Nomination for 2013 Orrville Sports Hall of Fame Induction Due March 1st

It's that time again....the biennial induction to the Orrville High School Sports Hall of Fame will take place this year on September 14th at Orrville High School.  The class of 2013 will be the 12th induction class since the first class was enshrined in 1991.

The induction will be held in the newly refurbished OHS auditorium. It may be the first chance for the general public to see the completely renovated space, and will surely add a special touch to the evening.

As always, the Sports Hall of Fame committee needs your help in recognizing the great in OHS athletic history. No person can be inducted without first being nominated and nominations are not made by the committee.  That last part bears repeating....THE COMMITTEE DOES NOT MAKE NOMINATIONS.

Nominations typically come from a family member, friend, classmate, parent, child, grandchild or member of the Orrville community.

A nominee must be at least 25 years old.  Nominees can be coaches that weren't graduates of OHS, but coached at OHS.  Athletic success at OHS is an obvious requirement, but many inductees and nominees saw greater success at the college level, and that can sometimes strengthen a nominees chances for induction.  In short, it's not just what someone did while at OHS...it's sometimes what they do AFTER the leave OHS that can set them apart.

Once nominations are received, all nominees accomplishments are discussed and the list is trimmed down to 20 finalists, and from that 20, a maximum of 10 nominees are selected, by majority vote of the committee, for induction. 

Nominations for the 2013 induction class are due by March 1st, so now is the time to get someone you believe is worthy of induction on the list of nominees.

A nomination form is here...and if I can make a suggestion...just nominate the person...you don't need to have pages and pages of newspaper clippings and awards.  Just the basic info on someone will do to get them nominated.  Members of the HOF committee know Orrville greats from back in the 30's and 40's.  If they were an accomplished athlete at Orrville, someone on the committee will know of them.

Here is the list of current inductees.  I know there has been discussion in the past as to why an individual hasn't been inducted and usually it's two reasons....they were selected for induction but turned down the honor, or they have never been nominated.  Sometimes though there are a lot of deserving nominees and some get in and some fall a vote or two short.  It's a process and certainly not one taken lightly.

The OHS Sports Hall of Fame also provides two $1,000 scholarships to a male and female OHS senior at the Senior Assembly in May.  Funds for that scholarship are raised from the annual golf outing held at Riceland Golf Course.  This year's outing is set for Saturday June 8th...more info on that will be coming later.

Hannah Plybon Breaks All-Time Orrville Basketball Scoring Record

Another record fell tonight at the hands of Orrville senior Hannah Plybon. Already the girls all-time leading scorer, Hannah is now the all-time leading scorer in Orrville basketball history...boys or girls.

She tallied 29 points tonight in a 67-64 win over Mansfield Senior, and in doing so, passed Orrville great Marcell Denson's boys scoring record of 1,722 points.

She entered the game with 1,705 points, and her 29 tonight gives her 1,734 for her career.

Really incredible when you stop and think how great Denson was during our glory years in the mid 90's.  He scored A LOT of points..and for Hannah to top that, speaks to how special of a talent she is.

Another record may fall this Saturday when the Riders host Triway...the Wayne Co. Girls scoring record.  Currently held by Chippewa's Tonya Smoot, the record is 1,745 points.  Hannah needs 12 points to own that record too.  Likely that she gets it Saturday.

One other individual record is out there...and that's 2,000 career points.  Hannah needs 266 points in her final games as a Red Rider to become the first Wayne County basketball player (boy or girl) to score 2,000 points, and just the 3rd in Wayne/Holmes county history.

I opined on twitter that she'd trade all of her points for a shot at a state title, and I was not surprised at her response: "I would, absolutely, without a doubt."

That's what I like to see in our student-athletes...a realization that individual awards are nice, but team goals come first.  And only through the success of the team, does an individual get a chance to shine.

Congrats Hannah and congrats Lady Riders.  Thirteen wins, two close losses to one of the best teams in the state...and a true shot at returning to Columbus for the first time since 1993.  Tournament time should be a fun ride.