By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With the start of a new year just a few days away, it's natural to get excited about the future.
But while we look ahead to 2024, it’s also important that we don't forget those we lost in 2023.
In '23 we said goodbye to Kansas City Chiefs greats Otis Taylor and Ed Budde as well as sports legends such as Jim Brown and Dick Butkus (football), Brooks Robinson (baseball) and Willis Reed and Bobby Knight (basketball), but the losses were also felt close to home.
Frank Walton, best known for a highly-successful run with Topeka West football, passed away at the age of 81 just eight days into 2023 while Seaman cross country and track and field legend Bob Camien passed away on Sept. 3rd at the age of 76.
The year was also marked by the passing of well-known local youth coach Billy Weber on Sept. 30 at the age of 55 and the tragic passing of former Hayden standout athlete Kyra Bauer on Dec. 1 at just 22 years old.
Here’s a brief look at the legacy the four Topeka sports figures left:
FRANK WALTON
Frank Walton, who had a highly-successful 16-year run as Topeka West's football coach and later coached at Topeka High, passed away in January after a battle with cancer. [Facebook photo]
Walton, who passed away at the age of 81 after a battle with lung cancer, took over a struggling Topeka West football program and led the Chargers to 12 winning seasons in a 16-year run from 1977-1992, posting an 89-56 record and posting at least six wins 10 times.
After stepping down at Topeka West, Walton later returned to coach at Topeka High from 1994-1999.
Walton also had a stint as an assistant coach under his son, Chris, at Cair Paravel Latin when that school was getting its football program off the ground.
Walton, who also served as Topeka West's golf coach, was inducted into the Topeka West Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.
Walton grew up in Beaver Falls, Pa. as part of a famous football family.
Frank's father, the later Frank "Tiger'' Walton, played in the National Football League and was an assistant coach for Washington and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Frank's older brother, Joe, played eight seasons in the NFL and served as the head coach of the New York Jets for seven seasons while serving as an assistant for the New York Giants, Jets, Washington and the Steelers.
During his coaching career at Topeka West Walton coached several outstanding players, including star quarterback Warren Seitz, who went on to play at Misssouri and in the NFL before succeeding Walton as the head coach at West.
At Topeka High, Walton's stars included Termaine Fulton, who went on to become a standout wide receiver at Kansas.
BOB CAMIEN
Bob Camien
The Seaman coaching legend passed away at the age of 76 after a long illness.
Camien was living in Naples, Fla. with his wife, Julie, at the time of his death.
Camien came to Seaman as a shop teacher and coach in the 1979-1980 school year,
Before starting his long career at Seaman, Camien, a native New Yorker, was an elite track athlete for Emporia State University.
Camien ran distance under ESU Hall of Famer Fran Welch in college after running for another ESU Hall of Famer, Jim Fraley, in high school in New York.
Camien led Seaman to an impressive run of Centennial League championships as well as a Class 6A girls cross country title in 1984 and the Class 5A boys state track and field title in 2006.
In addition to the Vikings' team championships Camien also coach multiple individual state champs in cross country and track.
Bob Camien (back row, right) coached Seaman to the Class 5A track and field team title in 2006. [Submitted photo to KSHSAA.org]
Seaman's annual track and field meet, one of the biggest regular-season meets in Kansas, is named the Bob Camien/Claudia Welch Invitational in honor of Camien and former girls track coach Welch.
BILLY WEBER
Billy Weber
Weber, a fixture at local sporting events and a longtime youth coach, passed away suddenly at the age of 55 on Sept. 30.
Weber was born in Parma, Ohio, grew up in Florida and then later moved to Winfield, Kansas to attend college and play football at Southwestern College.
After graduation, he moved to Dodge City to take a job as the Sports Director for the city before eventually moving to Topeka.
Weber coached many baseball teams over the years, including the Midwest Prospects, and never missed a game that his children played in.
KYRA BAUER
Kyra Bauer
A former multi-sport standout at Hayden, Bauer passed away on Dec. 1 at the age of 22.
A 2020 Hayden graduate, Bauer participated in volleyball and track and field throughout her high school career and played basketball for three seasons.
As a junior at Hayden, Bauer earned three individual Class 4A state medals in the 2019 state track and field meet, placing second in the 400-meter dash, sixth in the long jump and seventh in the 100.
Bauer was a state medalist three straight seasons before her senior season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Bauer helped the Wildcats win the state volleyball championship as a senior in the fall of 2019.
She went on to participate in track and field at Washburn University.
