She was the Golden Girl of ladies figure skating for nearly a decade. The world took early notice of Carol Heiss Jenkins when she was the 1951 U.S. Novice champion and the 1952 national junior champion. The following year, she became the first woman to land a double axel in competition. The native of New York City was only warming up when she won the first of five consecutive world championships in 1956, but had to settle for a silver medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy. There was no stopping her after that as the United States and world championships belonged to her from 1957 to 1960, with her career culminating in a gold medal performance at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. She stayed in the public eye for a time with the distinctive movie “Snow White and the Three Stooges” in 1961 and as a television commentator. Her marriage to gold medalist Hayes Jenkins in 1960 brought her to Akron. Two decades later, the lure of the ice took her to Lakewood’s Winterhurst Rink where she became one of the nation’s top skating teachers. During more than 25 years at Winterhurst, she has coached internationally ranked skaters Tonia Kwiatkowski, Jeni Meno, Lisa Ervin, Timothy Goebel, Miko Ando and Parker Pennington. Residing in Westlake with her husband, she was a 2001 inductee to the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame.
Rarely does a Division III basketball player make it to the NBA. Barry Clemens not only made it, but carved out an 11-year career, including two seasons, 1972-73 and 1973-74, with the Cavaliers. Clemens was born in Dayton and grew up on a 200-acre farm in Xenia, Ohio. At Xenia High School, where he graduated as the Salutatorian in 1961, Clemens starred in basketball while also running track and cross country. Recruited by numerous Division I colleges, including Ohio State and Ohio University, he instead chose to attend Division III Ohio Wesleyan. In four seasons at OWU, Clemens finished as the school’s and Ohio Athletic Conference’s career leader in scoring, leading the Battling Bishops to a 71-23 record. His career high at OWU of 41 points came against Baldwin-Wallace in January 1965. The New York Knicks made Clemens, a 6-6 forward, the 19th pick of the 1965 NBA draft. It was a draft that also included Bill Bradley, Rick Barry, Walt Frazier and Billy Cunningham. In 11 seasons with five teams, used primarily as a reserve noted for his deadly perimeter shooting, Clemens averaged 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds. Today, he is Managing Director for Wachovia Securities and lives in a Cleveland western suburb with Vivian, his wife of 42 years. They are the parents of three children: Justin, Jennifer and Matthew.
You have seen Bobby Brown hundreds of times over the years. But you never noticed him, and that’s just how he liked it. Involved in basketball and football officiating for half century, all Brown wanted everyone to know was that the call on the floor or field was the right one. It nearly always was just that. After attending Rhodes High, Baldwin Wallace College and a Captain’s tour with the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, Brown settled down with his wife Dorothy in Parma. He began officiating basketball and football games in 1948 and never stopped. He spent 33 years working football games, 24 at the collegiate level. He was president of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials-Board No. 55 in 1959-60. Besides 25 sectional, 23 district and 18 regional high school tournaments, he refereed three state football championships. In Cleveland, he officiated 14 city championship basketball games and 12 football title games. He has been a high school basketball rules interpreter and spent 24 seasons as an observer for the Ohio Athletic Conference football officials and 24 as Cleveland State’s basketball observer. Somehow he found time to serve terms as the Parma School Board President in the 1960’s and head the Cleveland Touchdown Club in the 1980’s. Numerous awards have come Brown’s way over the years for his steadfast dedication and unassuming dignity. At age 90, he adds this latest honor in his typical humble fashion. It’s the right call once again.
Deceased.
A 5-foot-9, 178-pound wide receiver willing to go over the middle to catch a pass in the National Football League is one tough customer. Brian Brennan did it for nine seasons, eight of them with the Browns. Whatever Brennan lacked in size, he more than made up for it in courage. Brennan caught the attention of NFL scouts in the early 1980’s when he was on the receiving end of passes thrown by heralded Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie. He holds the single-season BC record for catches (66) in 1984. The Browns made Brennan a fourth-round selection (104th pick overall) in the 1984 draft, and it turned out to be one of the great fourth-round picks in franchise history. In eight seasons with the Browns (1984-91), Brennan had 315 catches (currently tied for fourth in club history), with 20 touchdowns. Brennan’s best season with the Browns was in 1986, when he made 55 catches for 838 yards and six TD’s. One of the most memorable TD grabs Brennan made occurred in the AFC Championship game against Denver in January 1987. Brennan’s 48-yard catch from Bernie Kosar gave the Browns a 20-13 lead with 5:43 left in the fourth quarter. The Cleveland Stadium crowd smelled the Browns first Super Bowl appearance. Alas, it never happened. What unfolded instead was “The Drive”, John Elway’s 98-yard march that ended with a touchdown, after which the Browns went on to lose in overtime. Brennan, whose career ended with the Bengals and Chargers in 1992, had 334 receptions during his career for 4,338 yards and 20 TDs in 132 NFL games. Married to wife Bethany, Brennan is an executive for KeyBank Corporation and has served as the Director of Football Operations at Gilmour Academy.
Bill Borchert saved his best for last.
After a standout career at Holy Name High, the prolific playmaker took his talents to Mount Union College in Alliance. The Division III powerhouse was still in its infancy when it came to national championships; the Purple Raiders had just one to their credit when Borchert hit campus in 1994. After going 22-3 his first two season, including a pair of losses in the playoffs, Borchert guided the Raiders to consecutive 14-0 seasons and two national titles, jump-starting Mount Union’s 54-game winning streak. Along the way, his numbers, like those of the Raiders, were staggering. He completed 671 of 1,009 passes for 10,201 yards and 141 touchdowns. In the 1996 Stagg Bowl win against Rowan, he passed for a record seven touchdowns and 505 yards. A year later, the Raiders racked up 697 yards of offense against Lycoming, with Borchert supplying six scoring passes and 411 yards. Those feats did not go unnoticed as he was named the Division III national player of the year as a junior and senior, earning both the Melberger Award and Gagliardi Trophy in his final season. The Cleveland Touchdown Club honored him with the Joe Fogg Memorial Award as the premier collegiate player in 1997.
Borchert is in software sales for IBM, based in Cleveland, and lives in Broadview Heights with his wife Erin and daughters Lauren and Emily.
One of the first great female tennis players, Mary K. Browne was a three timesNational Singles champion and five time National Ladies Doubles champion, won the Ladies Doubles championship of England at Wimbledon and twice captained the International Wightman Cup Team. She was also the first female tennis player to turn professional, started the first woman’s tennis clinic in America and was one of the first women to be enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
One of the first Cleveland natives to win the Ohio high school state championship (1945) and the first player to win four tennis letters at Michigan State University, Robert Malaga captained the U.S. Junior Davis Cup Team. He competed in numerous major tournaments, including the USLTA National Championships at Forest Hills and won several Cleveland City championships in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
One of area’s most successful players, Monte Gagner reigned as Cleveland and Ohio Junior Doubles champion (with Paul Atkinson) from 1921 to 1924 and as Men’s Ohio and Cleveland Doubles champion (with brother “Dutch” and John Dorr) from 1933 to 1946. Began Senior competition in 1951 and was a finalist in 30 USLTA National Championships events, winning 14 national age group championships.
Two-time winner of the National Clay Court Father-Son Doubles Championships and a National Clay Court champion in the Senior 45 doubles, Kirk Reid won ten Greater Cleveland singles crowns and 12 doubles titles between 1920 and 1932. He also captured 20 Ohio and New York State or Regional championships, plus approximately 60 lesser titles. Kirk ranked as high as 13th nationally in men’s singles, third in Senior 45 singles, fifth in father-son doubles and sixth in Senior 45 doubles.
Clark Graebner served as player-coach for the Cleveland Nets in World Team Tennis in 1974 and also played in 1975. He won three U.S. Men’s national singles titles and six doubles titles between 1963 and 1971. He recorded 16 singles wins and four doubles wins in 11 Davis Cup ties over a five year period. Clark was ranked in the Top Ten in U.S. Men’s Singles eight times in nine years between 1964 and 1972, and was in the Top Ten in doubles nine times between 1962 and 1971, including the top ranking from 1965 to 1967.