CINCINNATI — Five outstanding Greater Cincinnati high school athletes — all of whom went on to play their sport professionally — are among the latest inductees into the Buddy LaRosa's High School Sports Hall of Fame.
The 2023 LaRosa's Sports Hall of Fame electees are:
- Andrew Benintendi, Madeira High School, Class of 2013, baseball and basketball
- Rose Lavelle, Mount Notre Dame, Class of 2013, soccer
- Luke Maile, Covington Catholic, Class of 2009, baseball
- Cindy Stern, Mother of Mercy, Class of 1996, volleyball and basketball
- Adolphus Washington, Taft, Class of 2012, football and basketball
- Coach Dale Mueller, Highlands, Withrow, Sycamore, 1984-2013, football
- 2003-04 Mount Notre Dame basketball team
- 1986 Purcell Marian football team
- Dennis Janson, LaRosa's Special Recognition Inductee
The latest additions to the LaRosa's High School Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted during a ceremony in June 2024. This is the 49th year of recognizing local high school athletes and coaches.
The hall has honored 301 athletes and coaches and 14 top teams since its founding in 1975. It is the oldest and one of the only halls of fame of its kind in the country.
Here is the provided information about the electees:
Andrew Benintendi
Madeira High School
Class of 2013
Benintendi was a stellar two-sport athlete for Madeira and started all four years in basketball and baseball. He was named Ohio Division III Player of the Year in basketball and baseball in the 2011-12 season. He finished his high school career setting almost all of Madeira’s basketball records and baseball marks.
In baseball, Benintendi wound up with 213 career hits — still the second most in Ohio high school history. He scored a state-record 199 runs.
In basketball, he set Madeira school records in career and single-season points (1,753 and 638 free throws made (371 and 125) and three-point field goals (180 and 73).
He continued his stellar career at the University of Arkansas where as a sophomore in 2015 he was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, the SEC Male Athlete of the Year and the Baseball America College Player of the Year.
Benintendi made his major league debut in 2016. He has played for Boston, Kansas City, New York Yankees and is currently with the Chicago White Sox. He has won a Gold Glove and was a 2022 All-Star selection. Benintendi lives in Nashville.
Rose Lavelle
Mount Notre Dame
Class of 2013
Unquestionably the finest soccer player in Greater Cincinnati history, Rose Lavelle was an outstanding high school talent and went on to become an All-American at the University of Wisconsin and a member of the United States 2019 World Championship team.
A four-year varsity starter for MND, Lavelle never missed a start during her career. She graduated as Mount Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer with 57 career goals, including a single-season record-setting 18 goals as a junior. As a senior, she scored 15 goals with eight assists.
While at MND, Rose was a member of the United States Under-20 National Team.
A four-year starter at the University of Wisconsin, Lavelle made 19 appearances as a freshman, and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Lavelle, who was first-team All-Big 10 for four years, was named Big 10 Midfielder of the Year consecutively in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, she was also named first-team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, the first UW player to do so since 1991.
Lavelle started six games for the U.S. at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, scored three goals, and was awarded the Bronze Ball at the FIFA Women's World Cup awards as the third-best player in the tournament. Lavelle was named one of the world's top 11 players by The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 (finishing sixth), and was chosen as one of the world's top three midfielders by her professional peers in the 2019.
She was a member of the 2020 U.S. Summer Olympics bronze medal-winning team, and the national team for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Luke Maile
Covington Catholic
Class of 2009
An outstanding three-sport athlete, Luke was a dominating presence in both basketball and baseball, earning four varsity letters in each sport. He also played golf for the Colonels. He continued his exceptional baseball prowess at the collegiate and professional levels.
At CovCath, Maile was an inside force for the Colonels’ basketball team, racking up more than 1,000 career points. Luke received numerous post-season honors during his career including being named to First Team All-Northern Kentucky by the Kentucky Enquirer two straight years.
Baseball, however, is clearly his best sport as he was regarded as the top professional prospect in Greater Cincinnati in 2009. Luke was named the Gatorade Kentucky Baseball Player of the Year.
Maile went on to play catcher at the University of Kentucky where he was a three-year letterman.
Selected in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball Draft by Tampa Bay (242 overall) in 2012, Luke has played for Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Toronto. He joined the Cincinnati Reds in 2023.
Maile, and his wife Paige, live in Palm Harbor, Fla., with their daughters Evelyn, Collette and a third child on the way.
Cindy Stern (DeMartino)
Mother of Mercy
Class of 1996
Cindy Stern was a two-sport star for the Bobcats and went on to become an All-American in college and later played professionally in the United States Professional Volleyball League.
At Mercy, Stern earned six varsity letters — three in volleyball and three in basketball.
In volleyball, Stern was player of the year in the Girls Greater Cincinnati League (1996), a first-team all-city selection by both The Cincinnati Enquirer and Cincinnati Post and a third-team all-state selection.
She signed a college volleyball scholarship with Clemson University, where she went on to become the first All-American volleyball player in Atlantic Coast Conference history. Stern was ACC Player of the Year (1999) and was selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America team.
Stern was inducted into the Clemson University Hall of Fame in 2005. Stern played professionally on the U.S. Professional Volleyball League’s Dream Team from 2000-01.
Cindy Stern DeMartino is a Product Manager Sr. Diagnostics with Medline Industries, LP. She and her husband, Cliff DeMartino, reside in Chicago.
Adolphus Washington
Taft
Class of 2012
There is little doubt that Adolphus Washington should be regarded among the finest athletes ever to play at Taft High School.
A two-sport superstar in football and basketball, Washington was a high school All-American in football and was selected as Ohio’s Gatorade Player of the Year in basketball.
He played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and was invited to the Under Armour All-America Game. He was ranked as the No. 1 player in Ohio and No. 21 in the nation by Scout.com.
As a senior, Washington had 90 tackles, 23.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and an interception for a touchdown during the regular season. In three years at Taft, Washington had 342 tackles, 56.5 sacks and six fumble recoveries.
In basketball, Washington powered Taft with a 23.1 points average and 14.4 rebounds during the regular season. He was named a state co-player of the year for the second straight year. As a junior, he helped to lead Taft to its first Ohio team state championship in basketball.
At Ohio State, he played in 47 games, with 142 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks and one interception. Drafted in the third round of the NFL by Buffalo, Washington played two-plus seasons with the Bills. Washington lives in Cincinnati and is self-employed.
Coach Dale Mueller
Highlands, Withrow and Sycamore
1984-2013
In 20 seasons at Highlands, Mueller posted a 250-36 won-loss record and led Highlands High School’s football teams to 11 state championships with four runners-up. Under Mueller’s leadership, Highlands ended its seasons ranked nationally eight times, finishing as high as third in the USA Today poll in 2009.
Mueller also coached six seasons at Withrow High School (48-12) and three seasons at Sycamore High School (11-19). Overall, he has compiled a 309-67 record during his 29-year career.
He was recognized with numerous awards over his career. He was inducted into the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2022.
Mueller lives in Fort Thomas, with his wife, Patty. They have four adult children and 10 grandchildren.
Dennis Janson
LaRosa's Special Recognition Inductee
1968-2019
To the best of his recollection, the first time Dennis Janson ever spoke into a microphone was during his senior year at Elder High School in 1968. He had a part-time job answering the request line at WSAI-AM radio and somehow Elder Athletic Director Fr. Edward Rudemiller thought that qualified him to make Friday final period announcements over the PA system.
Little did anyone suspect those two-minute, end-of-week sports schedule bulletins would lead to a nearly 50-year broadcasting career that embraced seven radio stations, four television affiliates, three cable networks and now two halls of fame.
It was while at UC that he migrated to WKRC-AM and WKRC-TV as a weekend radio news anchor, Channel 12 production assistant, fill-in weather man, entertainment editor and eventually sports director as part of the legendary Nick Clooney, Ira Joe Fisher Eyewitness News team of the early 1980s.
He was enlisted to join the LaRosa's High School Hall of Fame selection committee. That role expanded to include serving as master of ceremonies for the induction banquet, a position he relished for 27 years, even as he wrapped up a 28-year stint as sports anchor for WCPO-TV.
2003-04 Mount Notre Dame basketball
Coach Dr. Scott Rogers
Team record: 28-0
Mount Notre Dame High School has been blessed with great talent and multiple state championships in girls' basketball, but perhaps the finest team was the 2003-04 undefeated Ohio Division I state champions.
Led by Ohio’s Ms. Basketball and LaRosa’s Hall of Famer, Mel Thomas, the Cougars were one of three teams in the state Final Four who were undefeated. Chaminade Julienne was favored as the No. 1-ranked team in United States and Ohio.
The state final was supposed to belong to Chaminade Julienne. MND had other thoughts. The Cougars led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter. Thomas scored 21 points to lead Mount Notre Dame on her way to being named the state tournament’s most valuable player.
1986 Purcell Marian football
Coach Herb Woeste
Team record: 14-0
The Cavaliers overpowered just about every team it played that season. It was a remarkable accomplishment given that the team was unranked and totally off everyone’s radar and it wound up the city’s No. 1 team, the Ohio Division II state champion, the only undefeated team in Ohio and was regarded No. 4 in the country in USA Today's final poll.
Led by quarterback John Paul Case, tight end Jay Koch and an overwhelming defense led by nose guard Cliff Pope, Koch at linebacker and strong safety Scott Barnett, the Cavaliers played primarily a Division I schedule. It included the eventual Division I state champion Fairfield, along with Moeller, Roger Bacon, Wyoming, Oak Hills, and neighborhood rival Norwood. The Cavs finished 14-0, setting five school records along the way.
