Who are the best multi-sport athletes in Manhattan High's history?

Jun. 12—By winning a state title in tennis to go with state crowns in cross country and track, Dan Harkin has entered the conversation about the best athletes in the history of Manhattan High School.

A discussion about that topic always ends up being about the criteria, since "best athlete" is entirely judgmental.

If the criteria include success in high school at two or more sports, it's hard for anybody to top Harkin. He won individual state championships in three different sports. I can't think of anybody else who can say that, and I've been paying close attention for 40 years. He's also probably the best distance runner in the school's history, and perhaps the best tennis player.

Of course, if the criteria are different — success after high school, or some sort of judgment about overall athleticism — then the discussion goes in entirely different directions.

For success after high school, it's probably Gary Spani. He's in the College Football Hall of Fame and the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame. Right up there would be Deb Richard, who won multiple titles on the LPGA Tour after an outstanding college career and three consecutive individual state titles at MHS. My cousin, Anna Seaton, earned an Olympic bronze medal in rowing and was a member of the America's Cup sailing team. All three are on the MHS Wall of Fame, which is about notoriety achieved after high school.

If it's absolute dominance in one sport, then Amy Oberhelman is near the top. Multiple-event state champ in swimming, still all over the school record board, 30 years later. Janel LeValley dominated distance running in the late 1970s and still holds the school record in the 800. Pinkie Suggs was all-everything in the throwing events, and still holds records in shot put and discus. Sam Hankins, a 2020 grad, dominated the javelin and won state for three straight years, losing a chance for a fourth (and a state record) when the pandemic wiped out his senior season.

If it's all-around athleticism, MJ Massanet earned 14 varsity letters. In that conversation also would be guys like Tom Thaemert, Ben Oleen and Ryan Wilkinson, outstanding in football, basketball and baseball. Also Susie Norton, a standout in basketball and track who went on to play softball and field hockey at K-State.

People who play team sports — volleyball, football, soccer — are at a bit of a disadvantage in this discussion compared to people in individual sports like tennis, golf, track and cross country. If a guy is a world-class left tackle, what stats can he possibly rack up? Also, record keeping from early decades of high school athletics is terrible, and I don't have personal knowledge past the mid-1970s, so my list tilts to the past half-century. It also tends to favor boys, since girls have had fewer opportunities until more recent years.

But it's not unreasonable to establish the criteria as: Success (meaning accomplishments such as state titles) while at MHS in two or more sports. And if that's the measuring stick, Harkin has to be right at the top.

As an aside, I also would say that the combination of athletic abilities underlying Harkin's accomplishments is hard to overestimate. Distance running is all about grinding endurance moving in a straight line, usually best performed by a beanpole. Tennis is about eye-hand coordination akin to hitting a baseball; stop-and-start explosive quickness, particularly side-to-side, like a defender in basketball; delicate touch like a golfer around the green; and the ability to hit a powerful serve, which is most akin to throwing a 90 mph pitch in baseball. To possess all those skills — and to be able to stay steady mentally in a win-or-lose zero-sum-game like wrestling — while ALSO being able to outrace gazelles over two miles is just mind-boggling.

Last month, the guy won the league title in the 1,600 one day, the next day won two matches against tough opponents in the first day of the state tennis tournament, ran eight miles that night, won the semis and finals the following day, and then ran another eight afterward. He's also not a beanpole. He's big and strong. We're talking about a real athletically gifted human being.

In cross country, he blew away the competition to win two state crowns, setting a school record in the process. He won a state championship in the 3,200 in track, set a school record in that event, and helped the boy's track and field team win two state championships by qualifying in three events. In tennis, he also finished third as a sophomore and had a chance to compete for a state title as a junior wiped out when the state canceled the season in the coronavirus pandemic. This year he won the title without dropping a set.

Others worth considering, in no particular order:

— Mark Wentzel, a Parade All-American running back who led MHS to the state title game in 1984, running for 1,000 yards both as a senior and junior, and going undefeated to win two state wrestling championships.

— Sonny Ballard: State champ in pole vault and high jump; all-state in basketball; very good football and baseball player (before there was a high school baseball program.) Went on to play basketball at K-State for Tex Winter.

— Ann Hollingsworth: Miss Basketball in Kansas in 1991, and a member of a state championship-winning girls' golf team in 1991. Individually won at least one golf tournament that year.

— Maurice Benson: All-state tailback, defensive player of the year as a cornerback, led MHS to state title in 1988; honorable mention all-state in basketball; third in state in high jump.

— Andrew Gerth: Three-time all-state soccer player, finished his career as the all-time leading scorer at MHS; track and field medalist in javelin, hurdles and triple jump. Also a starter on the basketball team.

— Helen Bundy: All-state in volleyball, all-league in basketball, state medalist in high jump.

— Thomas Randolph: All-state football player and sprinter; still holds school record in the 100. Went on to play in the NFL.

— Becky Thaemert: All-state in volleyball, all-league in basketball and track.

— Tim Jankovich: All-state basketball player, state medalist in cross country.

I should note that there are a couple other contenders in the '21 graduating class. Damian Ilalio was an all-state defensive tackle in football and a state champ in wrestling. And Dayne Aschenbrenner was a three-year starter as quarterback, setting records along the way, also earning several honors in baseball. The multi-sport athlete is not dead.

I could go on, and I'm certain I'm leaving out lots of contenders.

The only real point here is that with a reasonable definition of terms, young Mr. Harkin is among the best ever.