Note that Michael Bennett is currently in prison (unless his sentence was shortened).
Alan Ameche, Kenosha, (graduated in) 1951: A three-year varsity player, the fullback really shined his final two seasons when he earned all-state distinction. The 1950 Kenosha team is considered one of the finest in state history and it was fueled by Ameche, who had 821 yards and 18 touchdowns in 102 carries as a senior. The Iron Horse, who won the 1954 Heisman Trophy at Wisconsin, was voted the all-time top player when the Milwaukee Journal revealed its Team of the Century in 1993. He was also a track standout who won a state title in the shot put in 1950.
Michael Bennett, Milwaukee Tech, 1998: As a freshman, he won the 200 meters to help the Trojans win the Division 1 state title. As a senior he set an all-divisions state meet record of 10.33 seconds in the 100 that still stands. The all-divisions 200 record of 20.68 that he set that year lasted until last spring. He was also an all-state football player who rushed for more than 4,200 yards and had 20 interceptions. He went on to play football at Wisconsin and in the NFL for 11 seasons.
Robert “Rocky” Bleier, Appleton Xavier, 1964: He is known most for his exploits on the football field, where he was a two-time all-state selection who didn’t lose a game in his final three seasons. A future four-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bleier was a first-team running back on the Journal’s Team of the Century. He was also an all-state selection in basketball and a standout in track and field.
Suzy Favor, Stevens Point, 1986: The three-time Olympian is one of the state's biggest all-time winners. She won 10 individual state track/cross country titles and was the first girl to win four state cross country championships. Her all-divisions state-meet record in the 1,600 of 4:48.57 lasted 15 years, and her 800 record of 2:09.88, which was also set in 1985, wasn’t broken for 30 years.
Bud Grant, Superior, 1945: Before he played in the NBA and NFL or coached the Minnesota Vikings, Grant was a four-year varsity football player for Superior at a time when it was extremely rare for a freshman to play at that level. He also starred in basketball, leading the school to the 1942 state tournament, and in baseball, where he was an American Legion standout at a time when the school didn’t have a team.
David Greenwood, Park Falls, 1979: He earned 12 letters at Park Falls, where he won six state track and field titles, including four straight in the high jump. He played baseball for two seasons and hit .600. Greenwood was so talented in football that the universities of Wisconsin and Michigan waged a recruiting war for his services before he selected the Badgers. He went on to help the Michigan Panthers win the first USFL title and later spent two seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
Sonja Henning, Racine Horlick, 1987: The Rebels standout wrapped up her prep basketball career as the state's all-time scoring leader with 2,236 points and then went on to become an All-American at Stanford, where she started on the Cardinal's 1990 national championship team. At Horlick, she also played tennis and ran track, winning state titles in the 400 and 400 relay as a senior when the Rebels won the team title.
Elroy Hirsch, Wausau, 1941: “Crazylegs” starred at Wausau in football, basketball and baseball. He was best known, however, for his work on the gridiron, where his play earned him a place with Ameche and Bleier as first-team running backs on the Journal’s Team of the Century. His skills eventually took him to the University of Wisconsin and then to Michigan and eventually to the NFL Hall of Fame after a 12-year career.
Mike Jirschele, Clintonville, 1977: A big-time winner for the Truckers, Jirschele led the school to a state basketball title as a senior in 1977. That was the sport he earned the most distinction for in high school. However, he was also a standout quarterback who led Clintonville to a state runner-up finish in 1976. He committed to Wisconsin to play football and baseball but signed with the Texas Rangers after being drafted in the fifth round.
Pat Richter, Madison East, 1959: The Purgolders great was a high school All-American in football and basketball. He led East to a state basketball title as a junior. He played those sports and baseball at Wisconsin, where he remains the school’s only nine-time letterman since 1927.
Casper played in his senior season in 1969 for Chilton (Wis.) High School, after three years at St. Edward Central Catholic in Elgin, Ill.
In eight games during the '69 season, Chilton was undefeated and outscored its opponents 363-0.
-who was good but not a legend like Arike. In Wisconsin high school Arike scored more than Henning in her career and was dominant her senior year winning the state championship (see liked article). To me Arike had a better All American college career as she became the all time scoring leader at ND. Henning was a point guard at Stanford and is not on any of Stanford( top 10 scoring lists, but she still has their career record for assista, 2nd for steals, and 7th for minutes played.
Both women won NC their junior years and both were tops in their conference,Still Arike's Final 4 exploits and records make her better here. Beyond college and high school, they both won World championship Gold on USA teams in high school. The only difference was, Henning was a standout pro while Arike is just starting her pro career. Still I doubt Henning will make the basketball HOF, which I think Arike has a good chance to make if she has a reasonable pro career (ala Ruth Riley). They both were legends at ND.
As for other sports, they mentioned Sonja's high school exploits in track, but Arike was a standout in soccer. Her soccer coach, a 25-year veteran, said she was the best player he's ever directed as Arike was part of four Wisconsin State Cup-winning soccer teams. Starting junior year she gave up soccer to focus on bball, which ND certainly benefitted on as well as her high school team. In fact on Arike' Wikipedia it mentions her as the best women's overall athlete in the ACC "Shortly after the end of the 2017–18 school year, the Atlantic Coast Conference named her as its female Athlete of the Year across all sports, sharing honors with men's winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville football."
I am sure having two ND athlete's may have been a problem when they made this list and clearly all the other folks on the list played ihigh schooln the last century. Bennett and Henning are the only athletes who even played pros in this century. Although Favor did run in the 2000 Olympics before she took on her more infamous career post athletics.
If Arike does well in the pros, I'd say she should replace Henning on future lists.
Also congrats to Rocky.
I actually heard her interviewed a few years ago. It seemed sad because it sounded like she gave up a lot of things growing up in order to the best and I wondered if things would have turned out differently if her life had been more normal.