Saint Ursula Academy Assistant Athletic Director Kim Gunning is among several area sports legends to become inductees into the Buddy LaRosa’s High School Sports Hall of Fame this year. Gunning, now at Saint Ursula, is being honored for her years as Volleyball Coach and Athletic Director at Notre Dame Academy in Northern Kentucky. The induction ceremony will be in summer 2021.
The Cincinnati Enquirer shared the following about Gunning and her impressive accomplishments:
Greater Cincinnati has long been the hotbed of high school volleyball in the Midwest and while Cincinnati has had its share of champions, no one has set the gold standard higher than Notre Dame Academy volleyball coaching legend Kim Gunning.
Gunning charted new territory in just 12 years of coaching that likely will remain unmatched in Northern Kentucky for many years to come. As head coach of the Notre Dame Academy volleyball team, Kim drove the Pandas to three Kentucky state championships and four second-place finishes in a state where all schools compete in the same class. In three of those losses, the Pandas lost to the No. 1-ranked team in the United States.
In her 12-year coaching reign, NDA compiled a 360-75 record (83%). Just as remarkable – her teams were district champions, Regional Champions and Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference Champions all 12 years.
She was named Kentucky Post Coach of the Year seven times, The Kentucky Enquirer Coach of the Year eight times, the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association Coach of the Year three times and the National Federation Interscholastic Coaches Association Outstanding Coach for the state of Kentucky in 1993.
In 2016, Gunning, then athletic director at Notre Dame Academy for 20 years, received the Brigid DeVires Outstanding Leadership award, from the Kentucky High School Athletic Association which is emblematic of the state’s top administrator.
During her tenure at NDA, the school also added four sports programs (lacrosse, bowling, bass fishing and archery) and added a gym and three outdoor sports facilities (soccer field and track complex, tennis courts and softball field). Currently, Kim is the assistant athletic director at Saint Ursula Academy.
Saint Ursula Academy Athletic Director Craig Maliborski shared these words about his talented colleague, "While Kim's success as a coach has helped her be an incredible athletic administrator, her care and concern for the students, coaches, and her colleagues make her a great asset for our community. Kim's willingness to take on new challenges, her courage to deal with difficult situations, and her compassion for the people she encounters shapes our athletic program and is a model for all high school athletic administrators and coaches."
Now in its 46th year of recognizing outstanding local high school athletes and coaches, the Buddy LaRosa’s High School Sports Hall of Fame has honored 284 athletes and coaches and eight top teams since its founding in 1975. It is the oldest and one of the only Halls of Fame of its kind in the country.