raleigh News and Observer absorbed the Times.

Stevens was a sportswriter for the News and Observer from 1987 to 1990, and since 1990 he has served as high school sports editor. Stevens has covered numerous North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) state championships, NCHSAA Board of Directors meetings and other stories of statewide significance.

Stevens' PrepPlus coverage, which appears weekly in the News and Observer, is one of the best and most in-depth coverages of high school sports in the country. However, his work has gone far beyond coverage of high school contests. He has excelled in coverage of national issues, including NFHS opinions and ideas. His columns on various aspects of high school athletics are a regular attraction in the News and Observer.

From a content standpoint, Stevens' columns constantly present the themes of sportsmanship and citizenship and the values of high school sports in an effort to let his readers know that high school sports are different from other levels of athletic competition. He has also written numerous columns on academic performance, gender equity and drug use among athletes.

Stevens was instrumental in developing the News and Observer's holiday basketball tournament into one of the best in the country. The GlaxoSmithKline tournament, which started in 1972, has grown to include top boys and girls basketball teams from across the country. In addition, the tournament honors players, coaches and others who have been instrumental in promoting high school athletics. He also helped organize a successful football preseason jamboree. Stevens also served on the McDonald's All-American Basketball Selection Committee for a number of years.

Stevens has received a number of awards from the NCHSAA, including the Media Representative of the Year in 1989, the Special Person Award in 1990, the Distinguished Service Award in 1995 and the Executive Director's Award in 1996. In 2000, Stevens was named one of the "Fifty Who Made A Difference" as the NCHSAA presented its "Celebrating the Century" awards. In 1998, he received the NFHS Citation.

Among other contributions, Stevens teamed with the NCHSAA's Rick Strunk as co-author of the North Carolina High School Record Book, which is now online after three print editions. Stevens wrote all features that appeared in the printed version.