A new class goes into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame

A wide variety of talent was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026 on Monday night during a ceremony at The Little America Hotel.

That included longtime Deseret News sports writer Lee Benson, along with Shannon Bahrke, Blair Buswell, Cody Jensen and Ben Kjar.

Here's what each of these honorees has brought to the Utah sports community:

Bahrke was a two-time Olympic freestyle skiing medalist, winning silver in 2002 and bronze in 2010 in moguls. Bahrke, who lives in Park City, is also a business entrepreneur and was inducted into the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2023 after a career that included 27 podium finishes and seven wins in World Cup competition.

Buswell , a renowned sculptor, has carved more than 130 busts for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and that includes his former BYU teammate, Steve Young. Buswell, a Weber High graduate, has also created a full-sized statue of former Utah State great Merlin Olsen, as well as a monument of legendary basketball coach John Wooden outside UCLA's Pauley Pavilion and another of Charlton Heston at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Benson made his name as a sports writer at the Deseret News during an illustrious career that included being voted the Utah Sportswriter of the Year 14 times in a 15-year span (1976-90). In his career, the Jordan High and BYU graduate has covered 16 Super Bowls, 14 Final Fours, 13 major golf tournaments, 10 Olympic Games, eight NBA Finals, five World Series and one Wimbledon.

Jensen is an accomplished jockey who graduated from Mountain Crest High before finding success on the track. Jensen won nearly every major quarter horse race as a jockey — including the All-American Futurity and the All-American Derby twice each, as well as the Champion of Champions once. He was also inducted into the Ruidoso Downs Hall of Fame in New Mexico.

Kjar is best known for his long list of wrestling successes. He first was a three-time state wrestling champion at Viewmont High (with a 125-6 career record) before becoming Utah Valley's first All-American wrestler. Kjar also won a Masters World Greco-Roman title in 2023 after a lengthy absence from competition.