Schools

Central's Sheperd, Boyher and Wille Sign to Play Football, Baseball and Tennis

Brandon Sheperd will play football at Oklahoma State University, Logan Boyher will play baseball at Columbia University and Hannah Wille will play tennis at University of Cincinnati.

Superlatives could be used to describe the three student-athletes who signed to play at the next level, but they're not needed. Their accomplishments speak for them.

Wednesday after school, Parkway Central athletic director Mike Roth hosted a signing ceremony for Brandon Sheperd to play football at Oklahoma State University, Logan Boyher to play baseball at Columbia University and Hannah Wille to play tennis at University of Cincinnati.

Logan Boyher’s mother Gayle Boyher, said she’s never seen him at home not doing homework, except when he was in the basement, lifting, and it’s paid off. The last time Boyher earned a “B” was in his sophomore year.

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He works as hard at baseball as his grades.

“We joke that there’s a chin-up bar in every door frame of his house, a weight bench in every room,” head baseball coach Ryan Connors said. “He has that good fear that someone is working harder than he is. It drives him to work harder than he already does, which you don’t think is possible.”

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Connors said Boyher’s love of baseball is his favorite quality about him. “There’s something about a kid that still dreams to play in the big leagues,” he said.

Boyher was also a 4-year starter on the football team, and holds the Colts record for career tackles.

Parkway Central football wide receiver Brandon Sheperd, made his final decision between Missouri and Oklahoma State Wednesday morning, faxing his letter to Stillwater before classes began.

Sheperd had 818 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior, earning him All-State honors. He’s Parkway Central’s all-time leading receiver in both yards and receptions, and touchdowns for career.

“He’s got phenomenal hands, great size, great speed. He is what all the D1 colleges are looking for at wide receiver,” head coach Mark Goldenberg said.

Goldenberg talked about Sheperd’s versatility. He’s played corner, safety, linebacker, returned kicks, covered kicks and run the ball, as well as catching it better than any Colt in history.

Track coach Steve Warren said letters were coming in for him to run Division 1 track and field, too. Sheperd has 20 Parkway Central track and field records, and is the all-time leading scorer, and still has his senior season to go.

Sheperd’s mother, Kara Sheperd, said she was most proud of him for stepping up his schoolwork, which made the scholarship possible.

Hannah Wille went through the 2011 season not losing a set, let alone a match, and she did it all the way to being the number one singles player in Missouri.

She transferred to Parkway Central from MICDS, and liked the change in atmosphere.

“It was really different from MICDS because they didn’t take it as seriously,” she said. “They just enjoyed it. It’s nice to have that experience of winning and just enjoying tennis.”

Parkway Central tennis coach David Furhig said he knew he was getting a great athlete in Wille but wasn’t sure she could be a leader. He said as the season progressed, he saw her really start to care about the team score as much as her own.

“She would show concern if her teammates were improving, whether they were competing hard match in and match out,” he said.

At the state meet, Wille “capped her victory with a doubles victory that put us in the state final four,” Furhig said. “She single-handedly willed us to the state final four, and led the team to a second place in state.

“If Hannah can bring those qualities to her new school at Cincinnati, they’ll be extremely lucky to have her,” Furhig said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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