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Washington County Sports Hall of Fame inducts four in 2024 class

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Washington County Sports Hall of Fame inducts four in 2024 class

The “Undisputed Queen of the JFK 50 Mile” took her rightful place in the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday evening.

So did one of the county’s most successful high school volleyball coaches, following in the footsteps of those who taught her the game.

So did a beloved high school teacher, coach and athletic director who served for more than 40 years.

So did a Hagerstown High sports star who played in 74 Major League Baseball games in the mid-1940s.

Carolyn Showalter, Megan Crawford, Bill Sterner and the late Vic Barnhart made up the 36th class to be inducted into the county sports hall. They were recognized in a ceremony at Hagerstown Elks Lodge No. 378 in Hagerstown.

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Carolyn Showalter

Showalter is a six-time JFK women’s champion, including five consecutive years (1985-89). The six titles, including the final one in 1994, are tied for the all-time record with Donna Aycoth, who was Showalter’s inspiration.

“In the late 1960s I started hearing about the first woman who finished the JFK 50 Mile, and that was Donna Aycoth,” Showalter said. “She was running 50 miles at a time when the longest distance a woman had run in the Olympics was 800 meters. … Seeing what she accomplished helped plant a seed in the back of my mind.”

Showalter has finished the JFK 36 times, including an incredible run of 22 straight events (1982-2003), to become a member of the race’s 1,750 Mile Club. She has finished second in the JFK three times and in the top 10 on 16 occasions.

“In some ways, coming back to the JFK year after year seems a bit like a family reunion,” she said. “You see many of the same people sharing a common goal of finishing the race.”

Showalter also is a two-time top 100 women’s finisher in the Boston Marathon, the only Washington County woman to accomplish the feat. She has competed in marathons in Gettysburg, New York City, Chambersburg, Virginia Beach and Carlisle.

Showalter holds the active American record for most consecutive years completing an ultramarathon of at least 50 miles — 45 years, spanning from Nov. 28, 1978 to Nov. 18, 2023. That span is also second-best internationally.

Showalter is a 1972 graduate of Lancaster Mennonite High School, where she competed in field hockey, basketball and track. She later graduated from Hagerstown Community College and Shepherd University.

Megan Crawford

Crawford started playing volleyball in fifth grade and went on to become a standout for Williamsport, playing on the Wildcats’ 1999 Class 1A state championship team and earning a spot on The Herald-Mail’s All-Area team. She also earned all-county honors in basketball and tennis for the Wildcats.

She played volleyball at Catawba College in North Carolina, where she is among the all-time leaders for aces in a season, and at Shepherd University, where she was a team captain in 2004.

“I was fortunate to play for a lot of good coaches — Cindy Neugebauer, Rose Williams, Cheryl Wilkes, Susie Miller (and) Tracy McKinsey, to name a few,” Crawford said. “These women were all very knowledgable, and (their) love of the game is what amazed me. It made their players want to live and breathe volleyball. … These coaches taught me what it meant to be a coach. They had an ability to teach the game while having high expectations for their players, pushing them to take it to the next level.”

Right out of college, Crawford was named the head varsity coach at North Hagerstown in 2006. During her tenure, North went 231-55, won six region titles and played in five state finals, winning four championships (2011, 2012, 2014 and 2022). She coached nine Washington County players of the year and was the county coach of the year four times. In 2022, she was named Maryland Coach of the Year by the NFHS Coaches Association.

“Let’s face it, if my record was not a winning record, I might not have been considered for this award,” Crawford said. “My girls were the ones that went out and performed on the court and were very successful over the years. They put in the time and worked hard day in and day out. I was so happy for these girls that they got to experience what winning was, and I am most proud seeing these young women growing up and being successful in their own lives.”

Crawford also gave credit to Katie Eck, a 15-year assistant coach. Eck’s work with the JV team ensured that the Hubs could reload, not rebuild.

“Many people would think, since we had a group of seniors leaving, that it would be a rebuilding year for next year. That was never the case,” Crawford said. “Eck’s JV teams rarely ever lost — even after I took some of her freshmen and sophomores. She got them ready for varsity. … That record is just as much hers as it is mine.”

Bill Sterner

Sterner spent 41 of his 44 years as a teacher, coach and athletic director, mostly at Hancock as the Swiss Army knife of the athletic program, before finishing at Clear Spring.

“This is not something that you get on your own. This is something that you have to stand on other peoples’ shoulders, and I had plenty of shoulders that I stood on,” Sterner said. “Yogi Martin, Doug Cochran, Ed Masood — I could go through a lot of people who took me under their wing and worked with me on a lot of things, especially when I became an athletic director.”

After starting as a volunteer line coach in football, Sterner joined Hancock’s faculty in 1983 as a teacher. Shortly after, he assumed athletic director duties. It was his first of two tenures at the post.

Sterner became Hancock’s head football coach, guiding the team to its first playoff berth in 1986. Later, he guided the softball team to the 1993 state semifinals. His work kept the football program afloat at the smallest public school in Maryland.

In 2018, he left Hancock to take over as Clear Spring’s AD to help the Blazers’ program.

“One thing that I was good at was I could surround myself with good people, and that helped,” Sterner said. “I wanted people who were inspired, I wanted people who were excited, I wanted people who were gracious and who were happy to have the opportunity to coach the kids and work in the games they worked in.”

Vic Barnhart

Barnhart represented the third generation of the Barnhart baseball family, playing three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He followed his father Clyde, who played with Pittsburgh for nine seasons, and brother Bob, who played in the minor leagues.

Vic started his baseball career at age 17, prior to his senior year of high school. A sports writer labeled Vic as the Class C Western Association League’s “top prize third baseman,” while playing for the Pirates’ Hutchinson affiliate. When he joined the Pirates, he eventually moved from third base to shortstop.

He played most of his 74 Major League games in 1945, along with two short stints in 1944 and 1946. He batted .270 over the three seasons with seven doubles and 19 RBIs.

He played 1,047 games over 10 seasons at various levels in the minors, hitting .292 with 27 HRs and 410 RBIs.

Vic graduated from Hagerstown High in 1940, where he starred in soccer, basketball and baseball. Bob and Vic played together on the 1938 Washington County champion Hoffman Chevrolet team as Clyde watched from the stands.

After baseball, Vic spent 20 years as an athletic director at Maryland Correctional Institute.

“When I was growing up, I always had a ball in one hand and a mitt in the other,” said daughter Cathy Betker, who accepted the honor on her father’s behalf. “I want to thank everyone who helped induct my father into the hall of fame.”

Honors and scholarship awards

The county sports hall also presented the following scholarships and honors to local high school athletes and coaches:

  • Donald Stoner Coach of the Year Award: Cullan Ganley, Smithsburg
  • William Lightner Official of the Year Award: Dave Grams, umpire
  • Sara “Skip” Ward Scholarship Award: Haylee Hartman, Boonsboro
  • Harry L. Cunningham Jr. Scholarship Award: Samuel Atkinson, Boonsboro
  • Millie Shank Athletic Academic Scholarship: Camryn Eichelberger, Smithsburg
  • Gregg DeLauney President’s Award Scholarship: Deontae Blake, South Hagerstown
  • Carroll I. Reid Jr. Scholarship, sponsored by Cumberland Valley Athletic Club: Awls (Odin) Desir, North Hagerstown
  • Carroll and Virginia Reid Memorial Scholarship: Zachary von Garrel and Ashton Redman, Smithsburg
  • Jeff Scuffins Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by Cumberland Valley Athletic Club: Michaela Gross, Smithsburg
  • Dotty Piccolomini Scholarship: Avery Byard, North Hagerstown
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