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LT Lee (left) and Chelsea Crouch, Bonner Springs High School seniors, accept a plaque as Athletes of the Year. The award is given to multi-sport athletes voted on by BSHS head coaches. Lee plays football, basketball and runs track. Crouch plays tennis, basketball and softball.

Prior to my appointment as the sports editor in Bonner Springs, I spent three and a half years covering sports in nearby Lansing.

Thanks to the close proximity, as well as the Kaw Valley League affiliation of both Bonner Springs High School and Lansing High School, I've had the opportunity to watch - albeit at somewhat of a distance - the growth and progress of the BSHS sports teams ever since this year's senior class started high school.

Many times the schools played head-to-head, or in the case of cross country, wrestling and track, they participated at the same meets. Occasionally I even shot photos or wrote stories for The Chieftain during that time. In doing so, I met numerous BSHS athletes and coaches, and I got to find out what many of them are all about.

I met a lot of classy kids, but few names were typed into articles or box scores as many times as the names Chelsea Crouch and L.T. Lee. Not coincidentally, both just received the Bonner Springs High School Athlete of the Year Award.

That award is a pretty big deal at BSHS. It's as much a part of the school's history as school busses and the graduation ceremony itself. This is the 50th year the award has been presented.

Some winners have gone on to play at the college and professional levels. Others have had successful careers in other outlets. All, without question, have made a major impact at BSHS.

Crouch and Lee are no exception.

Crouch has been a mainstay on the varsity softball team, playing as a sure-handed infielder and a dangerous catcher. She's also been a defensive stalwart for the basketball team, and last fall she advanced to the Class 5A state tournament in tennis.

Lee's name has flowed off P.A. announcers' tongues after numerous standout performances during an illustrious football, basketball and track career.

Both will continue their playing careers next year; Crouch on the softball team at Kansas City Kansas Community College, and Lee on the football team at Missouri State.

As somebody who often covered "the other side" during their careers, I have firsthand knowledge that Crouch and Lee were players that gave opposing coaches fits.

Whether talking with them myself or hearing other reporters who've covered their careers talk about them, I've learned that both are not just top-notch athletes, but they're great people too.

Their names have been added to the plaque of past Athlete of the Year award winners, and they definitely belong.