Tyler David gets champion sendoff to state swimming

New Richmond High School senior Tyler David was given a champions sendoff Feb. 19 for his trip to the Ohio High School Athletic Association state swim meet in Canton where he will be competing in the 200 and 500 freestyle events.

David, who carries a 4.0 GPA with a full-load of post secondary courses at Clermont College, is being recruited by several Division I colleges including Cleveland State where former Lion Alex Lewis has been a four-year standout. David is introduced in this video by his New Richmond swim coaches Judy and Joe Middeler.

NRHS honors its basketball champions

New Richmond High School honored its 2014 Southern Buckeye Conference American Division champion boys and girls basketball teams at a Feb. 14 pep rally. It marked the first time since 1975 that both girls and boys won league titles. The Lady Lions are featured cutting down the nets. Click on the Play button below to watch the team introductions.

NRHS honors Josie Buckingham on Senior Night

New Richmond High School honored senior basketball player Josie Buckingham on Senior Night Feb. 12.

Buckingham, who will attend the University of Minnesota, in the top scorer (1432 points), rebounder (1004) and shot blocker (440) in school history. She holds school single game records with 42 points, 17 blocks and 26 rebounds. Her total of 153 blocks in a season ranks her 8th in state history and 440 career blocks ranks 5th in state history. She was selected as Southern Buckeye Conference player of the year.

NR family connected by championships

If you attend a Stacy family reunion in New Richmond you can expect the talk to get around to Lady Lions basketball and championships.

Sisters Bailey and Bergen Workman were in uniform Jan. 31 when the Lady Lions clinched the 2014 Southern Buckeye American Division title with a 66-48 win over Amelia and on Feb. 8 when New Richmond won the Southern Buckeye championship with a 47-44 win over National Division champion Georgetown.

The previous championship by a Lady Lions team was in 1984 when twins Lisa and Lana Stacy led their Pat Hill coached team to the Southern Buckeye championship.

Girls basketball championships has become a family tradition in New Richmond. Seated (from left) are Lisa Stacy Workman, former coach Pat Hill and Lana Stacy Gilday who won the Southern Buckeye Conference title in 1984. Standing (from left) are Bailey Workman, current Lady Lions coach Brad Hatfield (Lisa Workman's son-in-law) and Bergen Workman from the 2014 Southern Buckeye championship.

Lisa Stacy is now Lisa Workman and mother of Bailey and Bergen. To make it more of a family affair, Lisa also is the mother-in-law of current Lady Lions coach Brad Hatfield, who is married to Brennan Workman. Lana Stacy, now Lana Gilday, is connected to the current team as a former assistant coach for Hatfield during Bailey’s freshman and sophomore seasons.

“We do talk basketball but she (Lisa) never second guesses me,” said Hatfield, who has left Lady Lions fans with little to question after four straight winning seasons including this year’s 19-2 championship team.

If Lisa had any criticism about Hatfield’s coaching style, it probably would be he’s too soft on his girls.

“These kids have no idea what it was like to run and play for Pat Hill as a coach,” said Lisa. “We ran and ran and ran until no team could keep pace with us.  I tell my girls all the time that they have it easy.”

“We’ve heard that a lot,” said Bailey, who has been a four-year starter for the Lady Lions. Bergen is a freshman and was elevated to varsity for the post-season.

Of course, Pat Hill’s 1984 team, which went 14-6 and won the league with a showdown win over Western Brown, didn’t have a 6-6 Josie Buckingham, whose mother Liz Misheff played on New Richmond’s first championship team in 1974-75, in the low post.

What Pat Hill had was the Stacy twins plus girls like Lisa Taylor, Patty McMillian and Donna Hayslip who bought into her demanding style, which required tremendous conditioning.

“We only had seven or eight players on that team but we still were able to run teams into the floor,” said Lana. “We could outrun everybody.”

“We ran our offense off our defense where we would push it down the side,” recalled Hill, now the commissioner of the SBAAC.  “We called it Snowbird where Lisa would take off down the floor and we would get the ball to her and she would turn and shoot the ball. If teams tried to stop us on one side we would just switch to the other side.”

“I wasn’t allowed to go into the paint,” noted Lisa. “I was almost like a cherry picker, but I was shooting from the outside. We didn’t have the three-point shot then and that is the area where I took most of my shots.”

Bailey Workman has the advantage of the three-point line and has made 33 from long range this season.

 “Everybody remembers Lisa and Lana for their offense, but they were both great defensive players and that was the big key for us winning that championship,” said Hill, who as athletic director at New Richmond hired Hatfield.

2014 Hall of Fame inductions

John Duncan Jr., Jay Penry and Denny Hopewell were inducted into the New Richmond (Ohio) High School Lions Sports Hall of Fame at the annual Hall of Fame banquet Jan. 25.

Hawkins to be honored by Southwest District

New Richmond Board of Education member David Hawkins has been selected for the Friend of Athletics Award by the Southwest District Athletic Board of the Ohio High School Athletic Association in recognition of his 27 years as a volunteer at New Richmond High School.

David Hawkins

Mr. Hawkins, who has been a school board member for 22 years, has operated the scoreboard for varsity, JV and freshman football for 27 years; served as official scorer for boys varsity, JV and freshman basketball for 26 years; started the New Richmond Middle School wrestling tournament and served as its director for 12 years.

In addition, Mr. Hawkins has been part of the www,newrichmond.localsportsradio.com team for the past five years, helping broadcast more than 50 football, soccer, wrestling, girls basketball,  and baseball events per year.

“Athletic programs can’t be effective without individuals such as Dave Hawkins who has a tremendous love and devotion for New Richmond Schools,” said New Richmond High School athletic director Doug Foote, who serves as a member of the Southwest District board. “This award is given to an individual who has served on a volunteer bases for a school district for 25 years or more and Dave certainly fits this category.”

“I am surprised and feel honored to receive this award,” said Hawkins, who is recovering from surgery. “I’ve never done anything for personal recognition, but hope by accepting this award that it brings attention to all the volunteers who help New Richmond.”

David Hawkins interviews Lions baseball players during a post game show.

One of those volunteers is Kevin Walriven, who spotted for Hawkins for many years at football games and has sat next to him at basketball games for almost 20 years as the scoreboard operator.

“If I had been asked to pick a recipient of this award, Dave Hawkins would have been my choice without hesitation,” said Walriven, who also serves of the New Richmond Board of Education with Hawkins. “I can only guess at how many hours Dave has voluntarily devoted to our sports programs over the past 30 years, but I'll guarantee that he is in a league of his own and New Richmond Schools are much better because of his efforts.”

Mr. Hawkins will be honored March 8 at 5 p.m. at Xavier University’s Cintas Arena during the Southwest District basketball tournament.

David Hawkns interviews  New Richmond athletic director Doug Foote during a NR Lions Sports Foundation event.

Three to join Lions Sports Hall of Fame

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

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.

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 4^th career wins (18) and strikeouts (218) and 3^rd 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. "

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."

Denny Hopewell

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.