CHS/OHHS Sports Hall to induct new members

Sep. 14—Several athletes who provided Oak Hill High School with a prolific dose of state tournament gold earlier in the 21st century will highlight the 2023 induction class of the Collins/Oak Hill Red Devil Sports Hall of Fame.

The newest class will be enshrined during a special ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 16 at the Oak Hill Holiday Lodge. The dinner will begin at 1:30 p.m.

Many of the athletes to be inducted are members of back-to-back state championship teams — either the OHHS boys Class AA basketball champs of 2010 and 2011 or the OHHS girls Class AA track and field state title-winning teams of 2009 and 2010.

Also included in the new class will be a Red Devil football player, a boys state tournament basketball coach and two key contributors to the success of Red Devil athletics.

"We're excited about having this group being inducted. We've got several state champions," said hall of fame committee member Fred Ferri Jr. "We've got people who have accomplished a lot in high school athletics and have gone on to accomplish things as adults.

"So, we're really excited. This is a really good group that we have going in. We're excited to be able to induct these folks."

The members of the 2023 class will be introduced before Friday's Oak Hill-Lincoln County home football game at 6:40 p.m.

Below is a list of inductees:

Athletes

—Thomas Booth

—Shakiyla Cosby

—Deja Jones

—Mercedes (Lawson) Warner

—DeAndre Leonard

—Neaire Miller

—Brandon Williams

—Kalif Wright

Coach

—Ron Lewis (posthumous)

Contributors

—Ramon Lopez

—Randy Day

Sam Calloway will provide the welcome, invocation and the closing remarks. Ferri will introduce the guest speaker, Cynthia "Sam" Booth, Ph.D., AT (retired). Booth is a 1973 graduate of Collins High School.

OHHS Principal Katie Hayes will introduce the inductees.

Here a thumbnail look at each inductee as provided by the HOF committee:

Thomas Booth

Booth graduated from Oak Hill High School in 2011. After graduation, he enrolled in WVU where he received his degree in 2015 in the field of exercise physiology. Booth continued his education at Wheeling Jesuit University, from which he earned his doctorate in physical therapy in 2019.

While attending OHHS, Booth participated in soccer, earning first team all-state honors while playing on the state runner-up soccer team in his senior year. He also played basketball and was the starting point guard on OHHS back-to-back state championship teams. Booth also excelled in tennis as a member of the boys team who earned first team all-state honors.

Thomas currently works as a physical therapist. He and his wife, Chelsea, live in Fayetteville with their son, Brooks.

Shakiyla Cosby

Cosby graduated from Oak Hill High School in 2010. She enrolled in WVU the same year to study psychology. She also participated on the Mountaineer women's track team.

While attending OHHS, Cosby participated in track, where she won first-place honors in the 400-meter dash in the region meet from 2007-2010 and was state champion in the 400 in the WVSSAC State Meet in 2007-2009.

Cosby also broke the Oak Hill school record for the 400.

At WVU, she qualified for the Big East meet her freshman year in the 400 and 4x400 relay. She also qualified for the Big 12 in the 400 in 2012.

Shakiyla is currently getting her certification in personal training. She currently lives in Oak Hill with her children, Gracie, Craig and Zion Nicholas.

Deja Jones

A 2009 Oak Hill High graduate, Jones enrolled in West Virginia University and later enrolled in Strayer University.

During her time at Oak High High School, Jones was a member of the school's track and field and cheerleading teams. She was named Coalfield Athlete of the Year in 2008 and 2009.

Jones won the WVSSAC State Meet 100-meter dash in 2008.

She worked for the Raleigh County Commission on Aging; however, she now owns her own company, Faith Transportation WV. She and her daughter, Seneda Jackson, live in Mount Hope.

Mercedes (Lawson) Warner

Warner is a 2012 graduate of OHHS. At Oak Hill, she was a member of the cheerleading team and participated in track and field. During her freshman, sophomore and junior years of high school, the cheerleading team won the regional championship. While participating in track and field, she was a member of the winning 4x100 relay team and earned all-state honors in the 100- and 200-meter events.

Currently she works for Mountain Heart Provider and is a gymnastics instructor, teaching children the basics of gymnastics. She and her husband, Nathaniel, have five daughters — Paris, Aubrey, Iris, Ivy and Ava. They reside in Oak Hill.

DeAndre Leonard

Leonard was a member of the Oak Hill High School Class of 2011. After graduation, he enrolled at Salem International University.

While attending Oak Hill, he participated in football, basketball and baseball. He was first team all-state in both football and basketball. Leonard was a member of Oak Hill's back-to-back state champion basketball teams.

After attending college, he played semi-pro football for the WV Storm and semi-pro basketball for the Buckhannon Bears.

DeAndre has three children — Brayeen, Emelyn and Aria. He currently resides in Greensboro, N.C.

Neaire Miller

Miller is a 2010 graduate of Oak Hill High School and later enrolled at the Fayette Institute of Technology where she earned her licensed practical nursing certification. While at Oak Hill High School, Miller was a member of the basketball team and the She Devils, and participated in track and field. In 2010, she won the WVSSAC State Track 800-meter event, earning her all-state recognition.

She is currently employed as an LPN, a fitness trainer and is the owner of Effortless Cleaning Services. Neaire has two children, Xaveair and Legend, and resides in Smyrna, Ga.

Brandon Williams

Williams graduated from OHHS in 2013. While attending the school, he was the anchor of the offensive left side of the Red Devil football team.

Williams was also named a two-time first team all-state player, an honor selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. That included a first-team nod as a Mount Hope Mustang in his sophomore year and then a first-team nod as a junior at Oak Hill.

He was selected as team captain and earned the recognition of being named as a Super Iron Horse member.

Brandon currently works for XCAL Tools. He and his wife, Rachel, live in Bradley with their two children, Emily and Makayla.

Kalif Wright

Wright is a member of the 2011 Oak Hill High School graduating class. After graduation, he enrolled at Kilgore Community College and later Miami (Ohio) University, the latter from which he graduated in 2016 with a degree in public health. Wright played basketball while in college and was named all-region while playing at Kilgore.

At OHHS, Wright played football and basketball. In the latter sport, he was named a two-time all-state basketball team member, and he is Oak Hill's all-time leading scorer.

Kalif currently works as a supervisor for HiCrush Energy (Oil & Gas) and resides in Oak Hill.

Ron Lewis

Coach Ron Lewis was a graduate of Mount Hope High School. After graduation, he enrolled at West Virginia Tech and earned his bachelor's degree. Lewis also received his master's degree from the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies.

While attending MHHS and WVIT, he was an outstanding basketball player.

Lewis spent 35 years teaching and coaching young people at Oak Hill. He was an assistant coach with coach Jim Lilly. After Lilly retired, Lewis took over the head coaching job. Under their watchful eyes, Oak Hill had many successful years, with several trips to the state basketball tournament and two years as state champions. Lewis had several student-athletes who went on to play at the college level.

Coach lived in Oak Hill with his wife, Helen, and their two children, Catherine and Danielle. They are also the proud grandparents of eight lovely grandchildren.

Ramon Lopez

Lopez is a 1961 graduate of Collins High School and, after graduating from high school, he enrolled in West Virginia Tech, from which he graduated in 1965 with a bachelor of arts degree.

While attending Collins High, he was active in intramurals and had a great interest in the Red Devil family. Lopez began his teaching career in 1966 at Collins High School until 1971, and then he began a career with the West Virginia National Guard until retiring in April 2010.

However, the greatest contribution he made was his time spent helping the student-athletes with the Collins and Oak Hill high basketball programs. He gave countless hours helping with stats and, back in the day, with transporting kids home and to away events as needed. He was also very active supporting the youth basketball programs.

Ramon continues to live in Oak Hill with his wife, Brenda, and enjoys time with his children, Michelle, Misty and Jon Nick along with 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Randy Day

Randy is a 1976 graduate of Collins High School. While attending Collins, he served as a manager for basketball, football and track for the four years he was a student. He also was a stabilizing individual in helping the coaching staff.

After graduating from high school, Day worked as a custodian at Collins and then Oak High School for a total of 27 years and currently works at the Oak Hill United Methodist Church.

He has been involved in coaching the Oak Hill High School softball, Little League baseball and softball and has been a board member for the Oak Hill Little League. He has also received the "Spirit of Oak Hill Award." For multiple years, Day has been the clock operator for OHHS football, girls and freshman basketball and has kept the scorebook for the varsity level basketball.

Coaches have said countless times that they know they can count on Day being there to take care of his responsibilities. Randy is a lifelong resident of Oak Hill.

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