Inductees celebrated at Elyria Sports Hall of Fame banquet

ELYRIA — Saturday night Elyria came together to celebrate some of the best athletes the city has to offer. Elyria High state champion wrestler Doug Foor, Pioneers volleyball star Amanda Medvetz, Joe Norton (Elyria High football and baseball), Joel Stuart (Elyria Catholic football and basketball) and diving champion MacKenzie Tweardy (Elyria Catholic) were celebrated for their induction to the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame at its banquet held at the Spitzer Conference Center of Lorain County Community College. Two teams — the 1995 Elyria West state champion 400-meter track relay team and the 2009 Ohio Special Olympics state basketball champion Murray Ridge Raiders — also were inducted as part of the 2026 class. Dr. Dennis Carson, who worked with Elyria Catholic athletes for over 30 years received the Hall of Fame's Distinguished Service Award. Foor was the 175-pound champion in 1984 and earned a scholarship to Illinois. He battled a broken arm, a broken hand, four knee injuries and a neck injury throughout his career — which started at North Ridgeville and concluded at Elyria — but he still managed to win two Buckeye Conference championships, placed at state twice and earned a scholarship to the University of Illinois. "I'm extremely blessed both of my parents are here with me tonight," Foor said. "I want to thank you for your love and your support and your confidence in a 15-year-old kid who sat down from you across the kitchen table and said I want to start my own path." Medvetz played on four 20-win Elyria High teams and was named Miss Volleyball for her senior season in 2008. She graduated from Elyria in 2009 and went on to play volleyball for Cleveland State, graduating there in 2013. Her path to success included multiple surgeries after being born with only two normal fingers in her left hand — her pinkie and thumb. Doctors had to take out two toe bones to build her pointer and ring fingers, she does not have a middle finger. But she helped Elyria win at least 20 games in all four of her seasons with the team, helping the school achieve a No. 2 state ranking her freshman year. Her senior year with Elyria, she tallied 265 kills and 265 digs, finishing with 804 and 869, respectively, for her career. In college, she helped the Vikings win both the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. "When I look back at my time at Elyria High School, I don't really remember a lot of the specific games," Medvetz said. "What I do remember is our pregame rituals, playing Mario Party at one of my teammates houses, eating a spaghetti dinner before a game and the concession stands at Elyria High School that our parents put so much time and effort into. You could have probably had a four-course meal at that concession stand. When I look back at my time at Elyria, it brings me joy and happiness." Norton was the catcher on Elyria High's 1992 team that qualified for the state tournament and he was a two-way starter and the kicker for the football team. He hit .373 with a homer and 26 RBIs during Elyria's run to the 1992 state tournament. In football, he caught 42 passes for 601 yards and led Elyria in scoring with six touchdowns, 17 extra points and three field goals in 1992. He went on to play baseball at Ohio Northern. "That was the best team that I ever played on," Norton said of the 1992 Elyria baseball team. "I've played a lot of talented players and with a lot of successful teams during my playing days, but that was by far the most tight knit, ego free, selfless team I ever had the pleasure of playing with. I have zero doubts these traits are what led to our success that season." Stuart was a standout in football and basketball for the Panthers, graduating in 1994. He earned All-Ohio second-team honors as a defensive lineman his senior year, earning a scholarship to play football at Northwestern. He played tight end on the 1996 Rose Bowl team, which was the program's first trip to the big game in five decades. In basketball, he helped Elyria Catholic defeat state ranked Lorain Catholic in the Division III district final. "My induction into the hall of fame is a testament to everyone who helped me get here today," Stuart said. "My family, friends and coaches throughout life, without you none of this is possible." Tweardy — whose first love was gymnastics but pivoted to diving after numerous injuries, culminating with a broken wrist on the eve of her freshmen season at Elyria Catholic — won a district championship and was state runner up at the 2011 diving meet her senior year. She continued her success at Purdue, where she earned multiple All-American honors and competed at the 2016 Olympic Trials, making it to the final round with a 10th-place finish among the 27 competitors. "I'm now a member of the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame," Tweardy said. "If you told high school me that I would have thought wow I got a lot better at gymnastics. And that was a very bad assumption because I didn't. I just found a sport I was much better at. Why was I better? Not totally certain. I could have been talent, or just trying something new, or it could be because it's a lot harder to dislocate bones and break bones than in gymnastics. I stayed a lot healthier in diving." The 1995 Elyria West relay team consisted of Duane Hawkins, Del Hardimon, Terry Pride and Aric Bowens, but Rob Woolbright was a key reason for their success as he filled in for Hawkins from late April through regionals. After regionals, Woolbright suffered a stress fracture in his foot and did not run in the state meet, but the team got Hawkins back from his hamstring injury and the anchor pulled off a photo finish by 0.04 seconds. "To see them win the state meet was surreal," Woolbright said. "To watch it in real time was unexplainable, but I'm really grateful for the opportunity because it really drove me to be the person that I am today, the person that I was in college. They did their part, I did my part. Young people out there if you're doing your part things will work out for you, so just remember to do your part." Starting for the 2009 Murray Ridge Raiders were Ryan Eliason, Dameion Taylor, Charles Johnson Jr., Jon Torres and DJ Overall. The reserves included Albert Mays, Mike Kovacic, Hector Lozano, Eric Johnson, Jeff Torres, Carl Jeans, Steven Cruz and Raul Torres. The team was coached by Bob Burkhardt along with assistant coach Leroy Keen and volunteer Wendy Johnson. "I hope I instilled in them a sense of good sportsmanship and to be proud of their efforts on the court win or lose," Burkhardt said of the Murray Ridge team. Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.