July 2014 – Page 8 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Hunt, Vermes, Conrad to be inducted into Sporting Legends

Sporting Club announced on Tuesday the three newest members of Sporting Legends.

Peter Vermes, Jimmy Conrad and the late Lamar Hunt will be inducted into the hall of honor during an on-field ceremony at Sporting Park during halftime of Sporting Kansas City’s match against the Philadelphia Union on Friday.

An initiative launched in 2013, Sporting Legends pays tribute to club icons and provides a platform for inductees to re-engage with the local soccer community. Vermes and Conrad were selected among five finalists via a weighted vote through social media and SportingKC.com.

Sporting Kansas City’s manager for the past six seasons, Vermes is the second-longest serving head coach in team history. He has won two major trophies – the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the 2013 MLS Cup championship – as well as two MLS Eastern Conference regular season titles (2011, 2012). He owns a .570 winning percentage as manager, best among any coach in club history.

As a player, Vermes was one of the team’s most imposing defenders. He anchored the backline from 2000-2002, starting 78 games and garnering MLS Defender of the Year honors in 2000. Kansas City allowed just 29 goals in 32 regular season games that year with 17 shutouts en route to winning the MLS Cup and MLS Supporters’ Shield. He earned 67 caps for the U.S. Men’s National Team from 1988-1997 and competed at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. Vermes, the only person to win the MLS Cup as both a player and a coach with the same team, was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2013.

“To be honored as a Sporting Legend is not only a proud moment, but a humbling accolade from the perspective of all the great people that have been involved in shaping this organization,” Vermes said. “I thank all those that voted for me and I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this organization for as long as I have. I have never and will never take the opportunity to represent Kansas City for granted.”

Conrad made 204 appearances for the club from 2003-2010 and scored 17 goals, the most by a defender in team history. He guided Kansas City to the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and an appearance in MLS Cup later that season. The centerback was a six-time MLS All-Star (2004-2009), a four-time MLS Best XI selection (2004-2006, 2008) and the 2005 MLS Defender of the Year. He also captained the club from 2006-2009.

Conrad earned 27 caps for the U.S. Men’s National Team, winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2005 and competing at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He won MLS Cup in 2001 with the San Jose Earthquakes.

“After plying my trade for eight years in a city that I came to know and love, I am incredibly honored to be recognized as a Sporting Legend,” Conrad said. “I want to thank everyone along the way who gave me the confidence to become that caliber of player and I can’t emphasize enough how much this induction means to me and my family.”

Sporting Club selected Hunt as an honorary inductee for his pivotal role in founding Major League Soccer, the Kansas City professional soccer organization and pioneering the sport’s growth in the United States. The Hunt Sports Group owned the Kansas City Wizards from their inaugural 1996 season until 2006, as well as the Columbus Crew (1996-2013) and Dallas Burn/FC Dallas (2003-present). A 1992 inductee into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Hunt was awarded its Medal of Honor in 1999. Clark Hunt, chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs, will attend Friday’s ceremony on his father’s behalf.

“My family and I are thrilled that my father Lamar will be inducted into the Sporting Legends hall of honor this weekend,” Clark Hunt said. “Although he always shied away from individual accolades, I know that this honor would have been especially meaningful to him, because of his unwavering affection for the sports fans in Kansas City and his unbridled passion for the sport of soccer in the United States. We are very grateful to our partners and friends at Sporting KC for recognizing Lamar, and we look forward to the ceremony at beautiful Sporting Park this Friday.”
– Story from Sporting KC

K-5 repair, resurfacing project to begin in Wyandotte County

On Thursday, Aug. 7, a pavement repair and resurfacing project will begin on a 2.25-mile stretch of K-5 from I-635 to Sunshine Road in Kansas City, Kan.

Also, project work will take place on the ramps at I-635-18th Street, K-5-18th Street and K-5-10th Street. Project work includes pavement patching on K-5 mainline lanes and patching, milling and asphalt overlay on all ramps (listed above). Work will take place during daylight hours (sunrise to sunset), Monday through Friday with some occasional Saturday work.

Traffic control installation work begin the week of Aug. 4 and then starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7, northbound and southbound K-5 from I-635 to Sunshine Road will be reduced to one lane each direction, 24/7 round the clock throughout the project duration. There will be a 12-foot lane width restriction and a 45 mph posted speed limit through the project work zone throughout the project duration.
Project work will first be completed on all adjacent ramps during two full 24/7 weekend closures followed by the patching work on K-5 mainline lanes.

The ramps from northbound and southbound I-635 to 18th Street, southbound I-635 to eastbound-northbound K-5, 18th Street to eastbound-northbound K-5 and southbound-westbound K-5 to 10th Street will be closed, 24/7 round the clock, beginning at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7, and will reopen to all traffic at 6 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 11. A marked detour will be provided. I-635 to K-5 ramp traffic will detour to Leavenworth Road then back on northbound I-635 to K-5.

Updated daily traffic information for this project and for the entire Kansas Metro Area can be viewed online at www.ksdot.org/kcmetro/laneclose.asp.

Drivers should expect delays and must allow extra time during their daily commutes. The Kansas Department of Transportation urges all motorists to be alert, obey the warning signs, and slow down when approaching and driving through the project work zone.

Realm Construction Inc., Blue Springs, Mo., is the primary contractor on this rehabilitation project with a total contract cost of $1.32 million. Project work is scheduled to be completed in late August 2014, weather permitting.

This project is funded by T-WORKS, the transportation program passed by the Kansas Legislature in May 2010. Find out more about these and other T-WORKS projects at: http://kdotapp.ksdot.org/TWorks/.

New KCKCC athletic trainer has college, pro experience

by Alan Hoskins

Texas native Kinsey Mascorro worked an athletic trainer internship at Kansas City Kansas Community College last summer and liked it so much, she’s back as a fulltime athletic trainer.

Mascorro brings experience at both the collegiate and professional levels in joining KCKCC’s award-winning staff of head trainer Rodney Christensen and Ryan Arens.

“I did an internship with Rodney Christensen last summer and really liked it,” said Mascorro, 23. “Coming from east Texas where it’s flat, windy and hot, it’s really nice to have hills and green trees. I really learned a lot working with Rodney. He and Ryan taught me a lot in the short time I was here.”

Mascorro came to KCKCC last August after working a month-long internship with the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Assn.) in July.

“It was real cool, being at courtside watching players like Candace Parker,” said Mascorro.

A 2012 graduate of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Mascorro holds a bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science and a Masters in Athletic Training earned this past May at the Texas Tech Health Science Center. During her undergraduate days, she was a student athletic trainer for two years, working mainly with the Texas Tech women’s basketball, football and track teams.

Before joining the KCKCC staff, Mascorro worked as a contract athletic trainer in Lubbock. Growing in the small east Texas town, she started taking college classes while attending LaPoyner High School from where she graduated in 2009.