Elyria Sports Hall of Fame: Big names, careers highlight newest class

ELYRIA — It was a banner night at the 53rd annual Elyria Sports Hall of Fame banquet held Saturday at the Spitzer Center on the campus of Lorain County Community College. Two Golden Helmet winners, a Mr. Basketball, a two-sport All-Ohio volleyball and basketball standout and a veteran cross country coach were inducted into the Hall of Fame along with the 2011 Elyria Catholic girls basketball team and the 1984 Elyria West girls 4x100 relay team. The Hall of Fame has now inducted 262 individuals and 35 teams in its 53 year existence. Mark Meecha became the 33rd recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. Danny Reaser set nearly every school and county passing record during his career at Elyria Catholic. He won the Golden Helmet in 2010, passing for 3,788 yards and 38 touchdowns. He was also All-Ohio. His 508 yards passing against crosstown rival Elyria remains the single-game record. He threw for six touchdowns as the Panthers won easily over the Pioneers, 56-35, in the first-ever "Battle of Elyria." Reaser finished with 7,107 yards passing and 69 touchdown passes, both county records at the time. "It's so special to go in the same year as my uncle Mark," said Reaser, referring to the Distinguished Award Winner. "He mentioned early on (in his speech) that his wife (Shari), who was my aunt, passed away two days after the Elyria High game. We played Bishop Hartley the following Thursday night. Our whole family is dealing with that and I'm missing practice and my teammates are all around me. We're playing the No. 1 team in the state. That moment right there was something that taught me and is something I'll never forget. It taught me how to overcome adversity." Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and former teammate Chase Farris had videos made to recognize the achievement for Tracy Sprinkle. Sprinkle led the Pioneers with an amazing school-record 19 sacks during his senior season and still holds the career sack mark with 27. He was not only named All-Ohio but was also selected as the state's Defensive Player of the Year. Sprinkle earned a scholarship to Ohio State and worked his way back from a serious injury to become one of the Buckeyes' captains in 2017. "I'm just grateful to be a part of this," Sprinkle said. "I want to thank the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame committee for acknowledging me, for honoring me and bringing me here for something that's very important to me and my family." Eric Barnes was Mr. Basketball and All-Ohio in 1990, scoring 643 points and averaging nearly 28 points a game for Elyria Catholic. He scored over 30 points in 11 of his games and his 1,191 career point total ranks third in Panthers history. Barnes led EC in rebounding (211) and averaged 4.2 assists and had 70 steals. At the foul line, Barnes made 205 of his 248 attempts (83 percent). "I never imagined this could be possible," Barnes said. "Four men — Lou Rotunta, Bob Guinta, Kim Branum and my father — made this possible." Lindsey Groomes (Behne) played at a time when Elyria's girls programs flourished. Carol Russo's volleyball program and Mike Walsh's basketball teams dominated the county and Groomes played a huge role in the success of both. Although she sat out her junior year due to back surgery, she came back to dominate her senior year in both sports. In volleyball, she finished second all-time in career blocks with 146 and second in most blocks in a season with 74 in 2000. She participated in the Coaches All-Star North-South game and was named third-team All-Ohio. In basketball, she was named honorable mention All-Ohio her senior year when she averaged 12.7 points per game and 8.1 rebounds. She earned a full ride to Indiana University of Pennsylvania to play basketball and major in education but switched to play volleyball her sophomore year. "It's the relationships you make," said Groomes, fighting back tears of joy. "Coach Russo and Coach Walsh were tough and disciplined but it made me a better parent and coach later on. I want to thank them." Chuck Lynch, a 1973 Elyria Catholic grad, is synonymous with the school's boys cross country program. For nearly five decades, Lynch either competed for the Panthers or coached them. Sixteen state meet qualifiers, four team champions, four state runners-up and 19 All-Ohio cross country runners were mentored by Lynch. "Dick Elsasser once said 'winners do their best, champions go beyond their best,'" Lynch said in describing his own coaching philosophy. "Tom Mahl and Dick Elsasser set the program up for me. It's been a joy." Meecha earned the Distinguished Service Award for his dedication to the Elyria Parks and Recreation department, maintaining the ice at North Rink and making sure the city baseball and softball fields were properly lined and ready for play through a 40-year career with the City of Elyria. "It's a very big honor for me," said Meecha, who thanked his fellow workers and crew. "Sometimes city workers get a bad rap but we're out there trying to be sure the rink and the fields were in perfect condition." Elyria Catholic's 2011 girls basketball team finished 22-3 and began what is now one of the state's top programs. The Panthers made it to the state tournament, losing 53-49 to Oak Hill in the semifinals after jumping out to a 31-15 lead late in the first half. Emily Taylor (1,387 points) and Ashley Schuster (1,034) are two of the school's all-time leading scorers. There were eight seniors on the roster. In addition to Taylor and Schuster, Myrasia Flowers, Juliana Tremont and Rothgery's daughter, Tory, were the starters. Anna McNeely, Molly O'Malley and Marie Machovina were the other seniors. Juniors Danielle LoParo, Taylor Steniawski, Brigid Griffin and Marisa Ternes along with sophomores Brittney McNamara, now the coach at Midview, Karissa McGrath and Shannon Hopkins came off the bench. It was a well-balanced team with eight players contributing at least 99 points and 20 assists. Six grabbed 69 or more rebounds and 10 played in at least 20 games. Rothgery, who has won 336 games in his career, was only in his third year as coach of the Panthers. He was assisted by Billy Joe Williams, Larry Riddell, Bill Crowell and Kevin Machovina. "This group changed the basketball program forever at Elyria Catholic," he said. "They were truly a team." In 1984, the Elyria West 4x100 relay team became the first girls team to earn state honors for the Wolverines. Sophomores Marnele Jackson and Collette Di Angi (Maben) and seniors Sonya Lawrence and Lynn McLoed dominated the event all season, winning all their regular-season meets — the Erie Coast Conference, the Lorain County Invitational Relays, the district, regional and state meets. Their fastest time came in the regional where they nearly broke the state record by running 49.6 seconds, falling just six-tenths of a second short "The state track meet dates back to 1908 but it took an additional 66 years for the girls to run," said Kari Joyce Foreman, who coached the team. "There were only nine previous track meets prior to these girls getting the chance." The organization also recognized this year's All-Ohio athletes: Mateo Medina for last year's track championship from Elyria High, Hezekiah Garcia (EC soccer) and Clara Kildore (EC volleyball). Scholarships were awarded to Elyria High's Annas Bolarinwa (bowling, soccer and track), Brooklyn Freeman (cheer team), Morgan Palos (volleyball and softball) and Teo Perez (football). EC scholarship winners were Cecilia Jacobs (volleyball) and Alayna Kasper (cross country). Dominic Piazza is the chairman and Tim Alcorn, voice of the Cavaliers, was the master of ceremonies. Mayor Kevin Brubaker issued special proclamations to all the inductees. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.