Six to be inducted into county track and cross country hall of fame

A class of six will be inducted into the Lorain County Track and Cross Country Hall of Fame this spring. The 13th enshrinement will be at the Lorain County Athletic Administrators meet April 16. Oberlin High's Orville Thomas (100-yard dash), Lorain Catholic's Bob Francis (high jump) are former state champs. Elyria Catholic's Michael Kozma (220 yards), Admiral King's Doug Molnar (800 meters) and Clearview's Valerie (Holland) Kirkland (100- and 200-meter dashes) are former state runners-up. Amherst's Jim Welte (880 yards) was third at the Class AAA state meet and still holds the county record. Orville Thomas, Oberlin (1931) Lorain County's first 100-yard/100-meter state champ. He won the 1929 Class B 100-yard state title with a time of 10.5 seconds. A lifelong Oberlin resident, he graduated from Oberlin High School in 1931 and the Ekles School of Mortuary Science in Philadelphia, Pa. Thomas was a clerk for Ball, Burge and Kraus investors on the New York Stock Exchange for 34 years. He also was a customer service representative at Oberlin Savings Bank for two years before retiring in 1978. He was a member of Mount Zion Baptist Church for over 65 years and later joined the Church of the Open Door in Elyria. Thomas died Nov. 21, 1999, at age 88 at Welcome Nursing Home after a long illness. Bob Francis, Lorain Catholic (1972) Lorain Catholic did not have a track team but Jim Lawhead, who was the school's athletic director, recognized the talent in Francis and a couple of his classmates and organized a mini-team to compete in the conference meet. The result? Francis ended up winning the 1972 Class A (now Division III) state championship with a jump of 6 feet, 5 inches and set the Ohio Classic meet record with a jump of 6-7.25. Francis earned his bachelor's degree from Kent, where he lettered four times each in indoor and outdoor track (1973-76) under legendary coach Doug Raymond. Francis qualified for the NCAA championships on several occasions and set the school record of 6-10 as a freshman. He became the only Kent high jumper to clear 7-0 with his leap at the prestigious Knights of Columbus Meet in Cleveland in 1974. He captured MAC championships in indoor and outdoor and earned All-America honors by clearing 7-1 at the 1976 NCAA Championships. Jim Welte, Amherst (1978) Finished third in the 880-yard run at the 1978 Class AAA (Division I) state meet in a county-record time of 1:52.7 (1:52.1 converted), a county mark that still stands. He won the 1978 Elyria sectional in 1:54.6 and was second at the Kent district in 1:52.8. He was a member of the Amherst 1977 boys cross country team that won the Class AAA state championship, the second team title in school history. The team went undefeated (10-0) in dual meets on its way to the championship. Welte was also a member of the Comets' state-record 2-mile relay. The team clocked 7:45.5 (converted time to 4x800) at the 1978 Bay Village Relays. It was the Lorain County record for 24 years. Welte also played baseball in the spring, earning four varsity letters. He went on to run for Indiana University, where he lettered all four years and was a part of four Big Ten championships. Michael Kozma, Elyria Catholic (1979) Kozma won many AAU Junior Olympic events, including the shot put, high jump and the long jump but it was in the 100- and 220-yard dashes that he really made some noise. At Elyria Catholic, his name was always listed among the area's track honor roll — running the 100-yard dash in a state-fastest 9.62 and the 220-yard dash in a school-record 21.6. A 1979 EC grad, Kozma finished seventh at the 1977 state meet as a sophomore in both the 100- and 220-yard dashes. As a junior, he was second at the 1978 Class AA (now Division II) state meet in the 220-yard dash (21.6) and was third in the 100 (10.0). He finished third at the AAU National Championships. He earned a scholarship to Indiana, where he earned four varsity letters and was a Big Ten champ as a member of the 4x100 relay. Doug Molnar, Admiral King (1982) Had a stellar career at Admiral King, lettering in track four times, football three times and cross country twice. He earned All-Ohio track honors (top six) twice. Molnar's pinnacle track performance came at the 1981 Class AAA state track meet where he finished runner-up in the 800 meters in 1:53.62. He was also a 1982 state qualifier in the 800. His fastest time in the race came in July 1981 when he turned in a 1:52.8 to finish as national runner-up at the Track Federation of America Nationals. Molnar was also the 1981 Division I Kent Roosevelt regional champ in the 800 (1:55.6, meet record) and the 1982 Amherst regional runner-up (1:53.7) and was also a two-time district champ in the event. Molnar was also All-Ohio as a member of the 4x800 relay in 1982, teaming with Roger Smith, Michael Walton and Leon Rainey for sixth place (7:53.0). The same quartet set a state record a week earlier, winning the Amherst regional in 7:48.4. Molnar was also a two-time district champ as a member of the 4x400. Molnar also had a highly successful track and cross country career at West Virginia, graduating in 1986. He set or helped set six school records as an individual or as a relay member. Valerie (Holland) Kirkland, Clearview (2001) Earned All-Ohio honors (top eight) in track six times in Division III and twice in Division II. She was a state runner-up twice, taking second in the 1999 Division III 100 meters (12.54) and second in the 2000 Division III 200 meters (25.35). A four-time district champ in the 100 and a four-time district runner-up in the 200, Kirkland was a six-time Lorain County Conference champ, winning the 100 meters and 200 meters three times each.She also set the school record in the 100 meters (12.3). As a sprinter at Bowling Green State University, Kirkland was first in the 60 (7.63) and in the 200 (25.49) at the 2004 All-Ohio meet, second in the 200 and fourth in the 60 (7.63) at the 2004 MAC Indoor and third in the 100 (11.99) and 200 (25.28) at the 2004 MAC Outdoor. Her times of 7.57 in the 60 and 11.98 in the 100 rank No. 5 and 7, respectively, all-time for the Falcons. Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.