A first-team all-city selection in 1984 and 1985, Gaby was also first-team all-Hamilton County American League 1983-85, and in volleyball in 1983-84. She played in the Ohio North-South basketball all-star game.
Graduating with a 4.0 GPA, Gaby went on to enjoy an outstanding career at Miami University where she is only one of nine players in RedHawks’ history to score more than 1,000 points (1,192) and pull down 500 rebounds (543) in her career. She was captain and MVP on the 1990 Mid-American Conference championship team that went 23-5.
Gaby has been inducted in two other Halls of Fame – a member of the inaugural class of Winton Woods-Greenhills-Forest Park Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Miami University Hall of Fame in 2009. Currently, Gaby lives in Blue Ash with her husband, Jack Kinsinger, teaches at Milford High School and is the assistant basketball coach at Princeton High School. They have five children.
Jordan Hicks was regarded by nearly every publication in the country as the No. 1 linebacker in the nation as a senior. An eight-time letterman in football and basketball, the 6-2, 225-pound Hicks was one of the most heavily recruited athletes in the nation.
He was only the second player in U.S. history to be named No. 1 linebacker in the nation by both Parade Magazine and the independent Butkus Foundation. He was a consensus All-American by USA TODAY, Parade Magazine, ESPN and MaxPreps.com. Jordan joins an elite group of LaRosa’s Hall of Famers in becoming only the 20th athlete to be inducted on the first ballot.
As a senior, he compiled 95 tackles – 67 solo – plus three sacks and two interceptions. The accolades he collected were staggering. He was selected for the Art Teynor Award by the Ohio Football Coaches Association, emblematic of the state’s top player. He was named Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year. He was picked as the Ohio Division I Co-Player of the Year (defense) and was a two-time first-team All-Ohio pick.
Jordan was equally accomplished as a basketball player as he set five school records including: Most games played (87), career steals (170), and he was only the second player in school history to score more than 1,000 points.
Jordan went on to play at the University of Texas where injuries plagued his final two seasons. Still, he participated in the 2015 Senior Bowl and was a third-round pick (84th overall) of Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL. He signed four-year free agent contract in 2019 with the Arizona Cardinals. He currently is a starting linebacker with the Cardinals and lives in Phoenix.
Kyle Ransom, St. Xavier, class of 2003
St. Xavier’s reign of Ohio swimming championships may have been in jeopardy if not for the “team” play of Kyle Ransom.
During his career at St. Xavier, Ransom won seven Ohio state titles – six of them as part of a relay team. And during that four-year run, the Aquabombers won four straight Ohio state titles and the National Championship in 2001.
Named a high school All-American 13 times during his career, Kyle finished his senior season with a state championship in the 200-yard individual medley (1:50.70) and anchored both state championship 200-yard freestyle relay (1:24.53) and the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:05.39) teams.
He earned numerous awards and accolades over the course of his prep career. In addition to winning seven state titles, he held three St. Xavier team records and was named Swimmer of the Year in 2003 by The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Kyle continued his swimming career at Stanford University, where he was a three-time collegiate All-American. While at Stanford, his team won the Pac-10 conference four times and he was a two-time Pac-10 conference champion in the 200-yard free relay (2006 and 2007). Kyle won a bronze medal for Team USA as a member of the 400-yard free relay team at the World University Games (2005). Kyle was an Olympic Trials Qualifier in 2004, 2008 and 2012, most recently competing in both the 50 and 100 freestyle.
Currently, Kyle Ransom works at Deloitte Consulting as a Manager of Supply Chain in Chicago, Illinois. He and his wife, Ashley, have two daughters, Charlotte and Audrey.
Tami Ransom (Checkoway), Ursuline Academy, class of 2001
Tami Ransom, sister of Hall of Famer Kyle Ransom, was an essential part of Ursuline Academy’s dynamic run of four Ohio Division I state championships from 1998-2002.
Tami captured six individual Ohio state titles – three in the 200-yard individual medley – two in the 100 freestyle and one in the 100 butterfly. Her state-winning time of 1:58.76 in the 200 IM in 2001 stood as the Ohio state record for more than 10 years. That time was the second-fastest time in U.S. prep history and was the No. 1 time in the country in 2001.
Tami was part of five state championship relay teams, including a three-time winner in the 400-yard freestyle relay, the 200-medley relay (1998) and the 200 free relay (2001). Tami was also runner-up in four other Ohio division I state title events.
Her awards and honors were plentiful. She was named the Ohio Swimmer of the Year in 2000 and 2001. She was twice named The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Swimmer of the Year and the Girls Greater Cincinnati League Swimmer of the Year in 2000 and 2001. She was picked first-team all-city and All-GGCL four times.
Tami went on to swim at Stanford University where she was a two-time collegiate All-American. Currently, Tami Ransom Checkoway is a Senior Consultant for Galmont Consulting in Lexington, Ky. She is also the owner of Sweet Bee Cakery.
Tami and her husband, Daniel, live in Georgetown, Kentucky, and have two children, Alex and Sarah.
Coach Kim Gunning, Notre Dame Academy, 1989-2000
Greater Cincinnati has long been the hotbed of high school volleyball in the Midwest and while Cincinnati has had its share of champions, no one has set the gold standard higher than Notre Dame Academy volleyball coaching legend Kim Gunning.
Gunning charted new territory in just 12 years of coaching that likely will remain unmatched in Northern Kentucky for many years to come. As head coach of the Notre Dame Academy volleyball team, Kim drove the Pandas to three Kentucky state championships and four second-place finishes in a state where all schools compete in the same class. In three of those losses, the Pandas lost to the No. 1-ranked team in the United States.
In her 12-year coaching reign, NDA compiled a 360-75 record (83%). Just as remarkable – her teams were district champions, Regional Champions and Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Champions all 12 years.
She was named Kentucky Post Coach of the Year seven times, The Kentucky Enquirer Coach of the Year eight times, the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association Coach of the Year three times and the National Federation Interscholastic Coaches Association Outstanding Coach for the state of Kentucky in 1993.
In 2016, Gunning, then athletic director at Notre Dame Academy for 20 years, received the Brigid DeVires Outstanding Leadership award, from the Kentucky High School Athletic Association which is emblematic of the state’s top administrator.
During her tenure at NDA, the school also added four sports programs (lacrosse, bowling, bass fishing and archery) and added a gym and three outdoor sports facilities (soccer field and track complex, tennis courts and softball field). Currently, Kim is the assistant athletic director at St. Ursula Academy.
