Bobcat Pride: 5 Unforgettable Athletes From Central High School

Sports run deep in Phoenix, and Central High School has long been at the heart of it. It’s no surprise some standout talent once wore the Bobcat uniform. Today we're celebrating five unforgettable athletes from Central High School who made a name for themselves well beyond the hometown field.

Trung Canidate – NFL Running Back

Trung Canidate emerged as a standout running back during his high school career at Central and continued his development at the collegiate level, where his speed and versatility earned him national attention. After an impressive run with the Arizona Wildcats, Canidate was picked up by the St. Louis Rams in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft. He also played two seasons for Washington. (Source: Pro Football Reference, NFL)

Lois Drinkwater – Olympic Sprinter & First Arizona Female Olympian

Lois Drinkwater distinguished herself early as an elite sprinter at Central High School. As a junior, she qualified for the 1968 Summer Olympics in West Germany and became the first female athlete from Arizona to compete at the Olympic Games. Drinkwater went on to compete at the collegiate level for Wooster College, where her speed placed her among the nation’s top athletes. (Source: Olympics)

Azur Kamara – NFL Defensive End

Azur Kamara, who immigrated to the U.S. at age 10 from war-torn Ivory Coast, picked up football as a freshman at Central High School. There, he blossomed into a dominant defender, earning all-conference honors after racking up 106 tackles and 25.5 sacks as a senior. Kamara went on to star at Arizona Western College and the University of Kansas, later earning a spot in the 2020 Senior Bowl. He signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and has since spent his pro football career with the Panthers, Chiefs and the CFL’s Edmonton Elks. (Source: ProFootballReference.com, Yahoo! Sports)

Marilyn Ramenofsky – Olympic Swimmer & World Record Trailblazer

Before she was a pioneering biologist, Marilyn Ramenofsky was breaking records in the pool. A standout at Phoenix’s Central High School, she rose to global prominence in 1964 by setting the world record in the 400-meter freestyle three times and winning silver in that event at the Tokyo Olympics. She also earned multiple All-America AAU honors and represented the U.S. at the Maccabiah Games, where she collected several gold medals. Later, Ramenofsky trained with the men’s team at Pomona College due to the absence of a women’s program. After retiring from competition, she became a renowned researcher studying migratory bird physiology, eventually earning a Ph.D. in Zoology and authoring influential work on avian biology. (Source: Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Tucson.com)

Jay Schlueter – MLB Outfielder & Youth Sports Champion

Phoenix native Jay Schlueter realized the dream of many young players when he cracked the Houston Astros roster in 1971. A second-round draft pick out of Central High School in 1967, the outfielder made his major league debut just a few years later, competing in a crowded outfield that included stars like César Cedeño and Jimmy Wynn. Though his time in the majors was brief, Schlueter went on to play nine seasons in the minors and later channeled his love for sports into coaching and mentoring youth athletes in Arizona and New Mexico. He passed away in 2010 at the age of 60. (Source: The Deadball Era (archived), MLB)

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