13th Cloud County Athletic Hall of Fame class to be inducted Jan. 26

Cloud County Athletics
David Wilson, Sports Information Director

CONCORDIA — Cloud County Community College has selected three members to be enshrined as the 13th Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted the evening of Saturday, Jan. 26 when the basketball teams host Independence Community College as part of Homecoming weekend.

The three Cloud County greats who will be honored that evening are Chad Myers, Kellyn (Johnson) Taylor and Kelli (Silvey) Kuennen.

Myers attended Cloud County from 1993-94 and was a two-time NJCAA Division II Region VI runner-up and national qualifier for the men’s golf team.

The native of Manhattan, Kan. continued his career for his hometown Kansas State University Wildcats from 1994-96, competing in two Big Eight Championship tournaments. Myers would also play on the Just Play Golf Tour from 1996-98.

Myers began teaching the game of golf while still in college and currently serves as the PGA Professional Club Manager at the Wamego Country Club, where he earned Golf Professional of the Year honors for the Midwest Section of the PGA in 2018.

Taylor was a cross country and track standout for Cloud County (2005-06) and Wichita State (2007-09).

She still owns the school records at Cloud County in the indoor distance medley relay (12:38.33), 1,000-meter run (2:57.90), mile run (4:59.50) and outdoor 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:25.90).

Taylor, 31, is a professional runner for the Northern Arizona Elite and plans to compete in the 5,000 meter, 10,000 meter and marathon Olympic Trial events in 2020.

In July of 2018, Taylor became the first American female in nearly a decade to win the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn.

Her time of two hours, 24 minutes and 28 seconds shattered the previous event record of 2:26.32 and, according to FloTrack, was the seventh fastest all-time marathon performance for an American woman.

As for Kuennen, the 1995-96 softball star still holds school records for wins, innings pitched, strikeouts and earned run average, punctuated by a sophomore season that saw her go 35-7 with a 1.46 earned run average and 206 strikeouts in 244 innings pitched.

Her efforts earned her First-Team All-Region VI and Second-Team All-American honors from the NJCAA in 1995-96.

Kuennen, originally from Lenexa, Kan., continued her education and playing career at Emporia State University where she’d earn Second-Team All M.I.A.A. in 1998 after posting 19 wins, a 2.41 earned run average and 69 strikeouts.

The induction ceremony for the 13th Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame class will be held at halftime of the men’s basketball game against Independence Community College on Saturday, Jan. 26. Action gets underway that evening at 6 p.m. with the women’s game. The men’s game will follow at 8 p.m.

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