7 inducted into SRHS Athletic Hall of Fame
SLIPPERY ROCK — Melissa Sopher thought it was a prank.
When Sopher received a letter informing her she had been elected to the Slippery Rock High Athletic Hall of Fame, she scoffed.
“I honestly didn't think it was real,” said Sopher, a 2002 graduate who won two state titles in hurdles during her track career with the Rockets. “I thought, ‘Ha-ha, nice trick.'”
But it wasn't a ruse. Sopher was one of seven Slippery Rock graduates inducted in a ceremony held Saturday. The others were Steve Beatty, Larry Galcik, Tracey Flynn, Ian Shirey, Tara Codispot and Josh Kniess.
Sopher, a physical education and health teacher in La Plata, Md., called her mother in Harrisville to find out the identity of the culprit.
“She told me, ‘No, it's real,'” Sopher said.
Once it had sunk in, Sopher said she was honored — and still surprised.
“I was shocked mainly because track and field is such a boring sport,” Sopher said. “No one gets their friends together and says, ‘Hey, let's go to a track meet.' It's always at the end of the year and the only people who really knew I had won two state titles were my close friends.”
It was enough to get noticed nine years later, though.
Steve Beatty waited even longer.
Last year, the 1980 graduate watched with pride as his father, Bill, was part of the Hall's first class.
A year later, Beatty joined him.
“To follow my dad in is an honor for me,” Steve Beatty said.
The younger Beatty was a force on the basketball court for the Rockets and then at Pitt, where he played in two NCAA tournaments and in an NIT tournament.
He also was a member of the Big East All-Star team that played in Africa during the summer of 1982.
Flynn was a dominant player for the Rockets girls basketball team.As a senior, she led Slippery Rock to a playoff berth while averaging nearly 30 points per game.“I was elated,” Flynn said about her selection for the Hall. “It's a great time for me to reflect on what was a really enjoyable part of my life.”Her former coach, John Tabisz, introduced her at the ceremony, which made it all the more special, she said.“He's been such a big part of my life,” Flynn said. “The time and effort and energy he put in for us and for me, seeing something in me, I will never forget that.”“I just can't believe it's been 20 years,” she added.It hasn't been quite that long since Kniess ripped up the football record books at Slippery Rock High and then at Slippery Rock University.The 2001 graduate turned in one of the most statistically dominating seasons during his senior year, rushing for more than 2,000 yards and winning the Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy by almost 100 points.“Those are the days you remember,” Kniess said. “Putting on the pads and going to battle with the guys you have known all of your life.”Following are biographies of the other 2011 Slippery Rock High Athletic Hall of Fame inductees:n Larry Galcik, class of 1983, started for the University of Louisville football team for four years. He is one of only two Slippery Rock High graduates to play at a Division I-A football program.n Ian Shirey (1995) starred on two Division I-AA national championship football teams at Youngstown State. Shirey also is a member of the YSU Hall of Fame.n Tara Codispot (1995) led the Slippery Rock girls basketball team to the PIAA semifinals as a senior.
