While their collective list of accomplishments is long, the 2009 city high school athletes of the year, from left, Aaron Rea (LHS), Drue Davis (Free State) and Dorian Green (LHS) each ended the season with a state championship.

Throughout the years, high school teams and athletes in Lawrence ultimately have been measured by one thing and one thing alone: the number of state championships they won.

At both Lawrence High and Free State High, entire seasons have been built around the quest for the big trophy at the end. This year, the Journal-World’s City Athletes of the Year more than stack up in that department.

In addition to excelling in more than one sport, all three athletes — the male pick was a tie — ended the 2008-09 school year by winning a state championship.

Free State’s Drue Davis walked away with the Class 6A state title in the girls pole vault at the state track meet in Wichita. Co-male athletes of the year, Dorian Green and Aaron Rea, of Lawrence High, celebrated together on a baseball diamond in Lenexa, as both helped lead the Lions to their first state baseball title since 2000.

In the end, it was that theme, added to a laundry list of notable accomplishments along the way, that led to this trio earning the city’s top honor. That fact was not lost on any of them.

“She’s a state champ, that says it all right there,” said Rea when asked why Davis was worthy of the honor.

Added Green: “She knows the feeling of winning state and that’s something that all three of us share. You can’t really describe the feeling. When people ask you what it’s like, all you can say is, ‘It’s unbelievable,’ because it really is.”

Unbelievable is a pretty good term to describe the seasons turned in by these three elite athletes during 2008-09.

In addition to becoming a school-record-setting state champion in track — as well as finishing fifth at state in the 100 — Davis also was a standout gymnast last fall.

After winning the vault and floor exercises at regionals, she finished third at state in the floor exercise and brought home a sixth-place medal in the all-around competition. Ironically, it’s her dedication and devotion to gymnastics, which began when she was in fourth grade, that led to her success on the track.

“Obviously, from doing gymnastics since I was young, I have strong leg muscles,” Davis said. “That’s why pole vault was really easy for me. It’s not that scary to fly around and twist and turn in the air.”

One thing that inspired Davis to reach such heights came from within. While her male counterparts competed in team sports and spent a good part of many games defending others, Davis competed alone, unable to hold anyone but herself accountable for what happened during her events.

“The sports I do, they’re not contact sports so I’m not really competitive with other people,” Davis said. “I’m more competitive with myself. And I’m really hard on myself. I don’t want to be a disappointment. I don’t want to go home wishing I could’ve done better. I just want to do the best that I can and leave without regrets.”

While gymnastics was something Davis knew she could compete at a high level in, her track success came as a total surprise.

Her track career began as an eighth-grader at Southwest Junior High. It might have begun a season earlier but Davis had one reservation.

“I didn’t do it because I thought I was too short and I thought I would get smoked,” Davis said.

After a little cajoling, Davis joined the team and has only improved since. It was then that she learned a lesson she has carried with her throughout her career.

“Physically, I don’t think height really matters,” she said.

Never did such a phrase sound so funny than when uttered with Davis standing between Rea and Green, the top of her head barely rising to meet the tips of their shoulders.

Of sharing such a distinction with two of the city’s most imposing physical presences, Davis said: “It’s really cool to be put up there with those guys. I know they work hard and I feel like I work really hard, too. It’s a really cool feeling to be mentioned in the same breath as them.”

Similarly, Green and Rea said they felt fortunate to be mentioned in the same breath as each other. Upon hearing at the all-area baseball photo shoot that they were the co-winners of this year’s award, Rea and Green celebrated with genuine excitement.

“If I was picking a winner, I would’ve given it to Aaron,” Green said. “He was all-state in baseball and all-league in football. His awards were ridiculous. But it’s special to win something like this with one of your boys.”

Added Rea: “I just assumed Dorian would win it again. But it’s awesome to share it with him. It’s definitely a great way to go out and I’m really appreciative of everything I’ve gotten this year and throughout my career.”

Although Rea and Green starred in different sports, they earned co-athlete-of-the-year honors for their ability to stand out among their peers.

Green was the Sunflower League basketball player of the year for 2008-09 and also was an all-state selection on the hardwood. Rea was the Sunflower League baseball player of the year for 2009 and also an all-state pick on the diamond.

But it wasn’t just the honors they racked up in their primary sports that earned Rea and Green this award. Green also was an all-league and all-state selection in baseball, while Rea was all-league in football.

The list of accomplishments was so similar and the importance to their respective teams so great that the tie between the two could not be broken. Both even earned Channel 6 Scholar Athlete of the Month honors. That’s just one of many areas that these two emulate each other both when competing and behind the books.

“We’re both good competitors and we both have some natural leadership qualities,” Rea said. “Neither of us are the most vocal leaders, but, out there on the basketball court, he led by example and I’d like to think I did the same in baseball.”

Added Green: “I think another thing is that we’re both clutch, or whatever you want to call it. “We both have poise and stay focused no matter what’s going on around us.”

That’s a trait that helped them in each sport they played. And both players said excelling in their “other sports” made them better all-around athletes.

“Baseball helped my basketball because, even though basketball came more natural, baseball forced me to be more locked in,” Green said. “Baseball’s a tough sport. It’s the one sport where you can fail so many times and still be a Hall of Famer. Going through all of the adversity that comes with baseball made me better.”

Rea, too, developed extra mental strength through three-a-days and the heavy-hitting world of high school football.

“Toughness, definitely,” said Rea when asked what he gained from football. “Baseball was easy, honestly. I’ve never had a day in baseball where I thought, ‘Man, this is hard, I wish we were doing something easier.’ And I think that’s because of football. Some of those days were the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

In the end, though, it was that riding-off-into-the-sunset moment at the state baseball tournament that allowed both male athletes of the year to leave LHS with a smile.

“It’s weird,” Green said. “I’m trying to think about basketball (moments) but the only thing that comes to mind is baseball. At the state tournament, I hit a home run, which I hadn’t done in three years and then the next day I pitched a complete game, two-hitter to get us to the state title game. I was pretty proud of that because it was the third time I’d been in that situation and I finally pulled through. We had such high expectations for our team and we came through.”

Green, who also was the Journal-World’s male athlete of the year in 2008, said winning the honor as a senior rounded out his memorable run at LHS.

“It’s an honor to know that people have recognized what I’ve done,” he said. “It’s special, especially this year, because it’s the last award I’m going to win before I leave and it’s a great way to cap off my career.”

Although his baseball accomplishments stick out strongest in Green’s mind, he’ll hang up his glove and cap to concentrate full-time on basketball in college. Next year, he’ll attend Colorado State University, where he received a basketball scholarship.

For Rea, his immediate future will follow a different path. Regarded by many as a legitimate Division I talent, Rea will attend Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City next season.

“Inside, I knew I had a fairly solid year baseball-wise, but the awards, they were all really a surprise. I didn’t really expect anything like that coming into this year.”

But now that both players are leaving Lawrence with a bundle of individual and team honors, Rea has great expectations for both in the future.

“I think it’s possible that we could both be playing our sports for money,” he said. “I could honestly see that happening.”

As for Davis, Rea and Green see bright things in her future, as well.

“She has another year of high school,” Green said. “She could be a two-time winner of this award, too.”