By VINCE FRYE, Chairman
Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee
The selection committee for the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame has selected local sports greats Bob Benoit, Jim Golden, Kelsey (Chipman) Stringer and Nick Stringer as the Class of 2024 for induction into the local shrine on June 26.
Former PBA bowling star Bob Benoit, now the head coach at Seaman, will be inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame on June 26 at Washburn University. [PBA Facebook]
Silver Lake baseball legend and former Major Leaguer Jim Golden will be inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame on June 26. [Submitted photo]
Kelsey (Chipman) Stringer, a former volleyball star at Washburn Rural and Kansas State, is a member of the 2024 Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame induction class. [Kansas State Athletics]
Former Hayden state champion and Kansas State All-Big 12 offensive lineman Nick Stringer will be inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame on June 26. [Kansas State Athletics]
TopSports.news, in partnership with A-1 Lock and Key, Washburn University, Capital Label, Peggy's Tax and Accounting and the Jamie Hornbaker State Farm Insurance Agency, will host the 19th annual Topeka Shawnee County Sports Awards/Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 26, 2024 at Washburn's Memorial Union.
Benoit was a star on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour in the 1980s and 1990s with four PBA titles and he was the first bowler to ever roll a perfect 300 game in a televised title match. Benoit is currently the boys and girls bowling coach at Seaman High School and he has coached the Vikings to three state team championships.
Golden carved out a legendary high school career at Silver Lake, leading the Eagles to back-to-back state baseball titles while establishing strikeout records that still stand today. Golden went on to pitch in the Major Leagues for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Colt .45s.
Kelsey (Chipman) Stringer and Nick Stringer will become the second husband-wife duo inducted into the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame, joining James Patrick and Nadira (Hazim) Patrick.
Kelsey starred at Washburn Rural and Nick at Hayden, where they both were part of state championship teams, before both went on to play at Kansas State, with Kelsey earning All-Big 12 recognition in volleyball and Nick earning first-team All-Big 12 honors in football as an offensive lineman.
Shawnee County's top senior high school student-athletes will be also be honored on June 26th.
Shawnee County high schools Cair Paravel Latin, Hayden, Highland Park, Rossville, Seaman, Shawnee Heights, Silver Lake, Topeka High, Topeka West and Washburn Rural have been asked to nominate one female and male candidate with a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average as outstanding student-athlete nominees for the fall, winter and spring seasons. County high schools have also been asked to nominate a female and male candidate for most inspirational athlete.
A committee of local media members will select the 2024 winners, including the selection of overall female and male athletes of the year.
Washburn Rural's Brooklyn DeLeye and Highland Park's Tre Richardson were named the overall athletes of the year in 2023.
The nominees for this year's high school awards will be announced in early June after the conclusion of the spring high school season.
In addition, TSN will recognize Braden Rose and Khloe Schuckman as Washburn University's 2023-2024 male and female Athletes of the Year.
Hall of Fame Class of 2024 capsules:
BOB BENOIT
Benoit is a former standout on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour and is currently the boys and girls bowling coach at Seaman High School.
Benoit was active on the PBA Tour in the 1980s and 1990s, winning four PBA titles between 1988 and 1993.
Benoit is probably best known for being the first bowler to ever roll a perfect 300 game in a televised title match, as well as the fifth PBA bowler to throw a televised perfect game overall.
He accomplished that feat in a 300-225 win over Mark Roth in the Quaker State Open on January 23, 1988 at the Forum Bowl in Grand Prairie, Texas. Only two other players have rolled 300s in a televised title match since Benoit's feat -- Mike Autry in 1993 and Tommy Jones in 2020.
The 300 game came in Benoit's first-ever title match, as well as his first appearance in a telecast, making him the first bowler in history to score 300 in their very first TV appearance. Benoit would later be on the other end of a televised 300 game, losing 300–236 to Butch Soper in a stepladder match of the Hilton Hotels Classic in July, 1994.
Benoit had 28 career top-five finishes and made it to the final match on eight occasions, winning the Quaker State Open (1988), the Bud Light Classic (1991), the Beaumont PBA Doubles Classic (1991) and the El Paso Open (1993).
In 2018 Benoit became the head coach at Seaman and has led the Vikings to three state team titles (two boys, one girls), highlighted by a boys-girls championship sweep in 2022.
Benoit's boys and girls teams have combined for 10 top-three state finishes in six seasons.
JIM GOLDEN
Jim Golden, a Silver Lake High School graduate, won 11 varsity letters for the Eagles in baseball, football and basketball before going on to pitch in the Major Leagues.
Golden, a right-handed pitcher who batted left-handed, led Silver Lake's baseball team to the state title in his junior year, 1953, and Golden’s performance that season helped cement him as a local legend.
In one game, Golden struck out 31 hitters in 14 innings and in the state title game, he pitched a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts. The next year, he struck out a state-record 185 batters and the Eagles won the state title again.
Golden also excelled in American Legion baseball, where he won two state championships and played against Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson in Legion competition.
After high school Golden signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for $7,000 and pitched five seasons in the minor leagues. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958 as part of a deal for future Major League manager Sparky Anderson.
In 1960 Golden won 20 games and had a 2.32 earned run average for the St. Paul Saints, earning a promotion to the Major Leagues for the Dodgers. Golden made his Major League debut in the final week of the 1960 season against the Chicago Cubs and got the win in his only appearance that season, allowing five runs in seven innings. Hall of Famer Don Drysdale closed out the 7-5 win with two scoreless innings of relief.
Golden spent the entire 1961 season with the Dodgers, posting a 5.79 ERA in 28 relief appearances, before he was selected by the Houston Colt .45s with the 37th pick in the expansion draft prior to the 1962 season. He would make 37 appearances in 1962, including 18 starts, going 7-11 with a 4.07 ERA and two shutouts. A highlight was a three-hitter against the Pittsburg Pirates when he struck out future Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski twice each. The other shutout was a five-hitter against the Dodgers and Drysdale.
Golden, who was inducted into the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, saw his time in the Major Leagues, shortened by a shoulder injury in 1963
KELSEY (CHIPMAN) STRINGER
Stringer joins her father, legendary Washburn basketball coach Bob Chipman, in the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame after putting together an oustanding career at Washburn Rural High School and Kansas State.
Kelsey was part of Washburn Rural High School's first ever Class 6A volleyball state championship team, playing for Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Famer Kevin Bordewick with the Junior Blues. That Rural team was inducted into the Washburn Rural Hall of Fame in 2017 and (Chipman) Stringer was inducted individually earlier this year.
She was named the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year and 6A State Player of the Year at Rural and was a 6A All-State first-team selection in volleyball in 2004 and 2005, with honorable mention recognition in 2003. Stringer was also named to the 6A All-State team in basketball and was part of the 6A state runnerup team in 2003 and received multiple All-City and all-league honors in volleyball and basketball.
Stringer was named Top 5 Best of the Best in Volleyball for Topeka/Shawnee County and a part of the Top 125 athletes in Topeka/Shawnee Country history. She was inducted into the Kansas Volleyball Association Hall of Fame in 2022.
Stringer competed for the Kansas State volleyball team in from 2006-2009 seasons and was a four-year starter and voted team captain during her career.
Kelsey holds the K-State record for the most career blocks (518) and also holds the record for solo career blocks (463). She has the most blocks ever in a five-game match (15) as well as the most solo blocks in a three-game match (4). Her 15 blocks against Colorado in 2006 also set a Big 12 Conference record that still stands today.
Stringer ranks in the top three at Kansas State for career hitting percentage efficiency (.329). She was an All-Big 12 Conference selection in 2009 and was named the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week and Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week on multiple occasions.
She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Life-Sciences/Pre-Medicine and she continues to stay connected to Kansas State University volleyball today as a play-by-play broadcasting analyst for their televised matches.
NICK STRINGER
Stringer was a multi-sport athlete for Hayden High School, including an undefeated Class 4A state football championship as a senior in 2004 while playing for his father, Tom.
At Hayden, Stringer was rated as the top offensive lineman in the state. As a senior Stringer played primarily at tight end on offense and defensive end on defense.
Stringer caught 22 passes for 348 yards and five touchdowns during his senior season and posted 104 tackles, three sacks and 16 tackles for loss.
Stringer was a two-time All-Centennial League and All-City performer during his prep career.
After earning first-team All-State honors at Hayden, Nick signed with Kansas State out of high school.
After redshirting as a freshman in 2005, Stringer appeared in 43 games for the Wildcats from 2006-09, earning first-team All-Big 12 accolades as a senior and All-Big 12 honorable mention as a junior in 2008.
Stringer played for both Ron Prince and legendary Wildcat coach Bill Snyder at Kansas State.
After completing his collegiate career, Stringer signed a free agent contract with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals.
