The Lexington Herald-Leader Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year nominees are out, and 10 from Northern Kentucky are on the list.
The Sports Figure of the Year Award recognizes athletes, coaches or sports administrators at any level if he or she plays for a team in Kentucky, is from Kentucky or played for a college in Kentucky. Voters are asked to send in a Top 10 of the list of nominees, with a Top 10 announced prior to the top selection.
The 43rd Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year will be announced Jan. 30. The honor will be based on votes of media members from across the state. The 2022 winner was University of Kentucky men’s basketball star Oscar Tshiebwe.
The 10 nominees from Northern Kentucky are Steve Flesch, Jeff Hans, Darrin Horn, Julia Hunt, Reid Jolly, Lainy Kruger, Jacob Meyer, Jackson Smith, Jeff Walz and Marques Warrick.
Flesch, a former Covington Catholic and UK star on the golf course, won the Champions Tour Ascension Charity Classic by three strokes. He finished 30th on the money list of the tour last season.
Hans coached Thomas More to a 31-4 record last season and guided the Saints to the NAIA national championship, finishing runner-up.
Horn coached NKU to a second Horizon League title in the last four seasons, earning a berth into the NCAA tournament with a 22-13 record.
Hunt is a standout basketball and volleyball player at Holy Cross and helped lead the Indians to the All “A” state title last season. She earned MVP honors in the championship game with 21 points, 19 rebounds and eight blocked shots. She recently won Miss Kentucky Volleyball and the Kentucky Volleyball Gatorade Player of the Year.
Jolly recently jumped up to No. 2 in the program’s all-time scoring list in a Jan. 11 contest against University of Findlay. Jolly has scored 2,088 points as of the Saints’ Jan. 13 game with Hillsdale College.
Kruger is a Notre Dame Academy grad that repeated as state champion in the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke, leading the Pandas to a third-place team finish. She ended her high school career with five state championships and now swims for the University of Florida.
Meyer led the state in scoring for the second straight year with Holy Cross, averaging 36.8 points per game while also pulling down 8.4 rebounds per game. Meyer was named the All “A” Classic MVP, the Indians finishing runner-up as he scored 49 points. He set an All “A” record with 157 points in four games at the tournament and finished his career with 3,233 points.
Smith led Walton-Verona to a Class A state track and field title, the first team title for any sport at the school. He won the 100- and 200-meter dash and ran relay legs for the state champ 4×200 team and runner-up 4×100 team.
Walz, a Highlands grad, coached the University of Louisville women’s basketball team to a 26-12 record and led them to the Elite 8 for the fifth straight season.
Warrick was the Horizon League Tournament MVP and led NKU in scoring.
Warrick recently climbed up to No. 4 on the Norse all-time scoring list, he’s 116 points shy of the scoring record in a Norse uniform.