The Buddy LaRosa High School Sports Hall of Fame has announced its newest class of inductees, according to a press release from Hall of Fame Committee Chairman Michael Paolercio.
The 2022 class includes five individuals, two state champion teams and one legendary coach. One of the newest individuals is a first-ballot inductee, and for only the sixth time, two teams are entering the Hall of Fame in the same year.
"Now in its 48th year of recognizing outstanding local high school athletes and coaches, the Buddy LaRosa’s High School Sports Hall of Fame has honored 295 athletes and coaches and 12 top teams since its founding in 1975. It is the oldest and one of the only Halls of Fame of its kind in the country," the release said.
The newest members of Hall of Fame will officially be inducted in a ceremony that will take place in the summer of 2023. The class of 2022 inductees are:
Danielle Borgman Sunderhaus, McAuley soccer, Class of 1998
If a book were written about the Cincinnati high school girls soccer, Danielle Borgman would certainly deserve her own chapter. While at McAuley, she was named a top-five forward in the country by USA Today and Parade Magazine. She was the Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year and an Umbro All-American.
While playing at North Carolina, she helped the Tar Heels appear in four straight national championship games, including winning two titles. She tied the school record for most career starts with 101, scored seven goals and had 18 assists. Professionally, she played for the San Jose CyberRays, Boston Breakers and Carolina Courage of the now-defunct Women's United Soccer Association.
After a car accident cut her professional career short, she authored "Dear God, Why Do $#*!!Y Things Happen," which helps the reader cope with and overcome disaster and teaches them to not blame God. She also created the "I AM" program, a faith-based initiative that promotes spiritual growth for its participants.
Bo Cordell, Indian Hill football, Class of 2009
When you hold eight passing records at Indian Hill, it's hard not to call Bo Cordell the greatest quarterback in Braves history.
Over a four-year career, Cordell threw for 8,271 yards and four touchdowns. His single-season records include total yards (3,338), completions (234), attempts (343) and completion percentage (68.8%). The Braves won four Cincinnati Hills League titles as Cordell was named All-Ohio Division III and the Enquirer's Division III Player of the Year.
His career at Tusculum College saw him become a two-time All-American (2010, 2013) in Division II. His 16,265 career passing yards and 1,397 completions are both NCAA Division II records, and his 596 passing yards against Elizabeth City State is one of 19 school records that he holds.
Missy Harpenau, Mother of Mercy volleyball, Class of 2008
Before Mother of Mercy and McAuley merged to form Mercy McAuley in 2018, Harpenau led the Bobcats to their fourth and final state championship in 2007.
Quite possibly the best player in Mother of Mercy history, Harpenau was named the Ohio Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year, American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American, and the National Player of the Year.
At the University of Cincinnati, she became the sixth player in school history to post 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career (she finished with 1,285 kills and 1,414 digs). She also garnered two honorable mention All-American honors.
Sydney Moss, Boone County basketball, Class of 2012
The argument can be made that Sydney Moss is the greatest high school girls basketball player in Northern Kentucky history. The daughter of NFL great Randy Moss scored 2,997 points and grabbed 1,607 rebounds over a three-year career at Boone County. While the Rebels made three straight Sweet 16 appearances, Moss was named the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year, Associated Press Player of the Year, three-time Enquirer Player of the Year, and only the fifth player from Northern Kentucky to win Kentucky Miss Basketball.
The accolades kept rolling in when Moss enrolled at the University of Florida. Though she spent just one season in Gainesville, she was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year.
While Moss could have played college basketball just about anywhere she wanted, she elected to return home and play for Thomas More University, still a Division-III school at the time. In three seasons in Crestview Hills, Moss lost just one game and won back-to-back national championships in undefeated fashion. She was named the National Player of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, D3hoops.com and DIII News. Moss scored 1,511 points at Thomas More, including a Division-III record 63 points in a single game.
After her playing career ended, Moss was inducted into the Thomas More Hall of Fame in 2022. She was an assistant coach for the Saints for two years and is currently an assistant at Wilmington College.
She is the 21st athlete to be inducted into the LaRosa's Hall of Fame in their first year on the ballot.
Ed Shuttlesworth, Woodward football, Class of 1970
Long before running backs like Miyan Williams or Corey Kiner were dominating Southwest Ohio football fields, Woodward's Ed Shuttlesworth was making a name for himself on the Cincinnati gridiron.
Along with head coach Jack Campbell, Shuttlesworth led the Bulldogs to four straight Public High School League championships. He scored 22 touchdowns during his senior year and rushed for over 900 yards (records were only kept for six of Woodward's games that season).
Under legendary University of Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, Shuttlesworth tallied 2,338 yards and 28 touchdowns while being named to two All-Big Ten teams and winning three Big Ten championships.
While he was drafted 37th overall in 1974 by the Baltimore Colts, Shuttlesworth instead signed a three-year contract with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. In 1974, he was the league's third-leading rusher with 866 yards and five touchdowns.
Jeni Case, Colerain/ Lakota East/ Ursuline volleyball, 1996-2019
Case played a significant role in Cincinnati's illustrious volleyball history, coaching for three different teams across a 24-year career. She won four state championships and a national coach of the year award in 2016.
Case spent the first 10 seasons of her career in the Greater Miami Conference. Her first campaign as a head coach resulted in a 21-5 record before she spent nine seasons with Lakota East. She led the Thunderhawks to a 156-80 record in those nine seasons, including a conference title in 1998.
A move to state powerhouse Ursuline Academy in 2006 began the waterfall of accolades for Case. She guided the Lions to state titles in 2009, 2012, 2017 and 2018 and enjoyed three straight undefeated regular seasons from 2008-2010. Ursuline reached the Elite Eight in each of Case's 14 seasons at the helm and made six appearances in the Final Four.
Her coach of the year accolades range all the way from the Girls Greater Catholic League to the district and state level. She was the Enquirer's coach of the year seven times and received three Ohio Coaches Achievement Awards. But perhaps her greatest individual accomplishment was being named the AVCA/ USMC National High School Coach of the Year in 2016.
Case's own athletic accomplishments include two state championships at Seton (1986, 1988) and three All-American nods at Thomas More. She is a member of the Seton Hall of Fame, the District 16 Coaches Hall of Fame, the Communiplex Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame and the Thomas More College Hall of Fame.
Case and her husband, John Paul, own the Sports Express/ Elevation volleyball club where they are coaches and instructors. Their daughter, Logan, currently plays volleyball at Western Michigan.
1997 Colerain girls cross country team
The Cardinals were a force to be reckoned with in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but it was the 1997 squad that really set the bar. Led by Alison Zeinner and Gerri Buck, Colerain won every meet handily, including a 71-point margin at the state championship (the Cardinals won the team title with a 54-point total). It was the first title in school history and the first of four straight. They finished the season as the No. 3-ranked girls cross country team in the nation.
For all their success on the course, credit should also be given to LaRosa Hall of Fame coach Ron Russo. He was the one who pushed them to be better and entered them in competitive meets to prepare the team for a postseason run. One such meet was the Penn State Invitational, a meet the Cardinals won easily after No. 1 ranked Saratoga Springs (New York) chose not to participate.
Along with Zeinner and Buck, fellow runners Kelly Crum, Catie Grebe, Angie Kist, Alison Bedingfield, Terie Littlepage, Cece Kinne, Jennifer Limle, Lori Siconolfi and Andrea Maas all went on to run in college.
“It was and is the greatest team I ever coached,” Russo said. “Everything about them was special. They were very coachable, hard-working and disciplined. They never missed practice and their training days were epic to watch … with the group, I never walked into a meet thinking we might get beat.”
2001-2002 Roger Bacon boys basketball
Myriad Southwest Ohio teams have won basketball state championships, but the Roger Bacon squad is noteworthy because they were the only Ohio team to beat LeBron James during his high school career at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. The 2002 state championship game saw the Spartans defeat "King James" and the Irish 71-63.
Aside from one of the most memorable championship games in Cincinnati high school basketball history, Roger Bacon made history with a school-record 25 wins and won the Greater Cincinnati League with a 13-1 record.
The team was led by the late Bill Brewer, who also coached at Princeton before dying of a heart attack in 2007. Brewer won 170 games as coach of the Spartans, but perhaps none were more important or noteworthy than the 2002 title game.
On the court, Roger Bacon was led by all-state guard Josh Hausfeld as well as Monty St. Clair, Beckham Wyrick and Frank Phillips. All four scored in double figures in the championship game and were named to the all-tournament team.
"They had the best player, but we had the better team," said Brewer.
Twenty years after the iconic victory, members of the team reconvened to celebrate their accomplishments. The event was chronicled in former Enquirer writer Tony Meale's book The Chosen Ones: The Team That Beat LeBron, an ESPN oral history and a short documentary called "The Chosen Ones."
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