Who belongs on Toledo-area high school girls athlete Mount Rushmore?

There have been plenty of talented high school girls athletes in the Toledo area in recent years.

Who are the most monumental figures? Here are picks for the Mount Rushmore of high school girls athletes from my time with The Blade's sports staff, 1987 to the present.

Natasha Howard

After bursting onto the basketball scene as a Waite freshman in 2006-07, Howard became the area's all-time most accomplished player — man or woman — excelling at each level along the way.

While at Waite, the 6-3 forward scored 1,733 career points, helped the Indians to City League titles in 2007 and 2010, was twice named first team Division I All-Ohio (2008 and 2010), and once second team (2009). She capped her prep career as a senior, averaging 23.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 4.1 steals in leading Waite (24-3) to a state runner-up finish. Named Ohio's Ms. Basketball in 2010, Howard was also co-MVP of the prestigious McDonald's All-American game.

At Florida State University, Howard totaled 1,811 career points (No. 2 all-time), a record 1,047 rebounds, and averaged 20.5 points and 9.3 rebounds as a senior, twice earning first team All-ACC honors for the Seminoles. She was a first-round WNBA draft selection of the Indiana Fever (No. 5 pick overall) in 2014 and is currently in her 11th season, having won three WNBA championships (Minnesota 2016; Seattle 2018, 2020) in four finals appearances. In 2019, when she averaged 18.1 points and 8.2 points for Seattle, Howard was named to the five-player All-WNBA first team and the league all-defensive first team.

“It was her work ethic,” Waite coach Manny May said of Howard's key to success. “She worked hard and was always trying to help her teammates. She was never one to say, 'I'm all this and a bag of chips.' She always wanted to help her team and make everyone around her happy and have fun. She had a love for her teammates — from those who started with her to the last player off the bench. She was in the gym working out all the time. As far as her skills, she was poetry in motion. She was like a gazelle running down the floor, and she could score inside or outside. She could go around defenders and block shots. She was a total package on offense and defense, and she was very teachable.”

Zia Cooke

A flat-out, 100-percent competitor to the core, Cooke, a 5-9 guard, became adept at the point and as a potent perimeter shooter and penetrating finisher. Above all, she was a winner. She led Rogers to back-to-back Division II state championships in her junior and senior seasons (2018 and 2019), something no other area prep basketball team — boys or girls — has ever done. The Rams ended 27-3 in 2018 and 27-2 in 2019.

As a senior, Cooke averaged 21.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and was named Ohio's D-II state player of the year. The two-time first team All-Ohioan scored 2,197 career points, and she played in the 2019 McDonald's All-American game before moving on to a sterling college career at the University of South Carolina.

In four seasons with the Gamecocks, Cooke totaled 1,845 career points (13.5 average), was twice named first team All-SEC, and helped South Carolina to a superb 131-9 overall record. Her Gamecocks were 33-1 and ranked No. 1 before the pandemic canceled the 2020 NCAA tournament. They reached the NCAA semifinals in 2021 (26-5 record) and 2023 (36-1), and in between won the national championship in 2022 (36-2).

Cooke was the first-round pick of the Los Angeles Sparks (No. 10 overall selection) in the 2023 WNBA draft and is currently in her second season with the team.

“What stood out about Zia was her passion and love for the game,” Rogers coach Lamar Smith said, “and her dedication and work ethic also stood out. She had a drive, and was fearless. She took it to another level for us in winning those two state championships. She was motivating players in the gym, and always was willing to work hard and do things outside the gym to train. She put the work in. She put her body through a lot, and she buckled down on the books. Zia was the total package. Playing against tough competition, she would rise to the occasion. The better the competition, the better she played.”

Hayley Wiemer

Recognized for her two-sport brilliance, Wiemer was a driving force in Division I state championships in both softball and volleyball at St. Ursula in her two years at the school after transferring from Northview. She was part of teams that posted a combined 110-9 in those two sports.

A two-time first team All-Ohioan in softball, Wiemer pitched and hit the Arrows to a 27-4 state-championship season in 2004, with a 13-strikeout two-hitter in the semifinals and a three-hitter in a 2-1 title-game win. The following year, Wiemer led a 28-3 St. Ursula squad back to state, notching an 11-inning, 2-1 regional final win over Elyria before falling in the state semifinals despite a 12-strikeout three-hitter. Wiemer batted .442 with a then-state-record 12 home runs and 52 RBIs in 2005.

In volleyball, Wiemer helped the second-ranked 26-2 Arrows to the D-I state semifinals as the team's second leading attacker as a junior. In her senior year, she helped a 29-0 team win the D-I state championship, leading the Arrows with 15 kills in the title match after delivering 19 kills (second best) in a thrilling 3-2 win in the semis.

At Bowling Green State University, Wiemer was a four-time first team All-Mid-American Conference softball player as a pitcher and the Falcons' most productive hitter. She had 53 career pitching wins (20 shutouts) and 557 strikeouts, and a career .335 batting average, a program-record 32 career home runs, and 109 RBIs (No. 3 all-time). Wiemer also posted a 4.0 GPA at BGSU.

“Hayley was an ultra-talented player and was the hardest worker,” former St. Ursula softball coach and athletic director Steve Parrill said. “She was a great leader. She only cared about her teammates and how they were performing, and she was the most competitive player I've ever been around. In softball, she was the most dominant player in the state of Ohio for two years, as a hitter and a pitcher. In volleyball, you saw that winning spirit and will to win carry over into that sport. Coaching her was extremely easy because she knew what she wanted to accomplish, and she created an atmosphere that the rest of them could just kind of go through to win a state championship. She was also a great student.”

Sarah Florian

From the time she led her St. Ursula volleyball team to a Division I state runner-up finish as a freshman in 2000, Florian, a 6-foot outside hitter, was generally recognized as this area's top all-around player ever. That season was the first of four straight state final-four appearances for Florian with the Arrows, who would fall in D-I semifinals the next three years.

After receiving second team D-I All-Ohio honors as a freshman, Florian was named to the first team the next three years as she developed into one the nation's top college recruiting targets. During that time, she led St. Ursula to a remarkable 106-8 overall record, launching the Arrows' rise to becoming a perennial state power that reached the state final four 12 times in 16 years (2000-05, 2010-15), with two titles and four runner-up finishes.

Florian wound up choosing then two-time defending NCAA champion Southern Cal, where she continued to excel and was named to the Pac-12 Conference's All-Freshman team in 2004. Dissatisfied with her experience in the USC program, Florian decided to leave Los Angeles after that year and played one more college season in the Big Ten at Minnesota, again performing at a high level. She then opted to stop playing the sport and finished her college education at Ohio State.

“Sarah was a team achievement-oriented athlete who gave her best every day,” former St. Ursula volleyball coach John Buck said. “Sarah held herself accountable, which made her such an easy player to coach. Individual accolades weren't important to her, she just wanted to win as a team. She drew a crowd whenever she played, and many wanted her autograph, she was always taken aback by those requests, but she signed them all. Sarah was a four-time player of the year in both her league [City League] and District 7. She was named four times all-state, and three of those were first team. Sarah was recruited by virtually every top [college] program in the country.”