Lorenzen, Mason highlight latest NKY Sports Hall of Fame class

Jared Lorenzen from his junior year at Highlands. FTM file.

Four Highlands graduates and one Newport Catholic alum are being inducted into the latest NKY Sports Hall of Fame. 

Highlands greats Jared Lorenzen, Matthew Mason, Brittany Menninger Frakes and Tom Noe as well as Craig Risheberger from Newport Catholic are the new inductees. 

Randy Marsh to Be Guest Speaker at Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Randy Marsh, a Covington native who worked as a Major League Baseball umpire from 1981 to 1999 and throughout both major leagues from 2000 to 2009, will be guest speaker for the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame Inductee Ceremony on Wednesday, February 16, at the Villa Hills Civic Club, 729 Rogers Road.

Famed MLB umpire Randy Marsh will be guest speaker at the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame Ceremony February 16 at the Vila Hills Civic Club.

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Joe Brennan, president of the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, announced five new members will join the famed hall at the ceremony.

“The public is always invited to the event,” Brennan said, “and there is no charge. Ceremonies get underway at 1 p.m.”

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Marsh umpired in the World Series in 1990, 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2006, serving as crew chief for the last three Series, and in the All-Star Game in 1985, 1988, 1996 and 2006, calling balls and strikes for the 1996 game.

He is the tenth umpire in history to serve as crew chief for three World Series.

Marsh also officiated in nine League Championship Series (1989, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2009) and in five Division Series (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2006). He had been a crew chief from the 1998 season until his retirement following the 2009 season.

A graduate of Covington Holmes High School, the 72-year-old Marsh was inducted into The Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. He is also a member of the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.

Four out of the five inductees are Highlands High School grads

All the inductees include:

Brittany (Menninger) Frakes — A 2004 graduate of Highlands High School, she was a team member of the winning Bluegrass Soccer Games while in eighth grade. As a freshman, she was a member of the Cincinnati Classics.

She was a four-year varsity track star at Highlands and team captain in her senior year. She qualified for the State Championship in the 200-meter dash as a freshman — one of only three in the entire Commonwealth.

As a sophomore, she was a member of the 4×200-meter relay that won the state title. She earned medals at state all four years and was named KTCCA All-State as well as All-Region in 2002.

For three consecutive seasons — 2002, 2003 and 2004 — she was awarded Highlands’s best sprinter as well as the Lou Moore Memorial Award for Outstanding Performance in Track and Field.

Presently, she holds top-ten records in the 200-meter, 4×100-meter relay, 4×200-relay and the 4×400 relay.

Jared Lorenzen (posthumously) — A 1999 Highlands High School graduate, the quarterback passed for a Northern Kentucky record 2,759 yards and 37 touchdowns his junior season. As a senior, those numbers ballooned to 3,392 yards and 45 touchdowns.

Lorenzen also rushed for 904 yards with 15 touchdowns while leading the Bluebirds to the State Championship.

That Highlands offense scored 801 points — sixth in national history — and 493 yards-per-game – third in history.

Named to three All-American teams, he was Mr. Football in Kentucky, received the Frank Camp Award and the Roy Kidd Award as the top player in the state.

At the University of Kentucky, he was named a semi-finalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award in 2000 and 20002, as well as All-SEC First Team 2000 by College Football News. He was Freshman of the Year in 2000.

His NCAA records include: Total yardage by a freshman, passing yardage by a freshman, pass completions by a freshman, pass attempts by a freshman, total offensive plays by a freshman.

His SEC records include: Total offensive plays in a season, 635; pass attempts in a season 539.

UK records include: Plays in a season and career; yardage in a game and career, pass attempts in a season, passing yardage in a game.

Lorenzen played three seasons in the NFL with the New York Giants and won a Super Bowl ring in 2007.

Matthew Mason — A three-sport star at Highlands High School, the 1996 graduate was quarterback on the football team, point guard on the basketball team and catcher on the baseball team.

A two-year football starter, he led the Bluebirds to state runners-up as a senior. He was team MVP and captain and was a Top 24 selection by the Kentucky Post.

He was a three-year basketball letterman — but he was heads and shoulders above all in baseball where he led Highlands to the Ninth Region Championship as team captain and MVP as a senior.

He was named an All-Conference All-Star in both his junior and senior seasons.

Her played two years of baseball at Eastern Kentucky University and transferred to Northern Kentucky University.

He was named to the all-Ohio Valley Conference Team and All-South Region team while at Eastern.

At Northern, he led the Norse in home runs in both his junior and senior seasons, and was named to the Great Lakes Valley Conference All-Star Team.

Tom Noe — Noe was a hurdler, long-jumper and triple jumper, yet the 1988 grad of Highlands High School’s specialty was the high jump.

He was a four-year letter winner in track and field and two-time captain.

In 1988 he was named All-Conference, All-Region and All-State — and was named the Kentucky Post Athlete of the Year.

Noe won the Class AA State Championship as a senior, clearing six-feet, 10.75 inches in the high jump. That mark set the overall state record which was eventually broken in 1997. His jump is still the Class AA record — it was tied once in 2012.

A four-year scholarship followed to the University of Indianapolis (1988-1992), and he holds the following university records:

Freshman indoor and outdoor high jump: six-feet, eight-inches

Varsity indoor: six-feet, 10-inches; varsity outdoor: seven-feet, 3.25-inches

In 1992 he was tabbed an All-American in the high jump — still the lone All-American in school history.

He was inducted into the University Hall of Fame in 2005.

Craig Risheberger — The 1970 Newport Catholic High School graduate was a starter on both the basketball and baseball team for three seasons.

The Thoroughbreds won the Ninth Region title his sophomore year and made it to the state semi-finals as a senior.

He had a career batting average over .350 — he pitched and played the infield.

In basketball, he led the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky region in scoring his senior year with a 24.7 points-per-game average. His career-high was 42 points — twice. He’s a member of the 1,000-point-club — 1,280 — he was a First Team All-Ninth Region, First Team All Greater Catholic League and a member of the National Honor Society. 

He attended Thomas More University (1970-74). During his junior season, his team upset Division I Xavier University, 65-64 — he scored 12 in the win.