MANSFIELD — The Mansfield City Schools Athletic Hall of Fame will open it doors to eight greats on Saturday at the Mansfield Senior High School.
The eight newest members will be recognized during a pregame celebration Friday at Arlin Field. The Tygers will take on Massillon with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
The banquet is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. with the induction ceremony to take place at 5 p.m. in the Commons Area.
Current Senior High football coach and 1994 graduate Chioke Bradley is the headliner of the eight-person Class of 2022. Bradley was a three-sport athlete for the Tygers, playing basketball and running track in addition to his exploits on the football field. He was a Division I All-Ohio first-team defensive back in 1993 and was selected the Division II Coach of the Year in 2013. Bradley, who was a four-year starter at Bowling Green State University, was also a member of Senior High’s state runner-up track team in 1994. He teamed with Malcolm Bessick, Charles Fountain and Kenny Rife to place third in the 4×100 relay.
Fountain will join Bradley as a Hall of Fame inductee. He played football, wrestled and ran track and had one of the greatest individual state track meets in Senior High history. In addition to running a leg of the 4×100, Fountain placed second in the long jump, third in the 200-meter dash and fourth in the 100-meter dash.
The track-heavy Class of 2022 also includes Khalil Ali. He was a three-year letterman and two-time MVP and spent more than 40 years coaching track, cross country, basketball and football.
Monica Bessick-Banks helped the Tygers win a state championship in the 4×100 relay in 1992, teaming with Dion Turner, Jane Parker and Nikki Stewart. Bessick-Banks went on to an All-American career at Ashland University.
Chris Elswick was a three-sport athletes for the Tygers, playing football, basketball and baseball. Elswick, who is a member of the Mansfield City School District Board of Education, ranks second on Senior High’s career receptions list in football and is the single-season record holder.
Derrick Franklin attended Malabar for his senior year and was a standout football player and track athlete for the Falcons. He placed second in the 400 meter dash and fourth in the 200 meter dash at the 1987 Class AAA state track meet before starring for the Indiana State football program, where he was a two-time All-American.
David Givand was a basketball and track star for the Tygers and a member of Senior High’s Class AAA state championship team under coach Wilbur Lanier in 1978. He ran a leg of the state-championship one-mile relay team, joining forces with Mike Davis, Wayne Curry and Ivan Peoples. He was a four-year starter on the Bluffton basketball team and the team MVP in 1982.
Daneiaka Howard ran track and cross country for the Tygers and was the Ohio Heartland Conference MVP in 1996. She helped the Tygers win a Division I state championship in the 4×100 relay in 1997, teaming with Shauntoya Jones, Teaka Davis and Dekila Taylor. Howard still owns the school record in the 100-meter dash (11.8), 200-meter dash (25.02) and the 4×100 relay (47.5).
How do we get someone nominated for hall of fame