Marty Gordon
[email protected]
The Blacksburg High School recognized eight individuals this past Friday night as part of its newest class of sports hall of fame.
The list included Vaughn Phillps, Dr. Kevin Schug, Ron Shear, Joanna Stevens, Kathleen Stevens, David Surface, Jeff Wingo and Scott Stosser.
Phipps grew up in Blacksburg (Class of 1970) and was all-district linebacker his junior year and later taught at Blacksburg High School. He would later serve as the defensive coordinator for the team and finished with a total of 42 years of coaching at the school. He lives in Blacksburg with his wife, Sherri, and they have four children and eight grandchildren.
Dr. Schug is a 1993 graduate of Blacksburg High School and was all-district, all-region and all-state in football, being named the school’s outstanding senior male athlete. He played in the East, West State all-state football game.
He also played on the 1993 all-state soccer team with outstanding honors in district and region and was honorable mention as a goalie.
Schug then played football at William and Mary and graduated from Virginia Tech with a Doctorate in Chemistry. He lives in Texas.
Sheer (Class of 1985) earned 10 letters in three sports. He was a runner and played basketball.
He ran the 100, 220, 440, 800, mile relay, long jump and threw the discus and also placed fifth in the state cross country meet. Sheer was also a member of the undefeated state championship basketball team and later attended Bridgewater College where he continued to run.
Joanna Stevens (Class of 2010) won the 1,600 meters as a junior in both indoor and outdoor track and was the 3,200 outdoor champ. In her senior year, she was national champion of the distance medley relay and helped to set a national record at the 2010 New Balance Nationals.
Stevens ran track and cross country at Georgetown University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in government and master’s in human resource management. She now works at Northern Arizona University as the assistant director for the Center for Materials Interfaces in Research and Access.
Kathleen Stevens (Class of 2010) was a seven-time state champion and seven-time All-American and 13-time VHSL all-state athlete. She won the state championship in cross country and set a course record and then state titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 meter events.
Stevens was a national champion in the Distance Medley Relay and helped set a national record at the 2010 New Balance Nationals. She was the 2009-2010 Gatorade State Athlete of the Year in track and field.
She went on to run at the University of Virginia where she qualified for the NCAA championships and earned All-American honorable mention.
Stevens earned All-ACC and All-Southeast Region performer honors in cross country.
She would earn her master’s degree in exercise physiology and lives in Virginia Beach, working in business operations and marketing for Precision Industrial Elevator.
Surface played in the first competitive basketball game in the National Guard Armory and played baseball on the undefeated 1954 state championship team. He began teaching in 1961 as a vocational agriculture teacher and was the golf coach, junior varsity basketball coach and assistant football coach.
Surface then served as Blacksburg’s athletic director for 13 years. He still resides in Blacksburg.
Wingo ran indoor and outdoor track from 1980-1982 where he was the New River District 330 hurdles and mile relay champ. He was also the Region IV 55 hurdle champion, setting a school and meet record. His accolades continued with the 1981 regional champ in the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and mile relay, a part of the 1981 and 1982 state team champ.
Wingo was named the outstanding BHS male runner in 1982 and was the state champ that year in the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and mile relay where the team set another state and school record. He would attend the University of Tennessee and trained with world-class runners and future Olympians before a knee injury ended his career in 1983.
Stosser attended Blacksburg High School until 1984 and attended Western Kentucky University then returned to Blacksburg and began construction with his mother, Jeanne Stosser (SAS Builders and CMG Leasing).
He was influential in fundraising for the Halftime House at Bill Brown Stadium where he ended up not only helping to build it along with many subcontractors, local suppliers and donations.
