Northern Bedford Alum Sell Inducted into Bedford Sports Hall of Fame

By ERIC SHIELDS

Correspondent

Bedford County sports fans came out on June 24 to celebrate local legends being inducted into the Bedford County Sports Hall of Fame at the Everett High School.

One of those local legends included Northern Bedford alum and Olympic athlete Brian Sell. Sell, a Northern Bedford football, wrestling, and track and field athlete, went on to star at Messiah College and St. Francis University before qualifying for the Olympics in the marathon in 2008. Sell graduated from St. Francis with six school Track & Field records and in 2015 was inducted into the SFU Athletic Hall of Fame.

In November of 2007 the US Olympic trials race was held at Central Park in New York City. Sell ran very different, strategically, than he had 4 years earlier. He spent most of the middle part of the race in 5th and then in 4th place before overtaking Dan Browne in the final 3 miles of the race to finish third in 2:11:40 and claim a spot on the US Olympic team.

Sell won the Miami half marathon in his last major race before representing the US in Beijing. At the games Sell finished 22nd overall.

Sell said that being inducted into the Hall of Fame was "a huge honor."

Going through the program and seeing everybody who has been inducted, Sell felt that he didn't live up to that level of performance in high school.

"I feel really grateful to be in the accompaniment of some of the greatest athletes in Bedford County," Sell said.

Sell noted that the Hall of Fame is a great representation of what one can do in a small town and small school.

Now living in Lancaster County, Sell's children are going to graduate with more than 300 students. Sell said he graduated with 60 or 70.

"I hope that it shows kids from around here that it doesn't matter where you come from or how big your school is, if you're going to put the work in, you can do anything that you put your mind to," Sell said.

The other individual inductees included the following:

• Jeff Baer is a Chestnut Ridge graduate that took his skills to Northwestern University where he played defensive tackle for the 2000 Big 10 Champions. A little known fact was that he sacked Tom Brady when Brady played for Michigan.

• Lindsay Baker was a 1997 graduate of Tussey Mountain High School, where she was one of the most prolific point producers in this area of girls basketball and was also a standout in track. She has been employed by Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) in Barrington, Ill., as a senior research scientist involved in the research of electrolyte balance for athletes. She now works in Valhalla, NY, where she is the Director of Research for GSSI.

• Terri Beegle was a three-sport athlete at Bedford High School as a two-year letterwinner in volleyball, a three-year letterwinner in softball and a four-year letterwinner in basketball.

• Beth Burkett was a Chestnut Ridge graduate who became the first Bedford County female to place in the state twice and is the only javelin thrower to place in the top two in the state more than once. She was also a three-sport athlete, which included volleyball, basketball and track and field.

• Jamie Eichelberger was a powerful, two-sport athlete that graduated from Everett High School in 1995. In high school football, he had a tremendous senior campaign in helping the Warriors to an 8-3 record. He was named Associated Press First Team Small School All-State Team as a running back.

• Ron Koppenhaver was an official for over 60 district championship games and is just one of a select few who has been an official at a PIAA championship in three different sports: two in football, one in basketball and one in softball. He started umpiring at the age of 13 and he estimates that since then, he has officiated approximately 6,000 sporting events.

• Tracey Smith is one of the great local golfers of recent times. He is a 1992 graduate from Everett High School. He was the District 5 champion in 1979 and was the captain of the 1981 team that went undefeated. During that season, he was the runner-up at the prestigious Dr. Wheeling Tournament in Johnstown.

The team inductions were as follows:

• Back in the era when the PIAA had only two classifications for baseball, Bedford and Somerset battled for District 5-3A title with the 1984 Bedford Baseball Team earning most of the titles in the late 1970s through the 80s.

• The 1984 Bedford American Legion Baseball Team won the Region 7 Tournament title, becoming not only the first Bedford team, but also the first Turnpike League team, to capture the regional title and advance to states.

• The 1966 Everett Football Team had a strong season and did not lose a game until the season finale.

• The 1964 Hyndman Boys Basketball Team consisted of head coach John Keller and his assistant Charles Close who helped spawn what some would say was a small school basketball dynasty at Hyndman Jr./Sr. High School.

From the Northern Bedford School District, receiving special recognition for support of the local athletics were Chris and Michelle Cronrath.

President of the Bedford County Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors Sam Shuss said that the board look for excellence in athletics as an athlete, as a coach, an official or even as an organizer who has done a strong job here in the county.

"We are trying to show off the resiliency, opportunity and just the desire to become very good," Shuss said.