Kpreps.com is proud to announce another strong group of finalists for the third annual Get Busy Livin’ – Kpreps Player of the Year Award in conjunction with the Dylan Meier Foundation.
The 2013 award finalists include Shawnee Mission West offensive lineman Austin Chambers, Derby linebacker Jose Delgado, Bishop Miege linebacker Brad Ivey, Silver Lake quarterback Dailin Kruger, Hiawatha defensive lineman Peyton Newell and Leavenworth running back Jason Randall.
The award is in honor of Dylan Meier, a former All-State quarterback at Pittsburg High School and starter at Kansas State University who died in a hiking accident in 2010 at the age of 26. The annual award goes out to one Kansas high school senior who not only has shown excellence on the field but also has demonstrated the values that Dylan embodied and Get Busy Livin’ (GBL) strives to promote: adventure, fitness, curiosity and a daily zest for life experiences. Past award winners include Brad Strauss of Lawrence in 2012 and Kole Schankie of Madison in 2011.
Players from around the state were nominated. The GBL committee then narrowed the list of candidates to six.
“I want to congratulate the selection committee on their outstanding work in narrowing down the nominees to six finalists that exemplify Dylan’s spirit and the principles of the Get Busy Livin’ Foundation,” Kpreps editor Matt Gilmore said. “We are honored to be involved with this award, and all of the nominees should be extremely proud of this distinction.”
The award is made possible by Mytown Media and Kpreps.com. As part of the award, Mytown Media will make a donation of $1,000 on behalf of the winner to the Dylan Meier Get Busy Livin’ Foundation.
Here is a look at each of the finalists’ on and off the field accomplishments:
2013 Kpreps - Get Busy Livin’ Player of the Year Award Finalists
AUSTIN CHAMBERS – OL, Shawnee Mission West
A Bringham Young University commit, Chambers was a team captain for the Vikings as a junior and senior. He is a two-time All-State honoree and a two-time all-conference honoree. Chambers helped Shawnee Mission West to a 12-1 record and a Class 6A state championship in 2012. He was the recipient of the Marcus Priddy Award and has been a three-year starter for the Vikings’ basketball team.
Chambers will be delaying his college career at BYU for two years to fulfill his mission trip. He has been involved in several off the field activities. He was an Eagle Scout, a two-time student body officer, a student council officer, a three-year madrigals performer, a four-year member of the choir and a two-year member of the orchestra. He was a church youth group leader and a member of the regional youth committee member. He volunteered for Just Say No, City of Lenexa Clean-up, Harvesters, a talent show for the elderly, the City Union Mission, Little Viking football and basketball and Operation Breakthrough.
JOSE DELGADO – LB, Derby
The Butler Community College recruit received Top 11 honors from the state’s media and coaches. He also earned All-State, all-metro and all-conference accolades. He was Class 6A’s Defensive Player of the Year and the powerlifter of the year. Delgado helped the Panthers to a 6A state championship in 2013. He was the top vote getter as team captain.
Off the field, Delgado has been involved in student council, peer reading, Special Olympics, Operation Holiday and his youth group.
BRAD IVEY – LB, Bishop Miege
The Southeast Missouri State commit started all four years for the Stags. Ivey earned Top 11 honors from The Topeka Capital-Journal and The Wichita Eagle his senior season and was a three-time All-State and all-league performer. He was the Eastern Kansas League’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2013. Ivey recorded more than 120 tackles in each of the past three seasons to finish as the school’s all-time leading tackler.
He has been an active member of the Campus Ministry Team. He also has been a coach at youth football camps and has been active in his parish and the Organized Team service project.
DAILIN KRUGER – QB, Silver Lake
The three-year starting quarterback led the Eagles to a Class 3A state championship in 2013. Kruger was a Top 11, All-State and all-league performer as a senior. He also has been an All-State outfielder for Silver Lake’s baseball team.
Kruger’s senior season was all the more impressive when you understand that he played most of the year with a torn ACL in his knee. He originally injured his knee in the second game of the season but continued to play. In the fourth game of the year, Kruger re-injured the knee and was told that he tore his ACL and would need surgery. Kruger urged the doctor to custom-fit a brace so he could play the rest of the season. He returned for the sixth game of the season and went on to lead the Eagles to the state title.
Off the field, Kruger has been an active member of his church and its youth group. He helps with Sunday school, babysits for church families on Sunday evenings, helps with fundraisers for community members with cancer and assisted the youth football team. He’s been an officer in the FFA, a Powder Puff coach, he went on a mission trip to Nicaragua this past summer.
PEYTON NEWELL – DL, Hiawatha
The University of Nebraska recruit earned Top 11, All-State and all-league honors. Newell broke school records for career tackles (257), career tackles for loss (105), career sacks (33), tackles for loss in a season (37), sacks in a season (12) and sacks in a game (4).
Newell honors his mother’s passing by being a promoter and chief fundraiser for the Missy Newell Memorial Fund. The organization raises funds for breast cancer research and post-operative living for breast cancer survivors. He also is a volunteer for food collection and distribution in the area, and he helps with the local historical society.
JASON RANDALL – RB, Leavenworth
Randall has been an All-State and all-league performer for Leavenworth, rushing for 1,370 yards his senior season. He also was a team captain and earned the Mr. Football Award. He’s also participated in basketball, baseball and track and field. He was a state medalist in powerlifting.
He has served as a coach for the Special Olympics, as well as for youth football. Randall has volunteered his time doing yardwork and household chores for spouses of deployed soldiers. He also took part in the team’s Hire A Player fundraiser, doing yard work and shoveling snow for elderly people in the community. He helped with an Easter Egg Hunt for soldiers and their families at Fort Leavenworth.
The GBL Foundation also would like to recognize the following candidates that received the distinction of being GBL finalists:
Britton Abbott, QB, Liberal
Bowe Behymer, RB, Beloit
Chad Berg, QB, Baldwin
Logan Brettell, QB/K, Blue Valley
Ty Clark, WR/LB, Fowler
Caleb DeNoon, QB/LB, Yates Center
Trenton Hammond, WR, Liberal
Cole Holloway, RB, Tonganoxie
Matt Jones, TE/LB, Marais des Cygnes Valley
Alex Kreger, QB/DB, Hodgeman County
Brett Macary, WR/SS, Frontenac
Andre Maloney, WR/DB, Shawnee Mission West
Ryan McNellis, WR, St. Thomas Aquinas
Trever Powell, RB/DB, Kiowa County
Jacob Qualls, LB, Riverton
Jake Riederer, OL, Holton
J.T. Rosine, QB/DB, Centralia
Austen Sanders, WR, Chetopa
Ryan Schadler, RB, Hesston
Sam Steinlage, RB/LB, Centralia
Jimmie Swain, LB, Olathe North
Greyson Tempel, QB, Garden City
Heath Tucker, QB/DB, Holcomb
Mitchell Tyler, WR/DB, Shawnee Mission East
Kaden Vanderpool, RB/LB/KR, Marais des Cygnes Valley
Payton Vetter, QB/DB, Beloit
DeSean Washington, DB, Maize South
Nick Wuthnow, QB, Sacred Heart
ABOUT DYLAN MEIER & THE GET BUSY LIVIN’ FOUNDATION
Dylan Meier, a 2002 graduate of Pittsburg High School, was a two-time All-State quarterback for the Purple Dragons. He continued his football career at Kansas State University and started 11 games from 2004-06 as the Wildcats’ signal caller.
On April 19, 2010, Meier died at the age of 26 in an accident while hiking with family in Arkansas.
In addition to his time in Kansas, Dylan played professional football in Germany and Italy, served as a bodyguard for Italian fashion models, worked in a vineyard overseas, ran with the bulls in Spain and went skydiving in the Alps. His next plans included coaching football in Europe, teaching English in Korea and possibly a return to Kansas State as a graduate assistant.
“He had a real zest for life,” Merle Clark, Dylan’s high school coach and family friend said days after the accident. “He lived a lot in his 26 years.”
That zest for life is the basis of the Get Busy Livin’ Foundation that was established in Dylan’s honor. The mission is to provide support for individuals and groups that embody the values that Dylan pursued: adventure, fitness, curiosity, generosity and a daily zest for life experiences.
The GBL Foundation is determined to break down the boundaries that keep people from living life to the fullest, whether those boundaries are social, economic or imaginary.
GBL uses donations to promote these values in the following ways: student/athletic scholarships, sport camp sponsorships, student travel abroad scholarships, community service needs and other activities that inspire and build character.
For more information, please visit http://getbusylivin.org.
Photo credits: Austin Chambers #76 (PrepsKC), Jason Randall #25 (PrepsKC), Brad Ivey #45 (Matt Gilmore), Dailin Kruger #9 (Matt Gilmore), Jose Delgado (Everett Royer), Peyton Newell #40 (Carla Wehmeyer).
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