Ark Valley News - Record-setters

Record-setters
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: September 12, 2019

Coach, Wildcats to be inducted

A renowned coach and a couple of Hornets turned Wildcats will be inducted into the Valley Center High School Activities & Athletics Hall of Fame Sept. 6.

They are Ron Bowen, who coached football in the late 1960s and early 1970s and pioneered the school's wrestling program; Bob Daniels, a multi-sport athlete who went on to a stellar football career at Kansas State; and Morgan Wedekind, a long-distance runner who shattered school records, became a Big 12 champion and is the youngest hall of fame inductee.

A ceremony honoring the Class of 2019 inductees will take place during halftime of the football game at the District Stadium.

Ron Bowen

Bowen coached what many regard as one of the best football teams in the history of Valley Center High School (the undefeated 1970 squad) and compiled an overall record of 44 wins and 20 losses. He also was known as the father of Valley Center wrestling, starting the program from scratch.

Bowen taught and coached in Valley Center from 1968 to 1975.

"We had some pretty memorable times down there," said Bowen, who is retired and living in Holton.

Known as an old-school disciplinarian who expected a lot from his players, Bowen's impact is still felt today.

"He did a lot to form your character off the field, besides being a really good coach," said Tony Wilbur, who played on the football team and graduated from VCHS in 1975. "… There were a lot of people during that time frame that he was a real influence on. Being a disciplinarian, he walked the walk. He did exactly whatever he asked you to do. I really respect him."

Bowen said the successes his teams experienced were the result of a combination of factors: good athletes, hard-working players, and good assistant coaches. And discipline, he added.

"I maybe had to help them along with that at times," Bowen said.

Bowen came to Valley Center in 1968 from Bluestem High School.

He coached two undefeated league championship football teams in 1970 and 1973.

Bowen started the wrestling program in 1969. He said he started a program at Bluestem before coming to Valley Center. He coached several state qualifiers and Valley Center's first state champion, Kyle Morgan, in 1973.

After leaving Valley Center, Bowen coached football at Topeka Washburn Rural for 23 years, winning three 5A state championships with two undefeated seasons.

He was inducted into the Kansas High School Hall of Fame as a coach in 2008 and the Shawnee County Hall of Fame in 2019.

Bowen said the induction into the Valley Center Hall of Fame means a lot to him, and he's grateful for the honor. He also is proud to see how his former players turned out.

"It's really nice to see how they've grown up and done well for themselves in their fields," he said. "It's good to stay in contact with them."

Bob Daniels

When Daniels was 8 years old, his father took him to the professional football hall of fame in Canton, Ohio.

Daniels remembers thinking he was going to be in that shrine some day.

That goal and passion drove Daniels to become one of the best football players in Valley Center High School history and a remarkable player at Kansas State, which led to a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.

"I didn't quite make it (to Canton), but wanting it really helped me," Daniels said.

Daniels was all-league in football and basketball in 1980 and 1981.

He won 4A state titles in the shot put and discus in 1981. He still holds school records in both events (55 feet, 10.75 inches in shot put and 167-10 in discus).

Daniels also holds a school record for the most rebounds in a single basketball game (22). He was part of the state-qualifying basketball team in 1979.

"I hope it inspires someone else to break them," Daniels said of the records. "There's no better accolade for an athlete than to inspire someone to break their record."

After graduating in 1981, Daniels, a defensive lineman, earned a scholarship to Kansas State University.

He was Academic All-Big 8 in 1981, 1982 and 1983, received defensive honors in 1983 and was named a team captain in 1984.

Daniels was on the first Kansas State team to participate in a bowl game (Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., in 1982).

He left Kansas State during the spring of his senior year to sign a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1985.

An injury the year before slowed him down, Daniels said, and the NFL strike in 1986 cut his professional career short.

Daniels went on to earn a degree from Wichita State in business administration and economics. He stayed involved in Valley Center for several years before moving to Oxford in 2014 to start Sunflower Shrimp, an indoor saltwater shrimp production facility.

"My success was always a reflection of the support the town people gave athletes along the way and of my teammates," Daniels said. "I feel good to represent them."

Daniels will join his sister, Jeanne Daniels, in the VCHS hall of fame.

Morgan Wedekind

The minute she reached high school, all Wedekind did was win and break records.

A 2013 graduate, Wedekind left VCHS as a two-time state champion and four-year medalist in cross country, a two-time state champion and four-year medalist in the 1,600-meter run, a state champion and three-year medalist in the 3,200, a four-year state medalist in the 800, and a key member of the cross country and track teams that placed third at state.

In her first high school cross country race, Wedekind won the event and set a school record. She did the same thing in the 1,600 during the spring track season of her freshman year. During her junior year, Wedekind won every single cross country race she entered, until state, where she placed second.

She continued that pace right through graduation and left VCHS as the best female distance runner in the history of the school.

Her school records still stand (5:07 in the 1,600 and 10:55 in the 3,200).

At Kansas State, Wedekind was a Big 12 champion in the 3K steeplechase and had the second all-time fastest finish in school history. She was a member of the KSU track and field team that won two Big 12 team championships, qualified for the USA championships in the steeplechase, placed 10th in the conference in cross country and was a Top 25 finisher twice at cross country regionals.

Wedekind said competing against some of the top runners in the world in college was a challenge that she relished. It pushed her to improve.

"Every day, you had something to work towards," she said. "…"My focus was just straight on getting better and contributing to my team."

If all that was written about Wedekind focused on her athletic accomplishments, her story would be incomplete, coaches say.

"Morgan is a very talented athlete and she's a tremendous person," VCHS track and cross country coach Amber Russell said. "She always worked hard and was humble."

Russell said Wedekind was a team player in a predominantly individualized sport.

"She constantly worked to better herself while being fully invested in helping her teammates maximize their abilities," Russell said. "Her strength and humility as a person and as a runner set her apart from others. The legacy she has left behind at VCHS and at KSU is one for others to follow. I can think of no better person to be inducted into the VCHS athletic hall of fame."

Wedekind graduated from KSU with a degree in communication sciences and disorders and is pursuing a master's degree in speech pathology. She plans to be finished by the end of summer 2020.

Wedekind said she was happy to hear from her former coach Lonnie Thiessen, who broke the news of her induction into the hall of fame.

"It definitely was unexpected," she said. "It was kind of exciting to hear from coach Thiessen. It was a nice pleasant surprise. … It's just kind of a nice blessing. I've just been really blessed."