Simon Heys, Ashley Johnson Wolf, Jerry Scheve and David Raizk Are Featured Panelists
Wilmington College has a long and storied history in athletics dating back to the late 1800s. Highlights will be featured when the Clinton County History Center’s series, “Beyond the Scoreboard,” celebrates sports at WC on July 30, at 7 p.m., in the McCoy Room of Kelly Center.
Featured panelists will be 2024 graduate Simon Heys, who completed his celebrated collegiate cross country and track career with his sixth and seventh All-America designations this spring; Ashley Johnson Wolf, a multi-time All-American and NCAA champion in the pole vault; Jerry Scheve, whose 30 years as head coach of Lady Quaker Basketball is highlighted by the 2004 national championship; and David Raizk, a WC alumnus whose legendary father, Fred Raizk, coached multiple sports over 53 years at the College.
Admission is $5 and free of charge for History Center members. The athletics-oriented program series accompanies the History Center’s exhibit celebrating Clinton County sports over the years.
Simon Heys rewrote Wilmington College’s distance-running record book during his years as a stand-out in cross country and track and field. He is a three-time All-American in cross country, highlighted by placing fifth in the 2021 NCAA D-III Championships. In track and field, he earned All-American status in the 2023 indoor 10,000, the 2023 outdoor 5,000, and, this spring, the outdoor 5,000 and in the outdoor 10,000 (placing third) in leading the men’s track and field team to 8th place in the nation.
Ashley Johnson Wolf, a 2017 Wilmington College Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, claimed the pole vault title at the 2006 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. The two-time All-American is a three-time OAC champion, six-time All-OAC selection and still holds the College’s indoor and outdoor pole vault records. She also was a four-time OAC champion during her two years on the swim team.
Jerry Scheve retired from the College in 2021 after 44 years teaching accounting and 30 years at the helm of WC’s women’s basketball team. A member of the Ohio Basketball and the Greater Cincinnati Basketball halls of fame, Scheve won championships with the Lady Quakers in four collegiate affiliations, the Western Buckeye Conference, Assoc. of Mideast Colleges, Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and the Ohio Athletic Conference. His teams played in numerous national tournaments, but in 2004 — the team for the ages — the Lady Quakers won the NCAA D-III championship with a 54-51 come-from-behind victory over top-ranked and previously undefeated Bowdoin College. That year, Scheve was named National Coach of the Year.
WC alumnus and trustee David Raizk will share stories about his father’s legendary 53-year career as a coach, faculty member and administrator at Wilmington College. A 1936 WC graduate, Fred Raizk returned to his alma mater in 1946 as the dean of men and a faculty member. He soon joined the College’s coaching ranks. He coached football from 1947 to 1956, basketball from 1951 through 1972, track & field from 1947 through 1961 and baseball from 1947 to 1961. He started WC’s intercollegiate soccer program in 1960, coaching its first three years, and established the College’s golf program, which he coached from 1959 until his retirement at age 86 in 1999. He served on the faculty from 1946 to 1990 and was the director of athletics for 25 years. The College honored him as a charter member of its Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991 and he was inducted into the Clinton County Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.