Two Ross County high school sports standouts who went onto even bigger sports success, are being inducted into the Shawnee State University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Chillicothe High School graduate Keegan Rathkamp and Adena High School grad Haley Halcomb, will be inducted during ceremonies at the Portsmouth campus this January. Both were record holders at both the high school and college levels. Rathkamp starred in track and cross country, while Halcomb was a high school All Ohioan in volleyball.
(The following bios were taken from the Shawnee State University website story.)
Keegan Rathkamp
Keegan Rathkamp is one of the best runners in the illustrious history of Shawnee State men's cross country. Rathkamp is best known for having finished in 10th place at the 2008 NAIA National Championships, the best individual finish in program history at the National Championships.
Rathkamp is a two-time All-AMC selection, being named to the second team in 2007 and the first team in 2008. After missing the 2009 season, Rathkamp would return in 2010 and help the team win the Mid-South Conference Championship by finishing in first, earning him MSC Runner of the Year in the process.
Rathkamp was a member of two NAIA National Championship qualifiers. He led the team in the 2008 Nationals to an 11th place finish, then returned two years later to help the men's cross country team finish in fourth place in 2010, still the program's highest finish to date. Rathkamp finished 48th at the 2010 Nationals, and also participated in the 2007 Nationals, finishing 97th.
Haley Halcomb
Haley Halcomb was a member of the Shawnee State volleyball teams that reached three straight NAIA National Tournaments from 2008-10. Halcomb helped Shawnee State to win the American Mideast Conference tournament championship in 2008, the AMC regular season title in 2009, and the Mid-South Conference tournament in 2010.
Halcomb was a four-year starter for Shawnee State, and would earn many awards for her outstanding career with the volleyball program. She was a four-time all-conference selection, earning an honorable mention All-American Mideast Conference award in 2007, a second team All-AMC award in 2008, a first team All-AMC award in 2009 and a first team All-Mid-South Conference award in 2010. Halcomb would be a two-time NAIA All-American Honorable Mention, in 2009 and 2010. She also earned two American Volleyball Coaches' Association Region IX All-Region selections in 2009 and 2010. Her 2009 season also saw her earn American Mideast Conference Setter of the Year, a season in which she tallied 1,382 assists.
Halcomb is the career leader in assists by a great margin, getting 5,569 for her career. Halcomb averaged 10.65 assists per set over her career, also a program high. She is fifth in service aces with 119, and is fourth in total digs with 1,686. Halcomb is third in career games played for Shawnee State, notching 523 over her four-year career. She is also third in matches played, at 154.
Shawnee State's 2018 Hall of Fame Class will be inducted over Hall of Fame Weekend, January 26-27, 2018. The inductees will be honored at a banquet on Friday, January 26, and will be introduced at the basketball games on January 27.
For details on other SSU inductees, go to this link to their website story...http://www.ssubears.com/article/2716.php