Fred Sauro addresses the crowd at the Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet on Saturday. (Photo by Aaron Lee)
VIENNA — Prominent athletes from around the Mid-Ohio Valley gathered at the Grand Pointe Convention Center on Saturday for the induction ceremony for the Class of 2024. Inductees included Brian Canterbury (Jackson County), Michael Cox (Pleasants County), Janet Frazier (Wart County), H. Dugan Hill (Noble County), Megan McCauley (Washington County), David Mosser (Ritchie County), Rod O’Donnell (Washington County), Timothy Phillips (Wood County), Fred Sauro (Wood County) and Jim Wharton (Wood County).
Canterbury led the way as the first inductee. The Ravenswood graduate has been involved in 17 of the Red Devils’ 26 state titles. He led the Ravenswood boys cross country team to nine consecutive championships from 2000-2008 while also being involved in track and field and basketball.
Cox was a highly successful running back for the Blue Devils at St. Mary’s High School, rushing for 3,000 yards in high school before moving to the next level to play at Ohio University and then Glenville State University, where he was the team’s rushing leader before moving to defensive end.
Frazier is a Hall of Famer for her volleyball success at Wirt County, leading the Tigers to 11 state championships. The team’s four championships came in consecutive years from 2005-2008, a record that still stands today. Frazier has received many awards for her accomplishments, including the 2017 National Volleyball Coach of the Year Award and the 2003 and 2017 NFHS West Virginia Coach of the Year Awards.
As head coach of Caldwell cross country from 1987 to 2020, Hill led the boys team to nine state titles. He has coached a whopping 79 all-state athletes in track and field and cross country. The Redskins’ success is even more impressive when you consider the resources available to the program. “Probably the most surprising thing to me is we don’t have a truck.” Hill said: “Caldwell’s record of graduating 55 students last year means they have a 6-foot-6-inch high jumper, a 21-foot long jumper, a 64-foot-9-inch shot putter and a 162-foot discus thrower, without having a track or facilities?
The Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 inductees gather for a photo before Saturday’s induction ceremony. (Photo courtesy of the Journal-Leader)
“That says a lot about those kids. Those kids practiced hard in the middle of the road. My last few years coaching at Caldwell, we set up the curb in the high school parking lot as a toe board and took kids to the state meet. We were never blessed with good facilities. We did all our running on the road. We did all our cross country practice in the cemetery. Nobody complains there.” Hill said.
McCauley, of Marietta, was a versatile athlete during her time with the Tigers, earning 14 varsity selections in basketball, track and field, soccer and cross country. She cleared the 1,000-career point mark in basketball despite missing the final 10 games of her senior season due to a torn ACL. McCauley continued her track and field career at the University of Cincinnati, where she earned four varsity selections in the sport and was part of the school-record 4×800-meter relay team.
Ritchie County softball coach David Mosser just surpassed the 800-win mark as head coach for the 2024 season. He has a 72.5% career winning percentage, two state titles and eight runner-up finishes. He has taught art for 36 years and has been inducted into several halls of fame for his work in karate.
He talked about the process of becoming a captain for the Rebels, which he agreed to after some persistent persuasion from Jim Carpenter. “Eventually, I decided to coach for a year. That was 40 years ago. You know why I stayed? The first year, I’d never laughed so much in my life. They were good athletes, but we had no idea what to do as a team…But the next year, we were 22-3.”
Rod O’Donnell, a Belpre High School graduate, started the boys cross country program at Caldwell High School in 1971. After a runner-up finish in 1972, the Redskins won the state title the following year. O’Donnell then went on to coach at the collegiate level, coaching at what was then the University of Rio Grande, Marshall University and Kent State University before returning to the high school level. After winning a state title as coach at Hudson High School in Ohio, he returned to MOV and coached the Parkersburg Big Reds to two championships in 2014 and 2021.
Phillips was a dominant swimmer as a high school student, winning eight individual state titles in four different events at PHS before continuing his swimming career at Ohio State University. He swam for the Buckeyes from 2010-2014, winning multiple Big Ten titles, including the 100-yard butterfly in 2010, a title that also set a Michigan pool record; the previous record was held by Michael Phelps. Phillips was a member of the U.S. National Team from 2010-2017, winning gold medals while traveling the world.
Saullo, who led the Yellow Jackets to a state title game against Wyoming East and recently retired, holds the record for most wins in girls basketball in West Virginia with 557. She coached for 54 years, 38 of them at Williamstown. Saullo appeared in 10 state tournaments, won one state championship and was runner-up twice.
“The first year we were 0-21. We didn’t win a game. The next year we were much better… 2-19. It took us eight years to win 50 games. That’s where we started. We’re very persevering. We stuck with it and loved it. We’ve done well from that point on eventually, but it was definitely a labor of love.” Sauro commented on getting Williamstown to where it is today:
Rounding out this fantastic class was Jim Wharton, legendary MOV sports anchor for WTAP. “Football Madness” During his time on the air, he has received numerous awards, including first place in the Student Athlete of the Week category, and the AP Lifetime Achievement Award.
Wharton spoke about how his love for the sport grew despite a lack of talent on the field. “I’ll confess: I was never a really good athlete. I never hit a game-winning home run, scored a touchdown, hit a buzzer-beater to lead my team to victory, won a state championship or set a school record. I wasn’t good, but I loved sports.”
Aaron Lee can be contacted at alee@newsandsentinel.com.
