Northern Kentucky has an extensive history in sports. A long journey. Years. centuries.
We’re aware that you’ve seen these lists before, but this is a fresh and original method to introduce you to our 50 Northern Kentucky sports icons, one every day for the next 50 days.
There are halls of fame all around NKY, including the Thomas More, Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, NKU, and other area high schools.
We ll preface this series by saying this, some of you may disagree with who should or shouldn t be in the top 50 and that s fine. Plenty are in the Hall of Very Good, but we feel these 50 are the one s who stuck out to us.
Every Monday at noon, you’ll receive a weekly summary of the NKY sports headlines.
A number of local NKY sports history enthusiasts were consulted by Sports Editor Evan Dennison in order to gather their thoughts and recommendations of who ought to be included in the 50 sports icons. After compiling each list, we created our own 50 (perhaps cheating a little by including families as one) to present over the course of the following 50 days.
I hope you have fun as summer progresses!
Bill Krumpelbeck is the 42nd of the 50 sports legends. Having coached Covington Catholic baseball for 48 years, Krumpelbeck holds the second-highest win total in KHSAA baseball history.
KRUMPELBECK, BILLCharles Bolton donated the photo of Bill Krumpelbeck.
Bill Krumpelbeck, one of the most admired individuals in Kentucky high school baseball history, ended his illustrious 48-year tenure as head coach of Covington Catholic with 1,149 victories, which is the second-most in the history of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. The Colonels won nine regional titles, 22 district titles, and the 2002 KHSAA state championship while he was their coach. The 2002 squad finished 40-3, securing their spot in state history and having the most victories of any high school baseball team in the country that season.
The influence of Krumpelbeck went much beyond the diamond. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Xavier University. He began teaching biology at CovCath in 1976 and taught for 46 years, developing a reputation as a dependable teacher, mentor, and educator. Known lovingly as Coach Krumps, he led his program to decades of steady success by creating not only winning teams but also a winning culture. Throughout his tenure, his teams consistently had 20-win seasons and finished with a 1,149-485 record, or a.703 winning percentage.
Years before his most successful seasons had even come, Krumpelbeck was elected into the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1999. His final team advanced to the Ninth Region playoffs, whereas his previous two teams finished 31-6 and 21-12. He was one of only 14 coaches in the country to have more than 1,000 career victories as of 2025, which speaks much about his exceptional leadership, consistency, and passion for the game.
Over the following 50 days, view the 50 sports icons on a daily basis.
Dave Cowens on the first day
Shaun Alexander on Day Two
Homer Rice on Day Three
Dicky Beal on Day Four
Jared Lorenzen on Day 5
Day 6: Jim Bunning
Day 7: Ellis, Tom
Day 8: Nate Dusing
Day 9: Jim Connor
Steve Cauthen on Day 10
Day 11: Irv Goode
Day 12: Steidel, Stan
Day 13: Shields, Kenney
David Justice on Day 14
Day 15: Morgan Hentz
Eddie Arcaro on Day 16
Nancy Winstel on Day 17
Day 18: Flesch, Steve
Day 19: Donna Murphy
Day 20: Randy Marsh
Day 21: Yeagle, Mike
Derrick Barnes on Day 22
Day 23: Dale Mueller
Day 24: Faust, Dave
Kirsten Allen on Day 25
Day 26: The family of Oldendick
Day 27: Hils, Martin Mote
Day 28: Nel Fookes
Day 29: Hauck, Owen
Day 30: Becky Ruehl
Day 31: Tom Thacker
Day 32: Moss, Sydney
Bob Schneider on Day 33
Day 34: The family of Walz
Day 35: Toebben, John
Day 36: Pat Scott
Day 37: Arnzen, Bob
Day 38: Mazzaro, Joan
Day 39: Jacobs, Frank
Day 40: Hundemer, Adrienne
Day 41:
The Draud family
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