Dave Bond

Dave Bond was a four-sport athlete for Edgewood High School competing in football, basketball, baseball and track and earning nine varsity letters from 1974-77. In football, Dave was a three-year starter for the Cougars earning All-Ohio, All-Southwest District and All-Mid-Miami League first team honors his junior and senior seasons. In basketball, he was a three-year starter and earned All-MML as a senior, and in baseball he was a two-year starter.

Dave continued his football career at the University of Kentucky where he was a three-year starter and played on the UK team to win the Southeastern Conference. He also was named Most Outstanding Lineman for the 1981 season and was an All-SEC second team selection. Dave was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Falcons in 1982. Dave is a member of the Edgewood Athletics Hall of Fame.

Aaron Cook was a varsity pitcher for Hamilton Big Blue in 1995, 1996 and 1997. He was named All-Greater Miami Conference all three years including second team as a sophomore and first team his junior and senior seasons. Also as a senior, Aaron was named All-Ohio first team and the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year. In his senior season, Hamilton won the Division I state baseball championship and finished as the No. 2-ranked team nationally by USA Today. He also has the most career wins in Big Blue history. Aaron played professionally for 11 years with the Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox. He pitched Game Four of the 2007 World Series and also pitched in the 2008 All-Star Game. Aaron finished his career with 76 wins and more than 500 strikeouts. He was inducted to the Hamilton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.

 Emily Cooper Herrmann was an outstanding two-sport athlete at Ross playing basketball and softball for the Rams. She was the first athlete in Ross history to earn All-Ohio honors in two sports being named All-Ohio second team in softball and All-Ohio honorable mention in basketball during her senior campaign. On the basketball court, Emily also was named to the All-Southwest District first team as a senior and she was an All-Fort Ancient Valley Conference selection as a junior and senior. She graduated with 965 career points ranking her third on the all-time scoring list. She also is first in career 3-pointers made and career 3-point percentage. In softball, Emily was the Most Valuable Player in her junior and senior seasons and was All-FAVC for three years. She batted .450 with 55 stolen bases as a senior and graduated in the top five in many career offensive categories. Her teams won three league championships, two district championships and one regional title. She continued her athletic career in both sports at the University of Rio Grande playing basketball for four years and softball for two years and earning all-conference honors in both sports. Emily also earned NAIA All-American Scholar Athlete status and has been an assistant coach for both the Ross and Lakota West state championship softball teams. Emily is also a member of the Ross Hall of Fame.

Autumn Heath was a state champion track athlete for the Lakota East Thunderhawks. She won the Division I state 100-meter dash championship in 2014 with a time of 11.83 seconds. She also was the state runner-up that season in the 200 dash (23.99 seconds). Autumn also was the 2014 OATCCC indoor state champion in the 60-meter race. In her career, Autumn was a six-time state placer in the 100 and 200 dashes, a five-time regional champion, a seven-time district champion and she won multiple Greater Miami Conference championships competing in the 100 and 200 dashes and the 4x100 relay. Autumn was named the Greater Cincinnati Female Track Athlete of the Year by the Women’s Sports Association in 2014 and she was named the GMC Female Track Athlete of the Year in 2013. Autumn also was named an All-Ohio first team athlete in both the 100 and 200 dashes as a senior and she is the school record holder in those events. Autumn continued her track career at Purdue University where she was an All-American second team selection in the 4x100 relay in 2016, an NCAA East Regional finalist in the 100 dash and 4x100 relay, a Big Ten champion in the 4x100 relay and a Big Ten finalist in multiple seasons for the 100 dash. Autumn was inducted to the Lakota Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025.

Bill Hibbard was a standout basketball and baseball player at Garfield High School earning his teams’ Most Valuable Player award as a senior in both sports. In basketball, Bill was named All-Greater Ohio League all three years from 1965-67. He is the single-game record holder with 22 assists and also has the season and career record for assists. He scored 702 points in his career finishing as the school’s seventh leading scorer. The Griffins won 50 games in his career and were the GOL champions in his junior and senior seasons. In baseball, Bill was the team MVP in 1966 as a catcher. Bill attended Belmont College to play baseball and was the first freshman ever to be named the team MVP. He also was selected all-league as a freshman. Bill is a member of the Hamilton Athletics Hall of Fame and the Butler County Softball Hall of Fame. He was named all-state in softball in 1974 and played on six city championship teams.

Mark Kerns is synonymous with Middletown athletics. Since coming to the school in 1985, Mark has been a coach and mentor to many young student-athletes including 12 who have been inducted into the Middletown Athletics Hall of Fame. He was part of five Greater Miami Conference championships and six runner-up finishes at the varsity, junior varsity and freshman levels in basketball. As the Middies baseball coach, Mark built a solid foundation by establishing a summer program that competed very highly on a local, state and national level for 10 years including the Middie Pride team which won the 64-team national Cooperstown Field of Dreams tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y. That team featured Kyle Schwarber, a Butler County Sports Hall of Fame member who currently plays for the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB. Mark also was founder of the Pigskin Roundball Spectacular event, which ran from 1990-2014. That event raised and donated more than $500,000 as a non-profit organization. It benefited 18 different youth-oriented charities and awarded more than 225 scholarships to Middletown students. The event also featured 50 prominent football and basketball personalities from across the United

 Larry S. Million was a three-sport athlete at Trenton High School playing basketball, baseball and volleyball. He excelled on the basketball court by scoring more than 1,000 points in his four-year career. He was the Most Valuable Player on the 1970 regional runner-up team as a senior. He was named All-Ohio that season, as well as being named first team All-Butler County as a senior and All-District first team as a junior and senior. Larry also was named to the Journal-News’ All-Time All-Butler County team, an all-time honor not just a single-season award. Larry played baseball for three seasons at Trenton and was invited to the Connie Mack League. He also played volleyball for four years and was named the MVP as a senior. Larry continued his basketball career in college at Eastern Illinois and Union College. He started as a freshman and was recognized as an Outstanding College Athlete of America by the College Coaches Association in 1974. Larry is a member of the Edgewood Athletics Hall of Fame.

  Marissa Steen helped lead the Lakota West girls golf team to four straight state-qualifying seasons from 2004-07 including winning its first and only Division I state team championship in 2006. As a junior that year, she placed tied for ninth individually. In 2004 as a freshman, the Firebirds placed fourth as a team. In 2005, they were sixth in the state and in 2007, her senior season, the Firebirds placed third as a team at state. In her four years at Lakota West, the team was 55-0 in head-to-head matches. They were also three-time Greater Miami Conference champions and Division I district champions (2004-06). Individually, Marissa was the first female in Lakota history to record an 18-hole subpar round with a 2-under score and later a 3-under score. She also won the Ohio Juniors Classic in 2005 and the Ohio Junior Girls Tournament in 2007. In college, Marissa played four years for the University of Memphis earning Conference USA Player of the Week honors five times. She also had 15 Top 5 finishes, 21 Top 10 finishes and 27 Top 20 finishes and was medalist at six collegiate tournaments. Professionally, Marissa tied for 10th in the 2021 British Open, had three LPGA Tour Top 10 finishes and 23 Epson Tour Top 10 finishes. She was the 2014 Epson Tour Player of the Year, had one win in the NXTT Tour and three wins on the National Women’s Golf Association Tour. Marissa is a member of the Lakota Athletics Hall of Fame (2024) and the University of Memphis Athletics Hall of Fame (2024)

  Dwight Smith was a standout three-sport athlete at Middletown High School competing in football, basketball and track. He excelled on the football field as a two-way starter at tailback and defensive back. Dwight was named All-Greater Miami Conference first team in 1983 and 1984, first team All-Southwest Ohio in 1983 and 1984 and All-Ohio honorable mention in 1983 and 1984. In basketball, Dwight and the Middies won the GMC championship three consecutive seasons and made it to the state semifinals in the 1982-83 season. The next season they made it to the district finals. He also ran track for four years. Dwight earned a full scholarship for football at The Ohio State University where he played on two Big Ten Championship teams and was a four-year varsity award winner. As a senior, he led the Buckeyes with three interceptions. Dwight also has coached football in several capacities at Middletown and is a member of the Middletown Athletics Hall of Fame.

  Karen Rayle was a state champion distance runner for Talawanda High School winning the 3,200-meter run state title in 1986 as a senior. Her junior year, she was fourth in the state in that event. She earned All-Ohio first team in track both years. Karen also was a two-time state qualifier in cross country in 1984 and 1985. She finished third overall in 1985 and was named first team All-Ohio both seasons. Also in 1986, Karen won the National Junior Cross Country Championship for runners under the age of 20. She went on to compete in cross country and track at the University of Oregon where she helped her team win the 1987 NCAA Cross Country Championship as a scoring participant. She was an Academic All-American for the 1987-88 season. In December of 1986, at the age of 17, she became the youngest woman to qualify for the 1988 Olympic Marathon Trials where she finished in 45th place. She later represented the United States in the marathon at the World University Games in Duisburg, Germany in 1989. Karen has remained active in endurance sports and recently qualified for and competed in three world championships in her age group in the Ironman 70.3 competition (half-iron distance triathlon). She won Ironman 70.3 age group titles in Vietnam and Canada and completed one full Ironman triathlon finishing third in her age group at Ironman Malaysia in 2018. She is a member of the Talawanda Athletics Hall of Fame.

  Brion Treadway was a state champion baseball player during his high school career with the Badin Rams, and as their coach he has led them to two state runner-up finishes and six state Final Four appearances. Brion played for the Rams in 1995, 1996 and 1997 winning the Division II state championship in 1996. He was selected to the Greater Catholic League first team in 1996 and 1997, and also was named first team All-Cincinnati both years. He was first team All-Ohio in 1997. Brion went onto play in college at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he was a Freshman All-American in 1998. He also made the Conference USA All-Freshman team and the Conference USA All-Tournament team in 1998. In 2000, Brion was a Conference USA first team selection and a preseason All-American. In 1999, he was a Cape Cod League All-Star player and Wareham Gatemen Most Valuable Player. Brion was drafted in the third round (No. 91 overall) by the San Francisco Giants in the 2000 MLB Draft. He played in their minor league system from 2000-05 and with the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks in 2006. He was the San Jose Giants Pitcher of the Year in 2003. Brion has been the head baseball coach at Badin since 2012 and in that time has accumulated a 301-104 record. He has been named the GCL Coach of the Year seven times and was the 2023 State Coach of the Year.