By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame will induct four local greats on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the Cyrus Hotel in downtown Topeka.
Former Shawnee Heights and Washburn University multi-sport star Jessica Mainz will be one of four 2026 Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame inductees on Oct. 14. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Powered by the Topeka Area Sports Commission and sponsored by the Bill Kennedy Driving School, the event will induct Jessica Mainz, C.B. McGrath, Mit Winter and Sam Winter as the Class of 2026.
Mainz is a former Shawnee Heights and Washburn University multi-sport star while McGrath was a multi-sport star at Topeka West and basketball guard at the University of Kansas before embarking on a long coaching career.
Mit and Sam Winter, both Washburn Rural graduates, will be the first brothers inducted into the local shrine. Mit and Sam both starred in basketball for Rural before going to to become standouts at William and Mary and Harvard, respectively.
The formal induction ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. in the Cyrus Hotel ballroom and conclude at 6:30. The evening will connect the newest class with those already enshrined and celebrate the athletic legacy of Topeka and Shawnee County.
The Topeka Shawnee County Hall of Fame honors past area athletes, coaches and contributors who have made a lasting mark on the Topeka community through sports.
The annual recognition preserves their stories and provides an opportunity to celebrate the people whose accomplishments have helped shape the community’s sports tradition.
Hall of Fame capsules:
JESSICA MAINZ -- A multi-sport star at Shawnee Heights, Mainz went on to earn All-America honors and two MIAA Most Valuable Player awards in soccer at Washburn University, scoring 47 career goals, and also earned two MIAA Defensive Player of the Year awards in basketball and became the first woman in conference history to receive MVP honors in two different sports. Mainz is a member of the Washburn and MIAA halls of fame.
C.B. McGRATH -- McGrath earned 13 varsity letters in four sports at Topeka West and was named Kansas Basketball Player of the Year in 1994. He played point guard at the University of Kansas under Roy Williams before joining Williams’ coaching staff. At North Carolina, he served as an assistant coach on the 2005, 2009, and 2017 NCAA national championship teams and later became head coach at UNC Wilmington.
MIT WINTER -- Winter earned All-State and first-team All-Centennial League basketball recognition at Washburn Rural before becoming a four-year basketball letterman at William and Mary. His collegiate highlights included a 36-point performance against James Madison, with a perfect 17-for-17 performance at the free throw line, and the university’s President’s Award for Leadership, Sportsmanship, and Citizenship.
SAM WINTER -- Winter earned All-State, first-team All-City and All-Centennial League basketball honors at Washburn Rural before continuing his career at Harvard University. He led the Ivy League in rebounding in 2003 and went on to play professional basketball in Switzerland.
For event information contact Mike Bell at
