Lakin High School celebrated another chapter of Bronc history as five individuals and one team were honored during the 5th Annual Lakin High School Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
This year’s Hall of Fame class included Coach Bob Reed, athletes Darcy Jennings Calkins, Tom Edwards and Bill Wilson, contributor Kim Lohman, and the 2003 Lady Broncs Volleyball Team. Together, the inductees represent generations of athletic success, leadership, service and Bronc pride.
Coach Bob Reed
Bob Reed served as head coach of the Lakin Broncs basketball program from 1992 to 2002, compiling an impressive 144-79 record during his time at Lakin.
Under Reed, the Broncs captured Hi-Plains League regular season championships in 1996, 2000 and 2002, along with HPL Tournament titles in each of those same seasons. His teams also won the Southwest Classic Invitational Tournament in 1995 and 2002 and made three trips to the State Tournament.
His coaching career at Lakin reached its high point in 2002 when the Broncs completed a perfect season and captured the Class 3A State Basketball Championship.
Reed's impact at Lakin extended beyond basketball. He coached track in 1994 and 1995, leading the Lady Broncs to back-to-back HPL and Regional championships. The boys also captured the HPL championship in 1995.
Reed was named the Hutchinson News Class 3A Coach of the Year in 1993 and was inducted into the Kansas Coaches Hall of Fame in 2009.
Now retired, Reed resides in Andover with his wife, Sandy.
2003 Lady Broncs Volleyball Team
Few teams in Lakin High School history have put together a season quite like the 2003 Lady Broncs Volleyball Team.
The Lady Broncs finished an incredible 41-5, going undefeated in Hi-Plains League play and capturing both the HPL regular season and tournament championships.
Their season continued all the way to the Class 3A State Championship match, where Lakin finished as State Runner-up after falling to Silver Lake in what remains the highest-scoring championship match in Class 3A Tournament history.
Five Lady Broncs earned All-HPL recognition. Darcy Jennings and Kacy King were named First Team, Kyree Steinle earned Second Team honors, and Emilee Williams and Taryn Beymer received Honorable Mention recognition. Jennings, King and Steinle were also selected to the Garden City Telegram All-Area Team.
Jennings was named the Kansas Volleyball Association Class 3A Player of the Year, while Lakin received recognition as the KVA Class 3A Program of the Year.
Members of the historic team were Lovena Woelhoff, Danielle Bergkamp, Kelsie Yakel, Kayla Hoover, Nicole Wilken, Jackie Lund, Kyree Steinle, Kacy King, Emilee Williams, Sedera Wilkison, Taryn Beymer and Darcy Jennings. The team was led by Head Coach Steve Davidson and Assistant Coach Tony Helfrich.
Darcy Jennings Calkins
A 2005 Lakin High School graduate, Darcy Jennings Calkins built one of the most accomplished all-around athletic careers in Lady Bronc history.
Calkins was a four-year letter winner in volleyball, basketball and track, excelling at the league, regional and state levels.
In volleyball, she was part of four consecutive HPL regular season and tournament championship teams. She was a three-time unanimous All-HPL selection and helped Lakin reach the State Tournament three consecutive years from 2002 through 2004. She was a member of the 2003 State Runner-up team and was named the KVA Class 3A Player of the Year.
On the basketball court, Calkins helped the Lady Broncs win three SCIT championships and the 2004 Sub-State Championship. She earned First Team All-HPL honors in 2004 and finished her career with 986 points, placing her among Lakin's all-time leading scorers.
Her track career was equally impressive. Calkins collected numerous HPL and Regional championships in the hurdles and triple jump. At State, she won the 100-meter hurdles and triple jump championships in 2003 and earned several additional State medals throughout her career.
She was named the 2005 Bronc Award winner and 2005 Lakin Female Athlete of the Year.
After Lakin, Calkins continued her athletic career at Wichita State University before attending Adams State University. At Adams State, she earned multiple Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors in volleyball, including First Team recognition in 2009. That season, she ranked 24th nationally in kills and third nationally in blocks. She also competed in track and qualified for nationals in the 400-meter hurdles.
Calkins eventually returned home and is now the head volleyball coach at Lakin High School. Entering the 2026 season, she had compiled a 225-83 coaching record, winning five HPL regular season championships and seven consecutive HPL Tournament titles.
From athlete to coach, her impact on Lady Bronc athletics continues today.
Tom Edwards
The late Tom Edwards, a 1989 graduate of Lakin High School, was honored for an outstanding career in football, basketball and track.
Edwards was a three-year football letterman and helped the Broncs capture HPL championships in 1987 and 1988. The 1988 team finished 11-1 after an undefeated regular season and advanced to the State quarterfinals.
He earned First Team All-HPL honors in both 1987 and 1988 and received postseason recognition from the Garden City Telegram, Hutchinson News, Wichita Eagle and Topeka Capital-Journal.
Edwards was also a standout on the track. He was part of HPL championship teams in 1988 and 1989 and captured the 1989 HPL championship in the 300-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 39.6 seconds.
At the State level, Edwards was a member of championship relay teams in both the 4x100 and 4x400, helping establish new school records along the way.
His accomplishments earned him the 1989 Bronc Award.
Following graduation, Edwards played football at Dodge City Community College before continuing his career at the Colorado School of Mines. He later served as a graduate assistant at Mines and graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.
Edwards passed away in 2019, but his legacy continues through his family and the memorial scholarship established in his name, which is presented annually to a Lakin High School senior.
His Hall of Fame honor was accepted by his parents, Tim and Delores Edwards; his wife, Aimee; and his daughter, Emilee.
Bill Wilson
Representing an earlier generation of Bronc excellence was Bill Wilson, a 1957 graduate of Lakin High School.
Wilson competed in football, basketball and track, but it was in the pole vault where he became one of Lakin's best athletes of his era.
A four-year track letterman, Wilson helped the Broncs win three consecutive HPL championships from 1955 through 1957.
He finished as the Class B State pole vault runner-up in 1955 before tying for the State Championship in 1956. As a senior in 1957, he won a Regional championship with a vault of 11 feet, 10¾ inches, establishing a new Lakin school record, before once again finishing as State runner-up.
Wilson also competed at the prestigious KU Relays, placing fifth in the pole vault in both 1956 and 1957.
Following high school, Wilson attended Fort Hays State University on a track scholarship and became a four-year letterman for the Tigers. He later earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Fort Hays State and a master's degree from Ball State University.
Wilson spent decades in education, teaching biology at Larned, Hugoton and Chadron, Nebraska. After farming in the Ulysses area, he returned to education and taught for another 27 years in Waynoka, Oklahoma. Along the way, he also coached football, basketball and track.
Wilson currently resides in Oklahoma City with his wife, Beth.
Kim Lohman
The Hall of Fame also recognized someone whose contributions to Lakin athletics cannot be measured simply in wins, records or championships.
Kim Lohman was inducted as a contributor after decades of service to Lakin schools and the Hi-Plains League.
A 1974 graduate of Kendall High School, Lohman was a three-sport athlete in volleyball, basketball and track. She competed in the first girls State Basketball Tournament in 1972 and qualified for the first girls State Track and Field Meet.
She continued her athletic career at Fort Hays State University, becoming the first female four-year letter winner in school history as a member of the Lady Tigers basketball team.
Lohman came to USD 215 in 1985 and filled countless roles over the decades that followed.
She taught business at Lakin High School from 1996 to 2015, served as USD 215 treasurer from 2002 to 2025, spent 23 years as HPL secretary/treasurer and served as Lakin's Athletic Director from 2002 through 2015. She also spent 25 years coaching middle school basketball.
Her service extended far beyond those official titles. Through the years, Lohman worked concessions, kept score, announced baseball and softball games, worked track meets, ran the volleyball scoreboard, sponsored cheerleading and even spent several years behind the camera recording Bronc football games.
Her work earned numerous honors, including KIAAA Athletic Director of the Year recognition and the 2019 HPL Community Award for her years of service to the Hi-Plains League.
She was also able to watch her sons, Toby and Brady, compete at the State level for Lakin, including Brady's role on the undefeated 2002 State Championship basketball team.
And perhaps one of Lohman's most lasting contributions cannot be found in a record book.
She is credited with creating a phrase that has become part of the identity of Lakin schools and the community:
“Always a Great Day to be a Bronc.”
Honoring Bronc History
The fifth Hall of Fame class represents more than individual statistics and championships. Its members span decades of Lakin High School history and include athletes who set records, coaches who built championship programs, a team that made an unforgettable run at a State title, and a contributor who spent decades working behind the scenes for generations of Bronc athletes.
Their accomplishments may have taken place in different eras, but each has left a lasting mark on Lakin High School.
The Lakin High School Athletics Hall of Fame ensures those accomplishments, and the people behind them, remain a part of Bronc history for generations to come.
Always a Great Day to be a Bronc.