COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Colerain High School is celebrating 100 years of its athletics tradition with an ambitious project — an all-century team in 23 sports.
"We are so excited to get this out to the community and help people take a trip back down memory lane with a few very interesting names," Colerain athletic director Matt Stoinoff said. "We believe we are one of the first schools in the area to do something like this. And with all the great traditions at Colerain High School, it wasn't that hard to come up with so many great names and coaches."
The all-century team coincides with the high school's 100th graduating class. The selections were made strictly on the student's high school career. Many voices were taken into account, but 1975 Colerain graduate Greg Stanley led the project, Stoinoff said.
Stanley grew up in the community, and he said he based the idea of an all-century team from Major League Baseball's idea to recognize players from the past 100 years in 1999.
"With his commitment to Colerain High School over the years and the unparalleled bank of knowledge he holds on all of our graduates and history, we were able to make the project come to fruition," Stoinoff said. "Highlighting these coaches and players is incredibly significant. We want our community, and in some cases, the nation to remember how great these individuals were at their perspective sports."
Teams were selected based on the following:
- Recommendations from teammates, coaches, athletic directors and administrators
- Input from independent resources
- Statistical evaluation and ranking using available school records
- Whether an athlete was recognized as all-city, all-Southwest District or all-state
- Review of Cincinnati Enquirer and Cincinnati Post archives
- Review of yearbooks
There was no set number of athletes to be included on any given team. Every attempt was made to ensure that no deserving athlete was overlooked, according to the athletic department. There is representation from every decade going back to the 1920s.
The all-century team includes 1,062 athletes with approximately 5% recognized in three or more sports. Additionally, 56 coaches and three athletic directors have been selected. Football has 336 athletes recognized.
The All-Century team athletic directors include Ev Welch, Pete Yerkes and Dan Moody. The 1,062 athletes will be listed on WeAreColerain.com by the respective sport.
The All-Century coaches include:
Boys soccer — Frank Margello, Steve Tapogna, Paul Reedy
Girls soccer — Susan Leaf Smanik
Boys tennis — Nick Altieri and Steve Tapogna
Girls tennis — Carol Lehman and Steve Tapogna
Volleyball — Trish Covode, Marsha Abney and Jenny Boerger
Boys basketball — Clarence Struble, Harry Taylor, Ev Welch, Tom Bryant, Mike Daniel, Kevin Higgins
Girls basketball — Lena Holmes, Trish Covode, Steve Schweitzer, Nikki Drew
Boys bowling — Randy Noe and Debbie Potzner
Girls bowling — Debbie Potzner
Girls gymnastics — Ed Schwegler
Boys swimming — Terry Cheeseman, Stephanie Janke and Stacey Tepe
Girls swimming — Stephanie Janke and Stacey Tepe
Wrestling — Terry Bonta, Carl Huber, Hunter Hampton
Baseball — Harry Taylor, Don Colussi, Chris Newton
Slow-pitch softball — Trish Covode and Craig Mettey
Fast-pitch softball — Tom Bolden, Susan Dayton
Boys track — Ken Meibers, Paul Geisen, Ron Russo
Girls track — Ron Russo
Boys cross country — Ken Meibers and Ron Russo
Girls cross country — Ron Russo
Boys golf — Jim Martin and John Cecere
Girls golf — Kerry Dugan Martini
Football — Carl Crawford, Vince Mercure, Ben Hubbard, Tom Kocica, Kerry Coombs and Tom Bolden
