Kenney’s career at Winfield High, KU and the Olympics
Bob Kenney was an All-State player at Winfield High, played at Kansas and won Olympic gold in 1952.
By Jolene Marquardt
Long before most of today’s Winfield High players were born, Bob Kenney was the one everybody came to watch.
Kenney, born in 1931, was an All-State basketball player at Winfield High School. From there he went to the University of Kansas, and in 1952 he was part of the U.S. team that won the Olympic gold medal in Helsinki, going unbeaten through its games.
The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999. His name comes up whenever people around town talk about the best athletes Winfield has produced.
Kenney’s path from a Cowley County gym to an Olympic podium is still a good story to tell a young player who thinks a small town limits how far they can go.