Elyria Sports Hall of Fame — Class of 2017
Another successful banquet was held at the Spitzer Center — Lorain County Community College on May 13th. We have now inducted 226 individuals and 26 teams. We have also honored 25 individuals for our Distinguished Service Award along with one group of individuals in that category. Here’s a look at this year’s class.
Alex Boros Heygood
One of the best softball players to come out of Elyria High School, Alex Boros was All-Ohio, All-County, All-Conference in her senior year (2005). She earned a scholarship to Butler University 
where she lettered all four seasons. At EHS, Boros was Miss Softball her senior year. She batted .405 with 46 runs scored, 22 RBI, 13 doubles, seven triples and three home runs. On the mound, she was 23-3 with a 0.58 ERA in 168.1 innings. She also was an outstanding volleyball player earning all-district, all-county and all-conference accolades. She’s a member of the National Honor Society. Her parents are Dan and Debra Boros. Her sister Kristen followed her softball career at Elyria. She recently married Anthony Heygood and they reside in Indiana. At Butler, Boros played in 183 varsity games for the Bulldogs. She was the starting at 2B where she hit 16 home runs in her career. She batted .303 as a senior and named to the second team for the Horizon League. Boros played for Ken Fenik (softball) and Carol Russo (volleyball) at Elyria High.
Tori Davis
Tori Davis not only is the career leading basketball scorer at Open Door Christian High School 
but he holds the career scoring mark for Baldwin Wallace as well (2,232 points). Davis was a three-time All-OAC first team conference selection. Davis was twice named the Division III NCAA player of the year. He is among the career leaders at BW in 14 different categories. BW was 81-31 during his four year stint from 2003-2007. At Open Door, Davis led the Patriots to their only state final four appearance in 2003.
Angie McCall Nicholson
A 
graduate of Elyria High School and an All-Ohio softball player, Nicholson was given a full-ride to Cleveland State University where she later would coach the varsity softball program. As a player, Nicholson was a two-time All-conference catcher. She was named as the Horizon League’s Coach of the Year in both 2008 and 2010. Nicholson has fashioned an outstanding record as a coach (430-337-1). She has recently accepted the head coach position at Hampton University in Virginia. She began her coaching career at Cuyahoga Community College where she posted 94 wins and qualified for the Region 12 tournament in three of her four seasons. At Eastern Illinois, Nicholson was 82-74 before resigning to take the job at Hampton this spring. At Cleveland State, Nicholson was 211-152. She also coached at Butler University.
Clarence “Eddie” Russell
Russell, an Elyria High grad, was a six-time Mid-American champion in the 
triple-jump and long-jump for the Univeristy of Toledo. He set records in the indoor in both events and earned All-American status in the long jump in 1997. He was the MAC long jump champion in both 1996 and 1997 and was a member of Team USA for the 1993 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. While at Elyria, Russell played both football and basketball for the Pioneers in addition to his track. He was the UT record holder in both the long jump and triple jump.
Dr. Levi Wingard
Dr. Wingard graduated from Elyria High in 1965 where he excelled in both basketball and track but it is his collegiate and professional life that separates him from the average athlete. Dr. Wingard was an outstanding rebounder and captain for Wittenberg University basketball team in 1968-69. Dr. Wingard has been in public education for 36 years. He began his career in the 
Pittsburgh area and later became assistant principal of Francis McClure Junior High School in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. He moved on to Chester County to become assistant principal at West Chester East High School in 1975 and later principal of Great Valley High School for eight years. He became assistant superintendent for the West Chester Area School District for two years and was Director of Research and Development for the Chester County Intermediate Unit before retiring in 2006 as the Superintendent of the Downington Area School District. Dr. Wingard and his wife Marcy reside in Downington, Pennsylvania. He joins his brother, Dr. Eddie Wingard, with the Hall of Fame honor.
1967 Little League North Seniors
The Elyria Sports Hall of Fame welcomes its third Little League State Champions with the induction of the 1967 Little League North Seniors. They’ll join the 1958 Little League South Majors and the 1969 Little League West Majors State Champions that advan
ced to the World Series in Wilmington where they finished third in the world. In just the second year of the program being started, Little League North Seniors rolled through the competition to win the state crown in July of 1967 and went on to compete in a double-elimination regional tournament in Gary, Indiana. To win the state, North had to get past All-Star teams from Little League South, Collinwood, Little League East, Ashtabula, Mansfield and Dayton. The 5-4 win over Dayton clinched the state title. North, after beating the state champion from Michigan, lost to the Missouri state champion to fall into the loser’s bracket. However, they defeated Indiana and gained revenge by beating Missouri before losing to 
Wisconsin, 6-5, in the finals. Wisconsin went on to the Senior Little League World Series. The team was managed by Don Dull and coached by Lee Heighberger (both deceased). Members of the team included: Front Row (Left-to-Right): Donny Kowaleski, Gary Beury, Carl Miksanek, Jim Dunn, Tony Korzan and Danny Sweigard. Back Row (Left-to-Right): Coach Lee Heighberger, Robby Sheldon, Jim Churpek, Pat Mullholland, Al Heighberger, Danny Terrell, Bill Dull, Scott Byrne, Tom Szabo and Manager Don Dull. Tom Schue wasn’t present for the picture. Of note, Sheldon and Szabo are both inductees of the ESHOF for individual performances.
Tim Gebhardt – Distinguished Service
A Three-time ESHOF Chairman, Gebhardt is the latest to be honored as the group’s Distinguished Service Winner. 
Gebhardt has served as MC at the banquet for several years and welcomes back the past inductees who attend the banquet. As a Chronicle-Telegram sports writer, Gebhardt has covered little league, high school, collegiate, and professional events his entire adult life. He has been assigned to cover Elyria High’s football and boys basketball teams since 1995. He has been inducted into both the county football and basketball Hall of Fame as well as receiving the first annual Jim Allen Lorain County Administrator’s Award for the 2014-15 school year. He was also honored by the State Basketball Coaches for their Hall of Honor in 2012 and by the Northeast District Board in 2014. He chaired the Hall of Fame committee in 2005, 2015 and 2016. In 2019, Gebhardt was recognized by the National Football Foundation as Northeast Ohio’s Sportswriter of the Year. A lifetime resident of Elyria, Gebhardt and his wife Sharon have two adult children and four grandchildren.