NEW MARTINSVILLE - Eight former Blue Eagle student-athletes from three decades will be honored at the 27th annual Magnolia Athletic Boosters Life Achievement Awards Banquet.
The public event will be held on Saturday, Aug. 4 at Magnolia High School. A social hour starts at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 o'clock. Tickets are available at Witschey's in New Martinsville or from banquet chairman Brent Gamble at 304-455-3234.
The honorees, listed by graduation date, and their hometowns, follow:
Wayne (Mac) McCaskey (1962) of New Martinsville; Forrest Miller (1972) of Lexington, Ky.; Darren Cook (1983) of Hannibal, Ohio; Sherry Lemasters Bachman (1985) of New Martinsville; Alicia McCaskey Hissom (1987) of New Martinsville; Scott Kriss (1987) of Westerville, Ohio; Larry Heck (1988) of Kernersville, N.C.; and Scot Kiggans (1989) of Fort Mill, S.C.
Capsule summaries of each honoree include:
McCaskey - He was a four-year basketball player at Magnolia and a member of the 1961 team that won the W.Va. Class AA championship, the first title in school history. He also started the first Blue Eagles golf team as a senior and served as team captain. He attended Marietta College and competed on the golf team. He served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves and was employed at Bayer Corp. for 34 years. Active in the local Moose Lodge, he was awarded the highest Pilgrim Degree of Merit.
Miller - A four-year football player, he was selected team co-captain as a senior. He received two college B.S. degrees, with Dean's List honors, from Fairmont State in Accounting, Mathematics and Computer Science, and from Purdue University in Construction Management. After working as a CPA in public accounting for four years, he joined the construction business as a field engineer, superintendent and project engineer, he retired as a senior vice-president for a leading design building company.
Cook - He was a four-year football and basketball player and was a member of the 1981 football team that won the OVAC Class AAA title and finished with an 11-2 record as state Class AA runnerup. He also played baseball as a senior. He graduated from Glenville State and received two master's degrees from West Virginia University. He served in the U.S. Military with two combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, with rank of Sergeant Major, and is a member of the Individual Ready Reserves. He's employed since 1997 as an administrator in the Switzerland of Ohio School District.
Bachman - One of the most honored girls' track athletes in school history, she was a four-time All-Valley honoree at 800, 1600 and 3200 meters and honorary co-captain as a senior. The leading Class AA meet scorer for the 1985 state championship team - she repeated as state 1600 and 3200 champion, played second at 800 and anchored the winning 3,200 relay team that set and OV record time of 9:55.8. She also was a three-year volleyball athlete. She graduated Cum Laude from West Liberty State College and employed for 23 years by Momentive Performance Materials as an Industrial Hygiene Technician.
Hissom - She competed in track for two seasons and was also a cross country team statistician for two years. A graduate of W.Va. Northern Community College, she has been employed for 20 years by WesBanco. Currently a Mortgage Loan Office, she also has served as Branch Manager and in other positions. Active in community projects and organizations, she is a Rotary Club member, treasurer of the Magnolia Golf Team Boosters, Community Resource board member, and has worked on River Heritage Days committees and Relay for Life.
Kriss - He was a four-year football player, three-year basketball starter and two-time team captain, and two-year baseball regular first baseman. In football, he was a two-time, first team W.Va. Class AA all-stater at end and honorary offensive captain as a senior. He led the OV in pass receptions with a school record 61 for 805 yards as a junior and 51 for 767 yards as a senior when he also led the OV with 11 pass interceptions. The senior class Valedictorian, he was Vice-President of he National Honor Society. He graduated from Bethany College, with honors, in Accounting. He recently joined Wendy's as Senior Vice-President at the home office in Columbus.
Heck - A four-year Blue Eagles football player, he was selected team captain as a senior. He also competed in track two years. A graduate of Waynesburg College, he is a nationally certified athletic trainer. He has worked the last 10 years for World Wrestling Entertainment and has traveled the world with the WWE including twice to Iraq for the Tribute to Troops tour as well as China. He earlier worked for three professional teams - the Amsterdam Admirals in the World League of American Football, the San Antonio Texans in the Canadian Football League, and the San Antonio Dragons in the International Hockey League.
Kiggans - He was a four-year baseball and football player and was a W.Va. Class AA all-stater and first team All-Valley pitcher for the 1989 Double-A state championship team. He was 9-2 as a senior pitcher and hurled 14 straight shutout playoff innings including a regional tournament no-hitter vs. Ravenswood. In football, he was a member of two state AA playoff teams including a 10-2 record team as a senior. He graduated from West Liberty State College and received a master's from the U.S. Sports Academy. Since 2001, he has been head baseball coach at York High (S.C.) and is a two-time region Coach of the Year.
