Making a case for a Westminster High School Sports Hall of Fame

I was talking with Terry Molloy, longtime athletic director at Westminster High School, a few days ago, and I brought up the fact that the school doesn't have its own Sports Hall of Fame.

Carroll County has a Sports Hall of Fame that dates to 1994. Winters Mill is beginning to put together the ground work to establish one of its own. 

Francis Scott Key and Liberty and South Carroll have had theirs for many years (North Carroll had one too). Hopefully Century and Manchester Valley can follow suit soon enough.

But Westminster, the forefather of the county's high schools, remains without a Hall. And I asked Molloy if there was one in the works.

His response was understandable -- where do you start?

The school has been around for more than a century. That's plenty of yearbooks to sift through, plenty of deserving coaches, athletes, and contributors.

I'm here to help, and hoping the Westminster Sports Hall of Fame makes its debut sooner rather than later.

Yes, it's an undertaking to start something like this, with so many decades of athletic tradition. So, consider this a primer, or at least a fairly good place to start.

I'll break it down into two categories -- coaches and athletes.

Coaches

Brenda Baker/Sue Hooper

Put them in together since they coached field hockey as a tandem from 1982-96 and led the Owls to 10 Carroll County titles, 12 regional titles, and 5 state championships. Westminster dedicated its home field as Hooper & Baker Field last fall.

Donna DuVall Sellman

Sellman introduced gymnastics and field hockey as interscholastic sports to Carroll, and was the county’s first full-time female PE teacher. Sellman coached volleyball, basketball, speed ball, and field ball at Westminster High, and won state championships in four different sports.

Bryan Harman

He was Liberty's varsity coach from 1983-1994, then returned to his alma mater and took over as Westminster's varsity coach in 2002. Harman spent 10 years at the helm, and he helped the Owls win a 3A state crown in 2007 and a 4A state in 2011. Westminster capped an undefeated season with the 4A championship in 2011.

Herb Ruby

Westminster's first football coach (the Owls' field bears his name), Ruby led the Owls from 1947-62. Ruby compiled a 78-61-11 record -- his 78 wins are third most in Carroll County history.

Brad Wilson

Wilson coached football at Westminster from 2004-14 and amassed a 71-48 record (.597 winning percentage). The Owls reached the Class 3A state final in 2005, and the state semifinals in 2012. Wilson's 71 wins are fourth most in county history.

CMSportsNet put together a video of the field hockey field dedication on Oct. 12, 2021. Check it out here.

Athletes

JD Byers, basketball/golf

Byers scored 1,338 career points on the hardwood, good for the second most in Owls history. He was a Carroll County Times Player of the Year in both basketball and golf.

Ryan Drenner, lacrosse

Drenner left Westminster in the spring of 2013 as the program's all-time leading scorer with 281 points (146 goals, 135 assists) in three-plus seasons. He ranked second in Carroll County history in points and first in assists at the time, and guided the Owls to the Class 4A-3A state title that spring.

Shirl Dorsey Greene, track and field

One of the best throwers of all-time, Dorsey Greene's Carroll County meet records in the shot (43 feet, 3 inches) and discus (133-11) from 1986 still stand. The 1986 WHS grad won two state titles in her senior season, and finished with five of the top 10 all-time shot put performance in Carroll County girls track history, according to information from carrollcountyrunning.com. She also has the county’s top eight all-time efforts in discus.

Sue Head Conklin, basketball/volleyball/softball

She's the all-time scoring leader for Westminster girls basketball with 1,243 career points. Conklin was all-county and all-conference in all three of her varsity sports. She also helped Westminster's volleyball team to unbeaten regular-season records during her junior and senior seasons.

Steve Hoff, wrestling

Maryland's first three-time state wrestling champion, Hoff went 72-3-1 and won his three state titles at three different weight classes at a time when all of the state's classifications competed against each other. Hoff earned All-America status as a senior in 1976. Only four other county wrestlers have collected three individual state crowns. 

Scott Thomson, baseball/basketball/football

One of the best baseball players the county has ever produced. Thomson earned Times Player of the Year honors in 1986 and 1987, and played in the Crown All-Star Game at Memorial Stadium in 1987. 

This is by no means written in stone. Just some suggestions for when Westminster gets its Sports Hall of Fame going.

I have a handful of other names, all worthy and deserving selections. From Herman Costley and Jesse O'Connell to Emily Bollinger and Mabel Brown Braune. Ray Finch, Steve Kartalia, Alyssa Semones, and so on.

The first few classes of the Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame are dotted with former Westminster legends. George Stem, Jack Bowersox, Ed Bollinger, Becky Martin.

Like Terry said, where does one start with so many years to sift through?

No better place than right here, I'd say.