Copley High School Inducting 9 Into Athletic Hall of Fame

Eight alums and a former coach will return to this weekend to be honored as the newest inductees in the Athletic Hall of Fame.

The school’s fourth annual induction celebration will take place in two parts: a plaque presentation during halftime of the varsity boys’ home basketball game against Wadsworth on Friday and a dinner ceremony Saturday at the in Fairlawn.

The CHS Athletic Hall of Fame 2011 inductees are:

• , CHS Class of 1954
• , Class of 1961
• , Class of 1972
• , Class of 1975
• , Class of 1978
• , Class of 1988
• , Class 1998
• , Class of 2000
• , former coach

Athletic Director Jim Borchik said a Copley High School Athletic Hall of Fame was "a very much-needed tribute to the many fine athletes that have represented our community.”

“This is a typically strong group that represents our athletic heritage extremely well. We look forward to recognizing these deserving individuals when they triumphantly return to their alma mater this weekend,” Borchik said.

Larry Banner, hall of fame co-founder, said he is excited to once again “highlight some of the great people that have come through the Copley-Fairlawn City Schools – that‘s why we do it.”

Banner, a 35-year district teacher and coach who also served 17 years as high school athletic director, established the hall of fame in 2007 with Keith Walker, a 35-year school counselor who also served as middle school athletic director.

“We both retired around the same time and felt this was something we could really put our energy toward,” Banner explained. “We had some other individuals, graduates of Copley High, who were also quite interested in doing this. One was former Fairlawn Mayor Pete Kostoff, who made a significant donation to get this started. We had no trouble getting a committee together.”

The CHS Athletic Hall of Fame Committee members are Banner, Walker, Borchik and Copley graduates Kostoff, Roland Osborn, Nancy Steinkerchner, Nick Carpus, Jim Smith and Penny Kungle.

Borchik said hall of fame committee members have “canvassed the yearbooks and record books to identify those special individuals who warrant induction into the CHS Hall of Fame.”

The committee also approached the Fairlawn and Copley communities to seek nominations and the response received has been surprising.

“We’ve been bombarded with applications – we got close to 100 that first year alone. It’s been kind of overwhelming ,” Banner explained. “We’ve had between nine and 11 inductees every year. Once we get caught up, we would like to have fewer inducted on an annual basis.”

He said the community has been very supportive of the hall of fame. “We’ve had very good attendance the first three years at the dinner and ceremony – with about 160 to over 200 attending each year – and it looks like this year will be about the same. It’s a great chance to honor the most deserving candidates that come to us,” Banner said.

Borchik said reservations for Saturday’s dinner ceremony – which will be emceed by Copley graduate and WNIR radio personality Phil Ferguson – will be taken through the end of today. for details.

Those interested in making a nomination for the Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2012 can for an application, which must be turned in by June for consideration.