Three individuals, one legendary coach, one state championship team, and one contributor are among the inaugural class of inductees into the newly formed Lakin Athletics Hall of Fame.
Formed in the fall of 2021, the Lakin Athletics Hall of Fame Committee evaluated more than 50 former student-athletes, coaches, teams, and contributors be
fore narrowing the final ballot to approximately 15 nominees in the four major categories: student-athlete, coach, team, or contributor.
Inductees include: Chris Perez, Harlan Burrows, Margaret Jennings; Rich Randolph; 1990 Girls Cross Country, 2002 Boys Basketball; Kearny County Bank.
“I think the committee did an excellent job over several months of evaluating and eventually voting. This first class is representative of the exceptional student-athletes, coaches, teams, and contributors we’ve seen at Lakin for many years,” Nate Schmitt, Lakin Activities Director, said in announcing the class. “We couldn’t be happier with this group, and we think we still have many, many deserving people who will be considered for induction in the coming years.”
“Lakin has a rich history of students, staff, and teams performing at high levels while representing our school and our community,'' Schmitt said. “The Lakin Athletics Hall of Fame is another way in which exceptional members of the Lakin Bronc family are recognized for their accomplishments. Congratulations to all of the inductees.”
The first induction ceremony will take place on April 23, 2022 at The Stampede in the MS gymnasium.
In addition to Schmitt, the Committee was composed of Kim Lohman, Bret Hendrix, and Kenny Waechter. Later additions to the committee will include Margaret Jennings, Bruce Ansel, and Harlan Burrows.
For more information, contact Nate Schmitt at nate.schmitt@usd215.org.
The 2022 Lakin Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Class
Class: 1978-1992
Name: Rich Randolph
Category: Legendary Coach
Sport: Cross Country & Track
Info: Rich Randolph grew up in Hoxie, KS. He attended school there and graduated in 1969. After he graduated, he attended Colby Community College where he participated in track and cross country. After leaving Colby, he attended McPherson College where he earned a BA Degree in Sociology while participating in cross country and track. He earned a Master's Degree in English in 1981 from Fort Hays State University.
Rich began his career teaching English and coaching track at the middle school in Lakin in 1975. In 1977, he became Lakin’s High School cross country coach.
During his tenure as the Lakin Cross Country coach, Rich’s teams brought home 19 state trophies. Of these trophies, nine were state champions, four were state runner-up, and six were for third place.
His first state title team was the 1981 girls team. Duplicating those titles were the girls teams of 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1989, and 1990. His two boys state title teams came in 1987 and 1989. While he coached here, his boys teams won six league titles and his girls teams won four.
In fall of 1978, girls cross country became a sanctioned sport in Kansas. At the first state meet for girls, classes 3A, 2A, and 1A were grouped together. Lakin didn’t have a team yet, so Gillian White, Lakin’s only girl, ran on the boys team. The next year, in 1979, Lakin had enough girls for its first girls team; in 1980 Lakin moved from class 2A to a class 3A.
When Rich relinquished coaching cross country, his teams had produced four state champions, six state runners-up, and eight third-place finishes, with a total of 40 individual state medalists.
Rich became Lakin’s head track coach in 1980 (?), coaching until 1992. During that time, his boys teams won four HPL titles, and his girls teams won three. From the state meets, his boys teams brought home a second-place trophy in 1989 and a third-place trophy in 1988 and 1991. His team produced 24 different individuals earning numerous state medals, with 10 individual state titles among them. (This doesn’t include relay teams.)
During Rich’s tenure, he and his coaching staff helped 11 Lakin athletes get scholarships in either track or cross country. Joan Parks ran at Adams State. Katie and Eric Fletcher both ran for the University of Nebraska. Jeff Martin ran for Kansas State University. Krista Geubelle, Tina Welch, and Willie Perez all ran for Garden City Community College. Misti Moyer ran for Hutchinson Community College, Becky Oppliger ran for Southwestern, Summer Vann ran middle distance and hurdles for Fort Hays State University and Lisa Singleton competed as a thrower for Wichita State University.
Rich was excellent about giving credit to his assistant coaches and had great relationships with many of his athletes. He was a great teacher in the classroom and on the track. It was no wonder that Rich was named a Kansas Coach of the Year in 1985, 1988, and 1989.
Class: 1990
Name: 3A State Champions
Category: Team
Sport: Girls Cross Country
Info: Members of the Lady Bronc 1990 cross country team were Christie Perez, Tina Welch, Misti Moyer, Teri Beaver, Summer Vann, Krista Geubelle, Michelle Waechter, and Julie Oppliger.
Out of all nine of Coach Randolph’s Class 3A state champion cross country teams, this one has to rank as one of the best. From this team, four runners–Christie Perez, Summer Vann, Krista Geubelle, and Tina Welch–were also the few, if not the only, teams to have its scoring runners place first through fifth in numerous meets. As in golf, the team with the lowest score wins. Of each team’s runners, the first five to finish make up the team score. A perfect score would be to have runners finish first, second, third, fourth, and fifth, giving them a team score of 15. This team accomplished this rare score many times throughout the season.
At the 1990 state meet, Lakin’s top five runners added up to a very low team total of 24 points. Lakin’s top five places were Christie Perez (third), Summer Vann (fourth), Tina Welch (sixth), Krista Geubelle (seventh), and Julie Oppliger (tenth). These Lakin girls helped win the girl’s HPL cross country titles in 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990. In 1990, the team posted two perfect scores in Syracuse and the HPL meet in Elkhart. They also had a team score of 11 at the Lakin Invitational.
Accomplishments of team members:
Krista Geubelle – State champion in cross country in 1987, placed fifth in 1988, ninth 1989, and seventh 1990. On the track, Krista was the state champ in the 3200 meters in 1988. In 1989 she placed second in the 3200 and fourth in the 1600 meters. Krista played basketball for the Lady Broncs, named to the HPL all-league team in 1991. She earned a track scholarship but went on to play softball at Fort Hays State.
Tina Welch – Placed sixth in the state in cross country in 1990. On the track, Tina ran the 300-meter hurdles, placing second in 1989 and fourth in 1990. She was also a member of a number of medal- winning relay teams. Tina also played basketball for the Lady Broncs. Her efforts earned her a track scholarship to run at Garden City Community College.
Christie Perez – State cross country champion in both 1988 and 1989. She placed third in 1990 and second in 1991. Of all the school's runners, when the race was two miles long, Christi had the third lowest overall time of 11:50 (in 1983, Joan Parks ran an 11:40 and Trish Bernbeck an 11:41). On the track in 1989, Christi placed second at state in the 800 and the 3200 meters.
Summer Vann – Placed fourth at the state cross country meet in 1988, second in 1989, fourth in 1990, and third in 1991. On the track at the state meet in 1990, she placed third in the 3200 meters. In 1991, she placed fifth in the 800, and in 1992 she placed sixth in the 1600. In 1992, she took up the 300-meter hurdles and placed second at the state meet. Summer also played basketball for the Lady Broncs. Her efforts earned her a track scholarship to Fort Hays State University where she was a hurdler and middle distance runner.
Julie Oppliger – Placed fourth at the state cross country meet in 1990, second in 1991, and fourth in 1992. Julie played basketball for the Lady Broncs and was a member of the 1993 and 1994 team that qualified for the girls state basketball tournament. She went to college and became a doctor.
Michelle Waechter – Was a member of the 1990 cross country team as a freshman. As a sophomore, she changed to volleyball, where she played for the next three years. In track, Michelle was a three-time medalist at the state meet in the high hurdles, where she placed sixth in 1992, fourth in 1993, and fourth in 1994. In the 300-meter hurdles, she placed third in 1993. She was also a member of a number of relay teams that medaled at the state meet. In basketball, Michelle was the starting point guard for the 1993 team that placed second at the state meet and the 1994 team that qualified for the state tournament, losing their opening round game. Michelle was named the HPL all-league team in 1993 and 1994. She went on to attend Pratt Community College on a basketball scholarship, where she also hurdled for the track team.
Misti Moyer and Teri Beaver performed valuable roles of pushers and tiebreakers as the 6th and 7th runners of the 1990 state cross country championship team and would have been scoring runners on almost all of the teams they competed against.
Class: 2002
Name: 3A State Champions
Category: Team
Sport: Boys Basketball
Info: Team members from the 2002 Bronc boys team were Coach Larry Dasenbrock, Coach Shawn Michaelis, Coach Bob Reed, Derek Ramos, Cris Bird, Devon Hammerschmidt, Carl Collins, Tyler Riedl, Bo Richardson, Brady Fuller, Jess Holmes, Travis Quintana, Jarrod King, Nick Hall, and Nate Woodrow.
The 2002 Bronc boys basketball team is the only undefeated boys basketball team to the date of this writing in the history of the school. At the Class 3A state tournament that year, Lakin easily won their opening round game vs Wichita Collegiate. Collegiate scored the first basket of the game and their student section immediately started chanting “OVERRATED.” Lakin went on to win the game by 20+ points. Lakin then went on to defeat Riley County in the second round. That brought about an exciting championship game in which the Bronc defeated Beloit to become the Class 3A state champions.
This was Bob Reed’s third Lakin team to reach the class 3A state tournament. It was his and the school's only team both to go undefeated and win the tournament. For his efforts that year, Bob was named the Class 3A boys coach of the year.
The boys on this team excelled in football, basketball, track, and baseball. Their teams also made the state playoffs in football and baseball. In track and basketball, they placed as high as second in Class 3A at the state level. Of the players on the team, at least five were named to the Hi-Plains League basketball team at some time throughout their Bronc careers. Of the seniors in the class, four received scholarships to play a sport at the next level. Jarrod King and Brady Fuller played baseball in junior college, and Travis Quintana and Derek Ramos went on to play basketball in junior college.
Class: 1946
Name: Kearny County Bank
Category: Contributor
Sport: All Sports & Activities
Info: Though the Kearny County Bank has been around for more than 130 years, the bank has had numerous owners. In 1904 the original organizers sold the bank to local residents. Until 1946, the bank was owned by local residents, and then a majority share was sold to the owners of the Garden National Bank, with the Campbell family retaining its minority interest. At that time, the Lakin State Bank merged into the Kearny County Bank.
In 1955, majority control of the bank returned to local hands when the investor group of Dan Ratzlaff, JR Hutton and Clyde Beymer, Jr., acquired the shares controlled by the Garden National Bank owners. The bank is now controlled by the Beymer family and managed by two of Clyde’s sons, Gary Beymer and Bob Beymer.
Recognizing the need to grow beyond Lakin and Kearny County, the management of the KCB actively began looking for acquisition opportunities. The endeavor culminated in October 2012 with the acquisition of the Garden City State Bank located at 1910 E. Mary Street, in Garden City.
The Garden City State Bank was organized in 2000. In the short period of its existence, Frank Reifschneider, Doug Laubach, and their dedicated staff grew the GCSB from nothing to $70 million in assets. Going forward, the combination of the two banks will enhance the ability of The Kearny County Bank to serve the consumers, farmers and businesses of southwest Kansas with a broad range of quality financial services.
Class: 1968-1972
Name: Chris Perez
Category: Student-Athlete
Sport: Cross Country, Basketball and Track
Info: Chris started school at Lakin High School in the fall of 1967, where he participated in cross country, basketball, and track. By the time he graduated, he was recognized as one of the top distance runners in the state.
While attending Lakin, he set the school record in cross country in his freshman season and continued to lower the record in subsequent years. At this time, the distance for a cross country race was two miles instead of 5 kilometers. In his sophomore year, he placed third at the state meet. In 1970, he was a state champion, with a time of 9: 49. He repeated as the state champion his senior year.
In basketball, Chris became a starter as a sophomore playing guard. He was selected to the All Hi-Plains League in 1971 and 1972. In his junior year, the Broncs were the HPL champs, and in his senior year they were co-champs.
When Chris was attending Lakin High School, distance races were the half mile, mile, and two miles in distances. At that time, an athlete could only run in two races longer than a quarter mile in one day. If the restrictions were like they are today, most likely he would have many more titles to his name. In 1970, as a sophomore, Chris was the state 2A champion in the mile and the two mile. In 1971, he was the state 2A champion in the half mile and repeated as the state champion in the mile. In 1972, his senior year, he was the state 2A champion in both the mile and two mile. That same year, Lakin's medley relay team qualified for the finals on the first day, with Bruce Ansel running the half-mile leg. On the second day, Chris only had one other race over a quarter mile in distance; that allowed the team to move Chris to the anchor leg of a half mile. That anchor leg ended in a spectacular photo finish that took a period of time to decide, but Lakin was named class 2A state champs over Wellsville. Competing in the KU Relays his senior year, Chris finished second in the mile and two mile to Keith Palmer, who went on to run for Kansas State. When Chris graduated from Lakin in May of 1972, he had set three school records in the half mile (1:57), mile (4:12.8), and two mile (9:16.7). He was a member of Lakin's 1971 boys team that placed third at the state meet. Chris was selected with two other athletes as Lakin's Senior Boy Athlete of the Year.
Chris's efforts earned him a cross country and track scholarship to Kansas State University. While at Kansas State, Chris was a four-year letterman in cross country and track. In 1975, his cross country team was the Big Eight champions and he placed third overall in the meet. In 1976, his team was the Big 8 Indoor Champions and he placed fourth in the two mile ( 8:53.3). That same year, Chris ran on a four- mile relay team that placed first (16:18) at the Drake Relays. At that time, his team had the second fastest time ever run in that race by an all-United States team, and it ranked tenth of the world level. His best time in the college mile was 4:08.3. As of 2020, Chris still holds the 23rd-best overall time for the two-mile run in the state and is also ranked with the 23rd-best time at Kansas State in the 8,000-meter run with a time of 24:47.
After graduating from KSU, Chris lived in eastern Kansas, where he helped start a cross country program at one of Kansas City's middle schools. They were league champs in his second year and undefeated league champs in his third year of coaching. From there he went on to coach at Harmon High School, where he coached a women’s 880-yard champion.
In 1984, Chris went to work for the U.S. Postal Service until he retired in 2016. He lived in Overland Park, Kansas with his wife, Betty, and son, Ross.
Class: 1954-1958
Name: Harlan Burrows
Category: Student-Athlete
Sport: Football, Basketball and Track
Info: Harlan was an all-around athlete when he attended Lakin Rural High School. He was a four-year, three-sport athlete. At the time Harlan played, Lakin was a Class B school in Kansas. Sports were only played during the season, and no summer activities were allowed as farm boys were needed to work at home. There were no weight lifting programs. Boys were younger and smaller because the school grade age broke on January 1 instead of August 1.
Even though they may have been younger and smaller, they were just as tough as the boys of today. Many had fathers that were World War ll veterans, gas company employees, and farmers, which meant they grew up tough and knew how to work.
When Harlan played football, the season consisted of playing nine games. Winning league was the ultimate prize, as there were no state playoffs at the time. The players had plastic helmets with a single bar for a face mask. They also had leather shoulder pads, thigh pads, knee pads, and black shoes with metal cleats.
Harlan played football for Keith O’Connor, who had been a successful coach at Lakin. During Harlan’s senior season in the fall of 1957, his team won eight games and lost only one, which was to non-league school Ulysses. Harlan, who wore No. 2, was both a running back and defensive back for the team. Harlan was selected to the Hi-Plains All-League team his senior year. His efforts got him a football scholarship, where he played at Garden City Junior College.
In basketball, Harlan’s class got to break in the new gym built in 1955, dedicated by Phog Allen. Lakin’s 1958 team, which was coached by Ken Cearly, were the regional runners-up, missing out on the state playoffs by one game. Harlan played guard for that team and was selected into the All-Hi-Plains League tournament.
In track, the teams that Harlan participated on won the Hi-Plains League all four years. Harlan was known for his hurdling ability, placing third at the state meet in high hurdles in 1957 and the state champion in 1958. Harlan was also a member of the mile relay team that finished second in the state meet his senior year.
Lakinites of his era will say that Harlan was one of the best all-around athletes to come out of Lakin during the 1950’s.
Class: 1970-1974
Name: Margaret Jennings
Category: Student-Athlete
Sport: Volleyball, Basketball and Track
Info: Margaret started competing in sports for Lakin in the fall of 1971. This was the same year the state of Kansas held its first state volleyball tournament. In the tournaments, 3-4-5A competed against each other while 2A and 1A had their own divisions. In the spring of 1972, they held their first state track meet for girls with 3-4-5A competing against each other while 2A and 1A had their own divisions. During these years, some Kansas schools had inter-school sport competition for their girls, but for many schools it was kept at an intramural level. Lakin competed against other schools, but their seasons were short and competition was usually kept to local or league schools. In the 1972-1973 school year, Title IX ruled that girls' sports must be provided the same athletic opportunities as boys. With this ruling, volleyball, basketball, and track were implemented as league- and state-sanctioned sports for that school year. In 1973, the first state girls basketball competition was held.
Margaret was a groundbreaker for women's athletics in Lakin. During her four years at Lakin, she was a three-sport athlete in volleyball, basketball and track. In volleyball, her team was the first Hi-Plains League Champ volleyball team, and they went on to qualify for the first state tournament. In 1974 her team went 23-8. At first in basketball, a season usually consisted of about twelve games, and in some cases their uniforms were their PE clothes. Margaret's 1973 team was the Hi-Plains League champs and placed third at regionals. In 1974, she was named to the Hi-Plains all-league team. In track, in 1973, Margaret's team won the women's division of the Hi-Plains League track meet at Syracuse. She qualified for the first women's state track competition in the shot put. At the meet, she placed fifth in Class 2A, with a throw of 37' 5”. In 1974, she returned to the state meet in the shot put, placing fourth with a throw of 37'-11.5”.
After high school, Margaret attended Garden City Community College where she competed in volleyball, basketball, and track. She then attended Fort Hays State University, playing basketball for two years and participating in track for one. After college, Margaret returned home to Lakin, where she helped her husband, worked with Little Britches Rodeo, substitute taught, and coached at the schools for 40 years.
