Another layer of history will be added to the Lyon County League Basketball Tournament when the tourney finishes Saturday evening.
Longtime tourney director Ted Vannocker says the tournament started at Kansas Normal College, now known as Emporia State University. It then went to Admire and Bushong before coming to White Auditorium to stay in 1941 — meaning this is the 80th straight year for the tourney at the auditorium.
Another sign of change is the number of teams involved, which has now climbed to 22. Hartford, meanwhile, is the only school that has participated every year of the tournament under its original name.
Vannocker has said he wants to direct the tourney through the 100th anniversary next January. On KVOE’s Morning Show this week, he said he’d like to go another five years beyond that if things work out.
Part of Friday’s proceedings at the championship semifinals was a special recognition of Dale Dennis as a Friend of Education. Dennis, who has been serving Kansas students for over 50 years in roles as a teacher, principal, administrator and now Deputy Commissioner of the Kansas State Department of Education, was named as a Kansan of the Year in December.
KVOE’s coverage of the Lyon County League tourney concludes Saturday with the third-place and championship games. Coverage begins at 2:50 pm on Country 101.7 FM and the live audio-video stream available at kvoetv@kvoe.com.
Photos of Dale Dennis presented as Friend of Education by Tagan Trahoon/KVOE News
{gallery}013120 LCL Dale Dennis{/gallery}
