12 Benton County male athletes — past to present — get nod as best in their class

The Scorebook Live Washington website came out with its top male high school athletes from Benton County recently, and it mentioned 12 of them, including four main athletes.

Here is that list, alphabetically:

• Adam Carriker, who was a 2002 Kennewick High graduate.

Carriker is mostly remembered as a quarterback for the Lions, who went on to star as a defensive end for the University of Nebraska — a school he had always wanted to play for as a young child.

Carriker then spent five seasons in the National Football League with the Rams and the Redskins.

• Gene Conley, a Richland High grad.

Conley played both professional baseball and basketball, earning world championships in both sports.

He spent 11 seasons in the Major Leagues as a pitcher, including four seasons as an all-star pitcher.

Conley spent another six seasons — simultaneously while playing baseball — with the Boston Celtics of the NBA.

The 6-foot-8 Conley spent a lot of time as Bill Russell’s backup, and he was part of the 1959-61 stretch run of consecutive NBA titles the Celtics won.

I remember my father telling me that in high school, Conley would be playing in a baseball game for the Bombers, then call timeout to run over to the high jump pit — in his baseball uniform — and jump for Richland High School in a track meet.

Conley passed away in 2017.

• Ray Mansfield, who starred in football for Kennewick High.

The offensive lineman went on to play for the University of Washington, and was a big key for the Huskies in winning the 1960 Rose Bowl.

He went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he played in 182 games for them.

Mansfield passed away in 1996.

• Bob Weissenfels, a 1986 Hanford High graduate who went on to star at the U.S. Naval Academy in football.

He was a co-captain in the 1989 season, and he was the team’s leading tackler for two consecutive seasons.

Weissenfels also made the United States Olympic team, and was part of the U.S.’s 4-man bobsled team in the 1992 Winter Olympics.

Another eight men were named honorable mention in the article:

• Travis Buck, Richland High, was a six-year major leaguer and now is the hitting coach for Boise State University’s program.

• Darrel and Dwayne Keller, Kennewick High grads who were wrestling state champions, and then went on to college powerhouse Oklahoma State University, where they won three NCAA titles between them.

• Kellen Moore, the Prosser High product who was part of 50 career victories as quarterback for Boise State University (the most among FBS QB’s), went on to a six-year NFL career, and currently is the offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys.

• Scot Pollard spent his senior basketball season at Kamiakin, helping lead the Braves to the state semifinals. He went on to star at Kansas before embarking on a 10-year NBA career.

• Mike Reilly, who was a quarterback at Kamiakin High before transferring to a high school in Montana to finish his prep career. Reilly set numerous school records as QB at Central Washington University before becoming a star in the Canadian Football League.

• Ray Stein was an all-state basketball player at Richland High in 1963 and 1964, who then went to Washington State University to become a three-year starter and a two-year captain for the Cougars.

• Russ Swan was a left-handed pitcher from Kennewick High who spent six seasons in the major leagues as a tough reliever.

Rademacher passes away

I found out a few weeks ago that Pete Rademacher passed away on June 4 in Sandusky, Ohio.

Rademacher grew up in the Yakima Valley, played football for WSU, and was an Olympic and professional boxer.

He had a 72-7 record as an amateur fighter.

But his popularity soared in 1956 when he made the United States Olympic team. That year, in Melbourne, Australia, Rademacher would win the gold medal in the heavyweight division.

He finished those Olympics by being the flag bearer for the U.S. in the closing ceremonies.

Eight months later, Rademacher made his professional debut by fighting world champion Floyd Patterson at Sick’s Stadium in Seattle.

Rademacher would knock Patterson to the canvas in the second round. But Patterson got up and floored Rademacher seven times before winning in the sixth round by a knockout.

Rademacher would go on to have a 15-7 professional record.

In 2000, he was inducted into the Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame — now called the Tri-Cities Sports Hall of Fame — coming in with the hall’s second class.

Suffering from dementia, Rademacher was 91 when he passed away.

Signings

• College Place High School senior Audrey Sanchez has agreed to play softball next year at Clark Community College in Vancouver.

• Dylan Grogan (Stanfield), who played baseball the past few years at Blue Mountain Community College, has signed a letter of intent to play next year for Oregon Institute of Technology.

• Masie Hancock (Riverside) is headed to College of Idaho. Hancock played volleyball last fall for Blue Mountain CC and will do so this fall for the Coyotes.

Notes

• Sebastian Gutierrez is a 6-foot-6, 295-pound offensive lineman who will be a senior this fall playing football for Minot State University.

A Pasco High graduate, Gutierrez was named to the second-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division offensive unit for his play in 2019.

The Beavers were 3-8 last season.

• Last month, the Three Rivers Road Runners club announced that all five multi-series events — plus the kid’s triathlon and the Columbia Crossing Swimming event — have been canceled for 2020 due to the coronavirus.

The club did say those events will return in 2020.

The next local event on the club’s calendar, right now, is the Indian Summer 5K and half marathon, which is set for Sept. 26.