The Ashland University Hall of Fame Class and Students of the Year in 2021 was recognized on Oct. 22. The largest hall of fame class in school history was honored in the Faculty Room at the John C. Myers Convocation Center.

Ashland’s 2021 class of hall of famers included the following – Nick Bellanco (football/track and field), Vickie Schmitz Brake (women’s basketball), Paul Graham (swimming and diving), Joe Horn (football/track and field), Kibwe Johnson (track and field), Jacob Petkac (baseball), Carrie Ritchie (volleyball), and Simon West (men’s soccer).

In addition, a member of the 2020 Hall of Fame class Billy Cundiff (football) will be recognized. There will also be recipients of other awards on Saturday morning that do not include the Hall of Fame.

The 2021 Eagle Forever Award was recognized and given to Al Honaker and Dr. Dan Sullivan. The last two sets of AU Student-Athletes of the year were given to Trevor Bassit (2020-2021 male), Rachel Miller (2020-2021 female), and Erin Krupar (2021-2022 female).

Rachel Miller and Trevor Bassitt achieved a lot of success within their career at Ashland University, but they couldn’t help but look back on some people who paved the way for them as student-athletes at AU.

“Throughout my time at Ashland, I remember watching groups of individuals being inducted into the Hall of Fame each year and hoping that someday I’d have an impact like theirs on the history of Ashland track and field. I feel blessed to have ended my career with even just a small footprint on the record books of our program,” Miller said.

Bassitt isn’t taking this moment for granted, even if it is not him being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

 “To be honored among the best in Ashland history is incredible and it’s always been a goal of mine,” Bassitt said. “ Ashland is one of the most dominant Division II colleges so to be honored Student-Athlete of the Year at our school is an incredible honor. To be recognized in front of the Hall of Fame class just adds to it by being recognized by people who came before me and set the standard for excellence here.”

The ceremony began at 9:30 a.m., honoring all 11 former and current athletes for their accomplishments.