Wheeling, W. Va. – Six years ago, three former Cardinals were inducted into the Wheeling University Athletics Hall of Fame when Joel John Bailey, Ricky Moore, and Tina Amoroso-Crognale made their way to the Hall of Fame. Over the last several seasons, many factors put the Hall of Fame into hiatus with COVID shutting the world down. This year, the Wheeling Athletics Department announced the return of the Hall of Fame with a class of 11 Inductees.
To be eligible for induction into the Wheeling Athletics Hall of Fame, players, coaches, and teams must meet a predetermined set of criteria. For players, their athletic eligibility must have been exhausted 10 or more years ago and they must have made a significant contribution over at least two seasons. For a coach, they had to have made a significant contribution as Head Coach of their team for at least five years, and teams must have accomplished a monumental moment or milestone at least 10 years ago. The 11 players, coaches, and team inducted into the 2024 Wheeling Athletics Hall of Fame are listed below, and we honor them for their time in a Cardinal uniform and the contributions they made to the Wheeling Athletics Department:
Charles R. Davis (Rugby)
Charles R. Davis is considered the founder of the Wheeling University Rugby program, bringing Club Rugby to Wheeling back in the spring of 1966. It starts with a trip to the University of Notre Dame, when Davis went to see his brother and saw a game being played between Notre Dame and Navy. Davis was immediately fascinated by the sport and when he got back to campus, he immediately started passing out flyers to start a club Rugby team. After a talk with Father McGroarty, Wheeling Rugby was born. The team would begin their first season of competition in the spring of 1966, playing three matches against John Carroll, Ohio State, and Penn State. Rugby has been a part of the Wheeling sports landscape ever since, becoming an official Intercollegiate Varsity sport during the 2012 season. Davis was the Pioneer for Rugby at Wheeling, paving the way for so many Rugby players that followed him.
Brandon Rouchion (Track & Field)
During his years in a Cardinal's uniform, Brandon Rouchion was constantly at the top of his hurdler class, representing the Wheeling University Men's Track & Field team at four different Track & Field National Championship events. He was a three-time Track All-American and earned five different All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) throughout his career. Along with his individual accomplishments, Rouchion helped lead his team to four different WVIAC Track & Field Championships. He ended his career with the second fastest time in the 110-Meter Hurdles in program history at 14.03 seconds, and sits fourth all-time in the 100-Meter Dash (10.73), while also being a member of the eighth fastest 4x400-Meter Relay team in school history.
Noah Mull (Baseball)
Noah Mull helped build the foundation of the Wheeling University Baseball team, serving as the team's top starting pitcher from 2007-2010. Over his four seasons in a Cardinal uniform, he went 11-15 with a 4.26 ERA over 160.2 innings of work, while striking out 230 batters. To this day, Mull holds the program record for wins (11), Strikeouts (230), and strikeouts per nine innings (12.92). During his senior season, he went 7-1 with a 2.01 ERA while striking out 81 batters, battling for the top spot in the country with former MLB pitcher Stephen Strausburg. During that season, he was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) Regional Pitcher of the Year and a third team All-American. He would end his career by being the second Cardinal ever picked in the MLB draft, being taken in the 38th round (#1144 overall) by the San Diego Padres.
Ronnie Hunte (Men's Soccer)
During his four seasons in a Cardinal uniform, Ronnie Hunte helped captain some of the best teams in Wheeling Men's Soccer history. During his tenure, the Cardinals went a combined 63-16-5, winning the NCAA Regional Championship which propelled the team to their first NCAA National Tournament appearance in 2000. He was a four-time All-WVIAC winner, earning Second Team honors his freshman year before winning three straight First-Team honor. He was also a four-time Regional All-American. He holds the Wheeling Men's Soccer career Assist record with 51, while sitting third all-time in points (133) and fourth all-time in Goals (41). Hunte is one of just five Cardinals to score 40 or more goals all-time and is the only Cardinal to eclipse the 40-assist mark in their collegiate career.
Kayla Johnson (Track & Field)
Kayla Johnson was one of the most dominant Cardinals on the track for the Wheeling Track & Field team. Over her four-year career, Johnson won 16 All-WVIAC awards as a sprinter and jumper, and qualified for the Track & Field National Championships three times in her career. She holds both the Indoor Track & Field and Outdoor Track & Field record in the 200-Meter Dash, posting a time of 24.85 in indoor season and 24.47 in outdoor season. She sits second all-time in the 60-Meter (7.81), 100-Meter (11.96), and 400-Meter (55.97) dashes, third all-time in the Long Jump (5.53 M), and fifth all-time in the Triple Jump (10.62 M). She also received WVIAC Rookie of the Year honors in 2004, as well as WVIAC Track & Field MVP and Athlete of the Year honors throughout her career.
Stephanie Petterson (Women's Soccer)
Stephanie Petterson served as an offensive leader for the Wheeling Women's Soccer team, leading them to a combined 43-34-1 record during her four seasons. She was apart of the first team to compete in the WVIAC, helping lay the foundation for the eventual WVIAC Championship the team earned in 2000. She is a three-time First Team All-WVIAC award winner, taking home honors during her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. Her best season came during her senior year when she earned First Team All-WVIAC honors for the third time in her career, while also being named the WVIAC's Player of the Year. As postseason play rolled around, she continued racking up the honors, earning First Team National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) All-Region honors and First Team NSCAA All-American honors.
Jenna Pew (Volleyball)
Jenna Pew was a rare six-rotation Middle Blocker and setter for most of her four years in a Cardinal uniform. She helped lead Wheeling to their first-ever NCAA Regional Championship, followed by their first ever National Championship appearance during her sophomore season, and the team won four conference championships during her career, advancing to the NCAA Tournament in all four of those seasons. Pew would also be the program's first-ever multi-year All-American, taking home honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) three times in her career. She would be named All-Region three times in her career, All-Conference four times, including being named the WVIAC Player of the Year in 2012 and the MEC Player of the Year in 2013. Pew holds the single-season Blocks/Set record, recording 1.35 blocks/set in 2010, while hitting .300 or better in each of her four seasons with the Cardinals.
Lesley Kohlmyer (Women's Soccer)
Lesley Kohlmyer helped Wheeling Women's Soccer establish themselves in the WVIAC, leading the team to the first-ever WVIAC Championship during the 2000 season. That year, she was the team's leading scorer with 21 goals and four assists to finish with 46 points that season. As a result of her efforts, she was named the WVIAC's Player of the Year, while also earning First Team All-Region honors and 3rd Team All-American honors from the NSCAA. During her career, she was a three-time All-WVIAC award winner, two-time All-Region player, and two-time All-American. She also sits seventh in Wheeling Women's Soccer program history in goals (48) and Points (117) and is one of just nine Cardinal players to reach the 40-goal plateau in their career.
Sue Vail (Women's Golf)
During her 18 years as Head Women's Golf Coach at Wheeling University, Sue Vail built the program from the ground up. She was named the head women's golf coach ahead of the 2004-2005 season and had the team sitting as the #9 team in the region by the spring of 2013. During her career, she coached the Cardinals to three MEC Women's Golf Championships, and her teams finished in the top three of the MEC Championships in each season from 2013 to 2021. Vail has coached five MEC Players of the Year over her 18- year tenure, helping former Cardinal Kasey Frazier make it to the NCAA DII National Tournament in each of her four seasons with the Cardinals. In the spring of 2021, Vail would lead the team to its first-ever team appearance at the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Tournament, where the squad finished 15th. Vail is a three-time Coach of the Year Award winner and took Wheeling Women's Golf from a new program to an MEC powerhouse.
Joe Key (Women's Basketball)
For 14 seasons, Joe Key led the Wheeling University Women's Basketball team, finishing his career as the most successful coach in program history. He led the Cardinals from 1995-2009, compiling a record of 243-158 (.606) during that span. His teams had 15 or more wins in 10 of his 14 seasons at the helm, and Key led the Cardinals to the WVIAC Championship in 2005-06, winning the WVIAC's Coach of the Year award in 2006. They would make the NCAA Tournament that season, the first of back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the team. Before his time as Head Coach, Key spent seven seasons as an assistant coach under Don Hustead, where he helped lead the team to its first-ever WVIAC Championship and NAIA Tournament appearance during the 1993-1994 season. Along with his career as Head Women's Basketball Coach, Key returned to Wheeling during the 2020-2021 season and served as the Head Men's Golf Coach. The team would play the MEC Championships in the Spring of 2021 and Key's team would finish 7th at the tournament. Key is the fourth-winningest coach in Wheeling Athletics History with 243 wins across all sports.
1994 Wheeling Women's Basketball Team
The 1993-1994 Wheeling Women's Basketball team was the pioneer of the winning tradition of Cardinals Women's Basketball. They finished the regular season 21-3, including a 17-game winning streak, to enter the WVIAC Tournament as the #1 seed. They would go on to win the program's first-ever WVIAC Championship, defeating Bluefield State 78-66 to claim the title. With the win, they moved on to the NAIA National Championship tournament for the first time in program history, heading down to the Oman Arena in Jackson, Tennessee. The Cardinals had four Cardinals earn All-WVIAC honors, with Kathy Long winning the WVIAC Tournament MVP and Head Coach Don Hustead earning WVIAC Coach of the Year. Two players from that team, Kathy Long and Diane Wichlinski, along with Head Coach Don Hustead are members of the Wheeling Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2024 Wheeling Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet will be held on Saturday, September 28th, at 5 PM following the Football game. All inductees will also be honored in a pre-game ceremony before the Wheeling Football team takes on Fairmont State at 1 PM. Stay tuned to wucardinals.com for more details on banquet information.
