Two
athletes from the mid-1990s who received Division I college scholarships and
the most successful soccer coach in New Richmond High School history will be
inducted into the New Richmond Lions Sports Hall of Fame on January 25.
Joining
the Hall of Fame as 2014 inductees will be 1995 graduate and cross country star
Jason (Jay) Penry, 1996 graduate and two-sport star in basketball and baseball
John Duncan Jr. and 9-time conference soccer coach of the year Denny Hopewell.
Jason
(Jay) Penry
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| Jay Penry |
Jay Penry,
who ran both track and cross country at Wake Forest University where he
obtained bachelor and master degrees in biology, is currently a professor at
Oregon State University where he received his Doctor of Philosophy in Exercise
and Sports Sciences degree in 2008. His lecture courses at Oregon State include
Anatomical Kinesiology, Biomechanics, Exercise Physiology, and Motor Learning
and Control.
Penry
graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1999 from Wake Forest where he was named a Mullen
School from 1996-99 and named to the Phi Beta Kappa national academic honor
society.
The
valedictorian of his 1995 high school class, Penry was the Division II regional and
district champion and state runner-up in the 3200-meter run and was the
district champion at 1600 meters. He received all-conference and all-Cincinnati
honors in track and was a four-time all-conference runner in cross country.
“Jay was
a true scholar athlete,” said former New Richmond High School track coach
Warren McConnell.
“Jay does
nothing half-way,” said New Richmond classmate Todd Young. “He has been able to
take the very qualities that made him successful in sports and use them in
other parts of his life.”
John
Duncan Jr.
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| John Duncan Jr. |
John
Duncan Jr. attended Wright State University on a baseball scholarship after an outstanding
career at New Richmond High School. He joins his father, John Duncan Sr., and
younger brother, David Duncan, as a member of the Lions Sports Hall of Fame.
In
baseball, Duncan was a three-time Southern Buckeye Conference all-star and was named to the all-Cincinnati team his senior year after leading the
Cincinnati metro area in wins (8) and strikeouts (114). He ranks 4th
career wins (18) and strikeouts (218) and 3rd all-time in strikeouts
per seven innings (10.0).
"Johnny was the starting and winning pitcher for my first game as a high school coach," said Lions baseball coach Brian Benzinger. "He struck out 18 batters in 7 innings on the JV on opening day. I remember telling Greg Hawkins, the varsity coach, that Johnny needed to be pitching on the varsity. He was called up immediately and became the varsity's number 1 pitcher that season. "
"Johnny was the starting and winning pitcher for my first game as a high school coach," said Lions baseball coach Brian Benzinger. "He struck out 18 batters in 7 innings on the JV on opening day. I remember telling Greg Hawkins, the varsity coach, that Johnny needed to be pitching on the varsity. He was called up immediately and became the varsity's number 1 pitcher that season. "
In basketball,
Duncan ranks second at New Richmond in career scoring with 1241 points. He was named
first team all-SBAAC three times and all-city his junior and senior year when
he led the city in scoring with a 25.8 average. He was named to the second-team
all-district and third-team all-state teams as a senior.
Duncan
was the first New Richmond athlete to be awarded SBAAC Player of the Year in
two sports, two years in a row.
"To this day, Johnny still comes to our practices and pitches to our varsity hitters each season whenever we are about to face a tough lefty," added Benzinger. "He really cares about our program and is very supportive to our current players. That means so much to me as a coach to have one of New Richmond's best give back to the program."
"To this day, Johnny still comes to our practices and pitches to our varsity hitters each season whenever we are about to face a tough lefty," added Benzinger. "He really cares about our program and is very supportive to our current players. That means so much to me as a coach to have one of New Richmond's best give back to the program."
Denny
Hopewell
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| Denny Hopewell |
Denny
Hopewell, who served as the New Richmond High School in-school suspension
monitor from 1998 until his retirement after the 2012 school year, coached boys
soccer from 1998 to 2004 and girls soccer from 2005 to 2006 and was named Southern
Buckeye Conference coach of the year nine times.
“Denny
took a program that was in turmoil, cleaned it up and made it the dominant force
in the SBAAC,” said New Richmond teacher Bill Harris who followed Hopewell as
boys’ varsity soccer coach. “He developed players who were disciplined,
hard-working and team oriented.”
Hopewell,
who retired from the Madeira police department, brought more than 20 years of
coaching experience with him to New Richmond. He coached the Cincinnati
Southeast District girls select team The Cardinals for more than 20 years and
also coached at Madeira and Indian Hill.
“When I
came to New Richmond they told me that if I won three games everyone would be
happy,” said Hopewell, who moved to New Richmond in 2000. “We ended up going
8-4 that first year and won the league title.”
Hopewell
went on to win league title in every year he coached except for his final
season when his girls finished second.
“It was
a challenge because there was no select soccer program feeding New Richmond.,”
said Hopewell. “I was lucky because I had some kids who wanted to win but just
didn't know how but were willing to put in the work needed to become winners.”
Penry,
Duncan and Hopewell will be inducted at the annual Hall of Fame banquet at 6:30
p.m. Jan. 25 at the high school cafeteria following the 4 p.m. boys’ varsity
basketball game against Bethel. Banquet tickets are $15and are available at the
high school.
