Sidelines: Rogers, Whitmer add to halls of fame

9/10/2009

BY JOHN WAGNER
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

Brothers Justin and Marcus Chapman were among those inducted into the Rogers hall of fame in a ceremony held at halftime of last Friday's football contest with Southview.

Justin Chapman (class of 1999) lettered in both football and basketball. He played at Alpena Community College and Wayne State before passing away in a boating accident in 2003.

Marcus Chapman (1995) also excelled in both football and basketball before continuing his football career at Michigan State.

Also inducted were Thomas Bedell, Felisha Boyd and Kenneth Rosemond.

Boyd (1989) was named the City League girls player of the year as a senior and also earned all-district honors in basketball.

Rosemond (1985) lettered in both football and wrestling, then later coached football and basketball at the school. He won three City League wrestling titles and captained the 1984 football squad.

Bedell is the longtime public address announcer for the Rams.

The 14th annual Whitmer hall of fame ceremony will be held Sept. 19 at Cambridge Place on Alexis Road starting with a dinner at 7 p.m.

The inductees, which include three teams and four individuals, also will be introduced at halftime of the Sept. 18 football game against Rogers.

Floyd Campbell (class of 1998) is the school's all-time leading scorer in basketball. He was named Great Lakes League player of the year three times and was All-Ohio first team as a senior.

Dave Ibarra (1975) was a wrestler who finished fourth in the state as a senior. He later coached the Panthers to back-to-back City League titles in 2005-06.

Justin Keller (1993) earned nine varsity letters in three sports — football, basketball and baseball. Twice he was named All-GLL in both football, as a quarterback, and in baseball, as a pitcher.

Bill Miller served the school district as a coach in football and basketball from 1975-1991 and later was a school administrator until 2008.

Two track units will be honored, the 1996 boys 3200-meter relay of Mike Biesiada, David Gallup, Matt Henry and Phil Mishka and the 1975 girls 1600 relay of Denise Duckett, Julie Howe, Jaye Jones and Eileen Nistel.

The boys relay team won league, regional and district titles before capturing the Division I state crown with time of 7:51.79.

The girls relay team won district title before finishing second in Class AAA in the first season a girls state track meet was held.

The 1930-31 boys basketball team also will be honored. That group finished 18-5 and won sectional and district titles to earn the school's first-ever state berth.

Wauseon to induct 6, 1 coach

Wauseon announced its third group of inductees to its hall of fame last week. The six individuals and coach will be honored at the school's season-opening basketball game Dec. 5 against Archbold.

Don Watkins (class of 1945) earned eight letters in three sports, leading teams to Northwest Ohio Athletic League in football, basketball and track.

Ty Rupp (1956) earned six letters and was All-Ohio in football and all-league in basketball.

Brett Schlosser (1980) earned All-Ohio honors in football as a senior, leading the Indians to back-to-back NWOAL titles in 1978-79. He later played football at Michigan State.

David Rohrs (1984) lettered in both football and track, earning all-state football honors while anchoring a 400-meter relay team that advanced to the state meet. He played football at the University of Toledo.

Lori (Creager) Sample (1986) earned 13 letters in four sports — volleyball (three), basketball (four), track (four) and softball (two). She received All-Ohio mention in both volleyball and basketball.

Chad Burt (1994) earned four letters in both basketball and baseball. He was the only boys basketball player in school history to earn All-NWOAL first-team honors for four years, and helping the Indians reach the Division II state tournament in 1994.

Longtime boys basketball coach Ken Burgei will be honored after leading Wauseon to a 322-242 record in 25 seasons. His teams won five NWOAL titles and one district and regional title while advancing to the 1994 state semifinals.

Cross country

Tiffin Carnival set for Saturday

The 40th edition of the Tiffin Carnival, one of the largest cross country races in the state, will take place Saturday at Hedges-Boyer Park.

Meet director Mary Lou Scherer said she expects close to 6,000 runners representing roughly 250 schools to take part in the all-day affair.

Most of the Division II and III varsity races are scheduled to take place in the morning, starting with the girls Division II-B varsity race at 9:05 a.m.

The girls Division III varsity race starts at 9:35 a.m., with the Division II-A race set for 10:35 a.m. The girls Division I varsity races will run at 3:05 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.

The first varsity race for the boys will be the Division III-B race at 10:05 a.m. and the Division III-A event at 11 a.m., while the D-II race is set for 12:20 p.m.

The varsity races for the Division I boys will run 3:35 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.

Field hockey

Ottawa Hills scores big victories

The Ottawa Hills field hockey team made an early statement with a pair of victories last weekend.

The Green Bears traveled Saturday to Shaker Heights and beat defending state champion Hathaway Brown 2-1. Christine Auberle scored both goals for OH against Hathaway Brown, which has advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament each of the previous seven years.

Ottawa Hills then knocked off Shaker Heights 2-1, with both goals scored by Lane Smith.

The Green Bears (3-0), will host a pair of home matches Saturday. Ottawa Hills will host Columbus School for Girls at 11 a.m. and Columbus Bishop Watterson at 2 p.m. Watterson won the state crown in 2005 and advanced to the championship match in the two years that followed.

— John Wagner