FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lisa Bowling, Public Relation Office
(540) 365-4307
 
November 7, 2003
 
 
FERRUM INDUCTS SIX INTO SPORTS HALL OF FAME
Ceremony to Be Held November 15 in Roanoke
 
Ferrum, Va. -- Six individuals will be inducted into Ferrum College's Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2003 on Saturday, Nov. 15, in a ceremony to be held at the Wyndham Hotel in Roanoke, Virginia.
 
Mr. Lucius M. Merritt, Jr. ’65, Mr. Joel R. DeBoe ’67, Mr. Horace F. Green ’69, Mr. Kris E. Kahila ’70, Mr. Billy E. Wagner ’94 and Mr. Ray Corron comprise the Class of 2003. The inductees will be introduced during the half-time festivities of the Ferrum vs. Christopher Newport football game on Saturday, November 15th. The game will begin at 1:00 pm.  A reception will be held at the Wyndham Roanoke Hotel that evening at 6:00 pm. A dinner and induction ceremony will be held following the reception at 7:00 pm.
 
Ray Corron served as the Ferrum College golf coach for over 30 years.  During that time Ferrum broke into the national rankings for the first time and finished 13th as a team in the 1994-1995 National Championship before also being named the Wilson/Golf Coaches Association of America’s NCAA Division III Most Improved Team.  Corron’s players have won nine medalist honors since 1992, and one qualified for and competed in the 1993 NCAA Tournament held at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, CA, site of the PGA Buick Open.  He continues to support Ferrum golf through participation in the Spring Collegiate Tournament and the annual fund-raising tournament that bears his namesake.  A native of Clifton Forge, Virginia, Corron earned his bachelor’s degree from Emory & Henry College and his master’s degree from Radford University.
 
Joel DeBoe ’67 played football as quarterback on the 1965 Championship Team and was the starting quarterback for the 1966 National Championship game.  He also played baseball in which he was named a captain in 1967, Most Valuable Player in 1967 and All Region in 1966 and 1967.  DeBoe was the first recipient of the Ferrum College President’s Award in 1967.  After leaving Ferrum, DeBoe went on to play baseball for the University of Virginia where he was voted Most Valuable Player in 1968 and elected a captain in 1969.  He coached football at George Washington High School from 1969-1982 (9 district, 4 regional and 1 state championship) as well as baseball from 1971-1983 (6 district championships) before becoming principal in 1996 and retiring in 2003.
 
Horace Green ’69 played football and ran track from 1967-1969.  As a football player, Green was elected a captain of the 1968 National Championship team, named to the All Region 10 team, selected for Honorable Mention for National Junior Athletic Association All-American Team as well as the 1968 Outstanding College Athletes of America, and chosen as Most Valuable Player of the 1968 Shrine Bowl.  While stationed in England with the U.S. Air Force, Green coached football and track, leading his teams to win the United Kingdom Championships and United States Air Force in Europe Championships.  He spent the next 20 years coaching football, gymnastics and indoor and outdoor track and field at the high school level, including many All-State Athletes, a State Championship team at James Monroe High School and himself being awarded Freshman Class Teacher of The Year in 1981.  Green has been an Assistant Coach for Ferrum football since 1997, and in 2000 he was selected to the Fredericksburg Area All-Century Football Team.
 
Kris Kahila ’70 played football at Ferrum as an Offensive Guard from 1968-1969.  After leaving Ferrum Kahila was Franklin County High School’s Varsity Wrestling coach for 26 years.  At Franklin County he achieved 300 career wins as a coach, including 13 Roanoke Valley District Championships, 6 Northwest Region titles, 2 Top Five finishes in Group AAA tournament, district and regional dual crowns and back-to-back runner-up showings in Group AAA duals.  He currently teaches in Mount Airy, NC.
 
Lucius Merritt, Jr. ’65 played tennis for Ferrum from 1963-1965.  He was a team captain from 1964-1965 and elected Class President in 1965.  After leaving Ferrum Merritt played tennis for Virginia Tech from 1966-1968 where he was a team captain from 1967-1968.  He is a USTA certified tennis official and a currently ranked and playing member of the VA USTA.  Merritt has served as a member of the Ferrum College Alumni Board of Directors and is the President of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors. He is the Director of Development for Intercollegiate Athletics at Virginia Tech and has been since 1994.
 
Billy Wagner ’94 pitched for Ferrum’s baseball team and in 1993 earned All American, All Conference, All State and All Region nods, compiling a three-year collegiate mark of 17-3.  He continues to hold the NCAA all division single season records for strikeouts per nine innings (19.1 in 1992) and fewest hits allowed per game (1.58 in 1992).  He was rated the top 1993 collegiate prospect by Baseball America and in June of 1993 he was selected in the first round of Major League Baseball’s draft (12th overall) by the Houston Astros.  He made his Major League debut with the Astros on September 13, 1995 and was a saves leader for the Astros.  Wagner is a three-time National All-Star.  He was ranked second in the National League in saves this season (44 saves in 47 opportunities) and was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on November 3, 2003.
 
Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church.  Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor’s degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges.  For more information on Ferrum, visit www.ferrum.edu.
 
 
# # #