In Greater Cincinnati coaching circles, Stan Arnzen’s name is legendary. He has been inducted into numerous Halls of Fame as a coach, but Stan Arnzen the athlete has not been as well-recognized. It is the prep star at Newport High School that LaRosa’s honors as a Hall of Fame inductee.

A four-year starter in both basketball and baseball, Arnzen was feared on the basketball court, but may well have been a better baseball player. While no statistics remain from Arnzen’s playing days, he led Newport to the 1932 Ninth Region basketball championship as a freshman. The team reached the Final Four, but Arnzen was unable to play because of a severe ankle injury.

While Newport never returned to the Sweet Sixteen during his playing days, Arnzen’s personal career continued to gather honors. He was named All-State both his junior and senior season. Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, whose coaching career began at Dayton High School, recalled Arnzen as “an outstanding player for Newport.”

Stan went on to play college basketball at Morehead State where he was named team captain as a freshman and earned Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors. While at Morehead, his other passion came into play as he was drafted and signed with the Cleveland Indians. In his first professional season, playing for the West Virginia Miners, Arnzen led the minor leagues in hitting with a .387 batting average. He earned the prestigious Spalding Trophy, emblematic as the 1937 Outstanding Minor League rookie. There were 32 minor leagues in operation at that time, making Arnzen’s accomplishment even more remarkable.
In his second season of pro ball, the Cincinnati Reds purchased Arnzen’s contract. He was leading the Reds in hitting with a .457 average when he suffered a career-ending injury with a broken leg while sliding into second base.

With his athletic career behind him, Arnzen turned his focus to coaching and took the same intensity with him. He returned to Newport and never suffered a losing season in 22 years as basketball coach. He compiled a 452-169 career record, winning the Ninth Region title five times and coaching the 1954 Kentucky state runners-up. In addition, he coached baseball for 16 years, posting 15 winning seasons.

In the annals of La Salle High School history, Doug Bockenstette occupies a hallowed space. The first team state championship in the school’s history was the 1994 track team. In the 26-24 victory over runners-up Mansfield, Doug Bockenstette accounted for 24 points. Doug was just that kind of dominating distance runner in high school – if not the best in Greater Cincinnati history, surely one of the finest in more than 25 years.

Bockenstette won three Ohio Division I state championships as a senior, smashing records and gaining national attention. In cross-country, Doug captured the title in 15:18.20. Later that fall, he finished second in the Midwest Meet of Champions, then placed seventh in the nation in the prestigious Foot Locker Cross-Country Championships (15:17). He was named second team All-America.

The best was yet to come in the state track meet when Bockenstette captured the 1600-meter run in 4:10.14, and then followed with a state meet record of 9:07.50 in winning the 3200-meter run. Bockenstette anchored the Lancers’ 3200-meter relay team, which finished fourth. He went on to finish first in the Track & Field Midwest Meet of Champions (9:03.25) and his third place finish in the U.S. Junior Nationals in the 5000-meter run (14:44) was the fastest high school time in the nation in 1994.

As a collegian, Doug was a member of both the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track championship team at the University of Tennessee and a two-time member of the Mid-American Cross-Country championship team while at Miami University.
Currently, Doug works as a business consultant for Nationwide Insurance in Columbus. He and his wife, Emily, have three children – Jacob (5), Julia (3) and Gavin (1).

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In the storied history of Greater Cincinnati swimming, Alison Fealey ranks among the finest female high school swimmers in more than 50 years.
Named LaRosa’s High School Female Athlete of the Year in 1994 as a junior, Alison concluded her national and international caliber prep career with a remarkable 10 Ohio State swimming titles – six individual and four relays.

A three-time state champion in the 200 Individual Medley, Alison set the state record three times and the pool record twice. Her times in 1995 (1:59.96) and in 1993 (2:01.10) still rank No. 2 and No. 3 all-time in Ohio swimming history.
A two-time state champ in the 500 Freestyle, her 1995 time of 4:49.89 still is sixth best in Ohio history, while her state championship effort in the 100 Breaststroke (1:02.95) is fifth best ever.

She was twice named Ohio’s Female Swimmer of the Year, three-time Swimmer of the Year by both The Cincinnati Enquirer and Cincinnati Post and was named the High School Sportswoman of the Year by the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1994-95.

Her amateur accomplishments while still in high school were equally impressive. Captain of the U.S. National Junior team in 1993, she was also a member of the U.S. National World Championship team in Mallorca, Spain. Her time in the 200 IM in 1994 was 24th best in the world.

After a year at the University of Southern California, Alison switched to Stanford where she became a NCAA All-American and member of Stanford’s NCAA championship team. As a member of the U.S. National Swim Team, she was ranked in the top 25 in the world in both the Individual Medley and the breaststroke for five years.

When the late Hall of Fame coach and sportscaster, Al McGuire, watched Notre Dame's Joe Fredrick pour in 23 points against Duke, he proclaimed "a star is born." Greater Cincinnati high school basketball fans already knew that!

The decade of the 1980s started with Moeller’s Byron Larkin and ended with Greenhills’ Joe Fredrick as Cincinnati basketball gained statewide and national recognition.

Fredrick was a deadly shooter, accumulating a myriad of records along the way. He was the Pioneer’s all-time leading scorer with 1,628 points – breaking the mark set by his brother, Chuck (1,133). Joe was a consensus First Team Class AAA All-Ohio, and All-America selection by both USA Today and Street & Smith. He was named MVP of the Blue-Chip Classic, powering Greenhills to a 69-64 victory over national power Christ the King of New York.

As both a junior and senior, he averaged more than 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game. He shot better than 60% from the field and almost 90% from the free throw line. Joe led Greenhills to a 22-2 record in 1985-86, the best in the school history. The team was ranked No. 2 in Cincinnati and in Ohio by UPI.

Heavily recruited, Fredrick signed with Digger Phelps at the University of Notre Dame and followed in the footsteps of his father, Charlie. With the Fighting Irish, Joe continued his record-setting career. The first two-time team captain in school history, Fredrick scored 1,058 points and still holds the school record for 3-point field goal percentage.

An honorable mention collegiate All-American, Fredrick signed as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings. The last player cut from the team, Joe played one season with Rockford of the Continental Basketball Association where he averaged 18 points and was named to the All-Rookie Team.

Currently, Fredrick is General Sales Manager for 700 WLW Radio. He lives in Lakeside Park, KY with sons, Joseph (16) and Nicholas (14).

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In the long tradition of great athletes from Wyoming High School, you could make a strong case that Ahmed Plummer may be the best ever.

A multi-sport star, Ahmed earned 12 varsity letters during his career in football (4), basketball (4), baseball (3) and track. A future NFL star, football was clearly his finest sport, where he was a two-way starter at quarterback and defensive back. He set five Wyoming single-season and career records, including Career Interceptions (17), Most Passing Yards in a Single Season (1,566), Most Career Passing Touchdowns (35) and Longest TD run from scrimmage (99).

Ahmed was First Team All-City Division II-VI on both offense and defense, The Cincinnati Enquirer Division II-IV Player of the Year and Ohio Division IV Player of the Year. Perhaps what he was most proud of was being named the winner of the “That’s My Boy” Award, presented annually by the National Football Foundation. It honored both his athletic and academic achievements.

His honors continued at Ohio State University where he became a college All-American at defensive back – and a First Team Academic All-American. An OSU co-captain, Ahmed had 14 career interceptions and was named First Team All-Big 10, and was a member of the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl championship teams.

A first round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2000 NFL Draft (24th overall), Ahmed played six seasons, recording 12 career interceptions and one touchdown. He was named to the All-Rookie Team in 2000 and was selected to the John Madden Team in 2001.

In the history of track-and-field in Greater Cincinnati, few coaches have had as much of an impact as Jim Engel. Having coached and taught in Cincinnati inner city schools for more than 20 years, Engel’s focus has been in developing the girls’ programs at both Taft High School and the Cincinnati Academy of Physical Education (C.A.P.E.).

Jim Engel would be the first to underplay his sacrifices, but the countless hours, devotion to his students and athletes and personal money invested in them can never be truly acknowledged or appreciated.

A graduate of Xavier University, Engel has held numerous positions with the United States Track & Field Association. He is a USATF Master Official and an OHSAA Level One Official. His is the USATF Ohio Indoor Championships Meet Director and both the Preliminary Junior Olympic and Junior Olympic Meet Director in Ohio.

His USATF honors have included being the Assistant Manager for the World Youth Team IAAF in 2006 in Morocco, and Head Manager of the 2007 World Youth Team Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Locally, Jim Engel’s most recognized achievement was leading the C.A.P.E. girls’ track team to the 1986 Ohio Division III state championship and the 1988 girls team to the state runners-up spot. His 1986 400-meter relay team of Tyra Gordon, Trina Pate, Jackie Jordan and Michelle McGruder set a Division III state record (49.14). McGruder was the Ohio 100-meter dash champion four straight years.

Following in the footsteps of a legend is never easy. Taking over the helm of a historic program can be even more daunting.

While Steve Klonne did not directly assume the mantle of the "Moeller Mystique" from Gerry Faust (Ted Bacigalupo ran the Crusaders for one season), he did so with grace, purpose and acumen that honored the program which Faust had built.

After serving four years as an assistant and defensive coordinator at Moeller, Steve picked up right where his predecessors left off – leading the Crusaders to a 13-0 season, the Ohio Division I state championship and the mythical national championship. USA Today named him as National Football Coach of the Year.

The Moeller program was in wonderful hands as Klonne coached the Crusaders for another 18 years. He compiled a 169-48 record and never had a losing season during a tenure that saw Moeller win two Ohio Division I state championships (1982 and 1985), three state runners-up (1989, 1993 and 1997), five Regional championships, four Cincinnati city titles and nine Greater Cincinnati League titles. Steve's accomplishments earned him a spot in the Moeller Hall of Fame.

Klonne moved to McNicholas High school in 2001 and became head coach for the Rockets in 2005. His team won the GCL Central championship in 2007. Going in to the 2009 season, Steve's overall career record stands at 186-71.

A graduate of St. Xavier High School and Xavier University, Steve’s first coaching position was as an assistant to 2007 LaRosa’s Hall of Fame inductee, Owen Hauck, at Mount Healthy High School. Klonne also coached at Elder and Turpin before moving to Moeller in 1978.