LaRosa's High School Sports Hall of Fame announces 51st class

The LaRosa's High School Sports Hall of Fame has announced its 51st class of inductees, featuring five All-American athletes, a legendary baseball coach and two celebrated teams.

These latest additions will be inducted in a summer 2026 ceremony.

Here are this year's inductees:

Cory Chitwood, Ryle class of 2007

Chitwood won three state swimming titles in his career, earning a top 10 national ranking across four events among 17-18-year-olds. His senior year, he was ranked nationally in the 200-meter backstroke (No. 1), the 100-meter backstroke (No. 2), the 400-meter individual medley (No. 6) and the 200-meter individual medley (No. 7). Chitwood was the Kentucky Swimmer of the Year in 2007 and a two-time first team All-Kentucky selection. He broke seven individual Ryle swimming records and shared three relay records.

Chitwood continued his swimming career at the University of Arizona. He went on to win three NCAA championships in the 200-meter backstroke and earned 14 collegiate All-American honors. Chitwood currently lives in Unionville, Indiana, with his wife and two children, and is the associate head coach of the Indiana University men's and women's swimming teams.

Annie Heffernan, St. Ursula class of 2017

One of just 26 LaRosa's Hall of Famers inducted on the first ballot, Heffernan was a three-time track All-American by USA Track and Field. She won five state championships while at St. Ursula, one in cross-country and four in track and field. Her record time in the 3200-meter run of 10:14.91 at state still stands to this day, set in her sophomore season. Heffernan was ranked the nation's No. 1 runner in the 3200 by Milesplit.com and won numerous awards such as The Enquirer's Track Runner of the Year (2013 and 2015), Ohio Gatorade Cross Country Runner of the Year (2014) and the Women's Sports Association Cross Country Runner of the Year (2013).

Heffernan went on to run for Notre Dame in college, winning six letters and being named an NCAA Division I track All-American in the 10,000 meter race. She still competes professionally as a 2024 Olympic Marathon Qualifier and has won both the Baystate Marathon and Sri Chimnoy Marathon, setting course records at both. Heffernan now lives in Boston, where she is a Neurosurgery Research Associate at Brigham and Women's Hospital and is a member of the Boston Athletic Association.

Megan McCabe, Wyoming class of 1997

McCabe earned eight varsity letters in her career at Wyoming, setting three school records in basketball and breaking the school high jump record in track. She lead the Cowboys to their only state girls basketball title in 1996 in dramatic fashion, sending the game to overtime with a last-second shot and then scoring all eight overtime points to win the game. She was a two-time winner of the Ohio Division III Player of the Year.

McCabe signed a basketball scholarship with Ohio State, earning a varsity letter in 1999. She and her wife, Heather Grunkemeyer, still live in Columbus, Ohio and have two sons, Ethan and Brady. Ethan was the starting quarterback at Penn State in 2025.

Austin Myers, Campbell County class of 2015

Myers finished his four-year heavyweight career at Campbell County without a loss, going 189-0. He won four consecutive state championships in the 220-pound weight class, earning first-team all-state honors each year. He is still the only wrestler in Kentucky history to be named an All-American three straight years. Myers set every wrestling record at Campbell County. He was also named National Champion three times by the National High School Association.

Myers is one of just 26 first-ballot LaRosa's Hall of Famers. He went on to wrestle at West Virginia and Missouri, where he became an NCAA qualifier in the heavyweight division. Myers lives in Northern Kentucky now, where he is an Environmental Health Safety Specialist at Givaudin Fragrances. He also is an assistant wrestling coach to his brother, Stephen, at Campbell County.

Patrick Towles, Highlands class of 2012

In his three seasons as starting quarterback at Highlands, Towles led the Bluebirds to three state championships and a combined 38-1 record. He was just the fourth player from Northern Kentucky to win Kentucky's Mr. Football, joining Jared Lorenzen as the second Bluebird to win the award. In his senior season, Towles led a record-setting Highlands offense by throwing for 42 touchdowns and rushing for 15 more. He finished his career with 7,431 yards and 73 touchdowns passing and another 1,719 yards and 38 touchdowns rushing. He was named the Gatorade Kentucky Player of the Year and won the Paul Hornung Award as a senior.

Towles played four college seasons for Kentucky before transferring to Boston College for a fifth season. He finished his college career with 6,829 yards and 36 touchdowns. Towles is currently the Director of Development at Christ the King Church on Louisiana State University's campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Coach Bill Krumpelbeck, Covington Catholic

Krumpelbeck spent 48 seasons leading Covington Catholic baseball, finishing as Kentucky's second all-time winningest coach with a 1,149-485 record. He led the Colonels to 22 district and nine region titles, winning the 2002 state championship. That 2002 squad finished with a 40-3 record, the most wins by any high school team in the country that year. Krumpelbeck coached 127 eventual college baseball players, including 12 future MLB draft picks.

Krumplebeck taught biology at Covington Catholic for 46 years. He and his wife, Carol, currently live in Harrison, Ohio and have two daughters and five grandchildren.

Roger Bacon's 1994-95 girls basketball team

After losing at the buzzer in the state championship the year prior, the Roger Bacon girls basketball team had a single-minded focus on redemption in the 1994-95 season. Coached by Tom Singleton, the Spartans returned all but two players and had an undefeated season with inside powers Jenny and Sarah Mueller and outside shooting from Katie Kelsey and Anne Schaefer. In the title clash with fellow unbeaten Elida, Schaefer set a tournament record with nine straight 3-pointers, scoring a career-high 27 points. The team's 12 total 3-pointers was also a championship game record. The game ended in a 64-48 victory for the Spartans, Roger Bacon's first girls state championship.

Holmes' 1977-78 boys basketball team

Perhaps the best team in Northern Kentucky history, Holmes' 1997-1998 season lives in infamy for the way it ended. The team was coached by Reynolds Flynn and led by LaRosa's Hall of Famers Doug Schloemer and Dicky Beal. Schloemer, in his senior year, won Kentucky's Mr. Basketball that year, while Beal would go on to win the Ted Sanford Award in 1980. With just one regular season loss all season, to Shelby County, the Bulldogs seemed poised to avenge their loss in the state championship.

Beal scored a go-ahead goal with just four seconds to play, but a Shelby County three-quarters-court pass to Charles Hurt resulted in an overtime-forcing bank shot. Right out of the gates in overtime, by his own admission, Hurt committed a goaltending penalty by blocking a shot with his hand through the hoop, but the call was not made by officials. Instead, it was Shelby County securing a 68-66 state title victory. Schloemer scored 25 points in the game, finishing his career as Holmes's all-time leading scorer. He and John Wimzie were both first-team all-tournament selections, while co-captain Mark Moeves was an all-state honorable mention. Other members of the team included Tony Malik, Phil Davis, Todd Riley, Maurice Green and David Derkson.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: LaRosa's Sports Hall of Fame announces 51st class