Class of 2006
Connie J. Hill, ATC: Connie Hill, a Huntington native, is a job coach, recreation director, and athletic trainer for the Kentucky School for the Blind in Louisville, Ky. She earned a BA in physical education for the physically handicapped K-12, an MA as a school guidance counselor K-8 and an MS in physical education-health education with an emphasis on athletic training from Marshall University. She is a former MU volleyball player and was an athletic trainer for MU’s football, softball, and track and field teams and the cheerleading squad. She has also been an athletic trainer at a number of sporting events, including the World Games Special Olympics in 1999 and local soccer and wrestling events. She is a board-certified athletic trainer and a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association.

Dr. Ross M. Patton: Dr. Patton grew up in Barboursville and today is chief of the division of sports medicine and an associate professor in the department of family and community medicine at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. He is also the director for the school’s fellowship program in primary care and sports medicine and adult fitness. He earned his undergraduate degree at Marshall University and his medical degree at WVU. After an internship in Columbus, Ohio, he completed his residency in family practice at MU. He’s been the team physician for MU since 1987 and for Cabell Midland High School since 1994. He is board-certified in family practice and holds a certificate of added qualification in sports medicine. Patton also is a member of the American Academy of Family Practice, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.

Dr. Laura C. Reese: Dr. Reese is an orthopedic surgeon with Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital and King’s Medical Center in Ashland. She earned her BS in biology from Gannon University and her DO from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. After an internship and residency in Pennsylvania, she completed a primary care sports medicine fellowship at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. She has served as an associate professor and clinical instructor for the MU Department of Family and Community Medicine and clinical coordinator for sports medicine grand rounds at MU, team physician for the Special Olympics in Huntington, the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament, the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Finals and as associate team physician for MU Department of Athletics. Prior to entering college, she was a four-time silver medalist in Figure, Freestyle, Ice Dancing, and Pairs Skating competitions in the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

Mark S. Taylor, PT: Mark Taylor, also a Huntington native, is a 1977 graduate from Marshall University with a degree in physical education. He earned his degree in physical therapy from West Virginia University, but returned to Huntington, where he has been a physical therapist for nearly 25 years, 22 of which at Huntington Physical Therapy. Taylor has served as a consulting physical therapist to MU athletics and was a physical therapist and rehabilitation consultant to Huntington’s former minor league hockey team, the Huntington Blizzard. He also works with a number of area high school and middle school athletes.

Class of 2005
Dr. George Beldon: Dr. Beldon has practiced dentistry in Huntington in 1969, and has been involved with the Marshall University Department of Sports Medicine since 1970. Beldon, a native of Paintsville, Ky., graduated from Marshall in 1961 and from West Virginia University's Dental School in 1965. Beldon is also a member of the American Dental Association, the West Virginia Dental Association, the Huntington Dental Society, and the Marshall University Big Green Scholarship Foundation Board of Trustees. Beldon is married to Caroline Beldon, and has three children, Elizabeth, Laurie, and Brian.

Dr. Joseph Nelson: Dr. Nelson is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon who serves on the Marshall University Big Green Foundation Board of Trustees. Nelson, who received his undergraduate degree from West Virginia State in Physics and Math in 1959 and his DDS from West Virginia University in 1966, started with the Marshall University Department of Sports Medicine in 1969. Nelson has served as president of the WVAOMS and the Huntington Dental Society, and completed a fellowship at the Midwest Implant Institute in Oral Implants. Nelson and his wife Lelah have four children, Tim, Beth, Kathy, and Chris.

Dr. W. Don Williams: Dr. Williams will be honored for his service to the Marshall University Department of Sports Medicine as a professor and administrator from 1972-1994. Williams, who received his B.S. in Education from Concord College, his M.S. in Education from West Virginia University, and his Ed.D. from Virginia Tech, has worked in a number of capacities at Marshall University. In 1984, he developed an athletic training curriculum for the Marshall University Department of Sports Medicine, and in 1986, he served as the state president of the AAHPER. He received a Meritorious Award from football coach Jim Donnan in 1990, and in 1992, Williams was given an award for Leadership and Service During the Creation of the Marshall University Sports Science and Wellness Institute. In 1992-93, he was the Interim Vice President for Research and Economic Development, and in 1994-95, he received a Marshall University Interim Presidential Appointment to Big Green Staff Coordinator. Retired in 1995, Williams now resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., with wife Clara T. Williams. He also has two children, Stephen and Marc.

Class of 2004
Dr. Daniel E. Carr: Dr. Carr has served as the U.S. Olympic Team physician for the games in Atlanta, Ga., and Salt Lake City, Utah and for the Pan American Games in 1987 and 1999. He was the orthopedic consultant for the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team, the West Virginia Games and the Huntington Blizzard, and he was the selected orthopedic surgeon for the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. While he was practicing medicine in Huntington, he served as a clinical instructor for the Marshall University School of Medicine and as the head orthopedic director for the MU Family Practice and Sports Medicine Fellowship. Today, he is in private practice as an orthopedic surgeon with Virginia Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Williamsburg.

Dr. James Kyle: Dr. Kyle was an Olympic Stadium physician for the track and field venue of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., and was a member of the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee for the U.S. Soccer Federation from 1991 to 1993. He was medical director of sports medicine at St. Joseph's Hospital in Parkersburg, W.Va., the physician member of the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission Review Board from 1986 to 1993 and still serves as the physician coordinator for the West Virginia Special Olympics Winter Games. He served as the sports medicine coordinator and team physician for the Marshall University School of Medicine from 1986 to 1987 and was a member of the board of directors for the Sports Medicine and Fitness Institute at MU from 1991 to 1995.

Ellen Lavery: While earning her degree at Marshall University, Ellen Lavery was a graduate assistant in the Athletic Training Department. Two months after getting her degree in May 1981, she served as an assistant athletic trainer and instructor until 1988, when she advanced to associate athletic trainer and instructor. She was a member of the MU Wellness Committee from 1983 to 1993 and a member of the board of directors for the MU Sports Science and Wellness Institute from 1992 to 1993. From September 1993 to December 1996, she served as an athletic trainer in Student Health Services at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C. She has been teaching in the Durham public school system since 1999.

Kevin Lavery: Kevin Lavery was assistant athletic trainer at Marshall from 1983 to 1987 then was promoted to head athletic trainer from 1988 to 1992. In these roles, he coordinated the medical coverage for all student athletes and provided clinical and didactic instruction in undergraduate and graduate courses. While in the state, he served as the administrative coordinator for medical coverage of the West Virginia State Special Olympic Summer Games from 1987 to 1991. He went on to graduate from the Physician Assistant Program at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 1995. Today he is a board-certified physician assistant with Triangle Orthopedics in Durham, N.C.

Hall of Fame Class of 2003 bios
Dr. Robert Daniel Martin -- Came to Marshall in 1980 as the assistant trainer before becoming the head trainer for the Herd from 1981-89. In January of 1989, Martin became the program director for the Athletic Training program at Marshall University. In that capacity, he is responsible for 22 graduate assistants, advising 20 graduate students and 55 undergraduate students.

Martin teaches 9-13 credit hours each semester, coordinates all athletic training clinical classes each semester and is the director of Drug Education and Testing for the Marshall University Athletic Department. He has represented the Division of Exercise Science, Sport and Recreation at Marshall in the College of Education Program Committee since 1992, serving as secretary of that group since 1995. Martin also helped to set up the Sport Science and Wellness Institute in 1989 and has served on that committee from 1992-2000.

A graduate of Bethany College with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts in 1973, Martin received a Masters in Exercise Physiology from West Virginia University in 1976. He would receive his Doctorate in Higher Education Administration, with an emphasis in Clinical Sports Medicine, in 1995 from WVU in a program that included cooperation from Marshall University and the West Virginia Graduate College.

Martin has worked on the five-year reviews of the Marshall Sports Medicine programs since 1980. He oversaw the recent five-year renewal that was granted in March of 1997, which included a written self-study and on-site review. This included converting the curriculum from the National Athletic Trainers Association approval to the new Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, under the control of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the NATA.

He has served on more than 25 other committees during his tenure at Marshall, including designing new curriculum, chairing Doctorate committees, working with the MU HELP program and chairing personnel search committees. Martin has been a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association since 1972 and has been certified with NATA since 1974. He was a charter member of the West Virginia Athletic Trainers Association since 1982 and worked as president of that organization twice.

A seven-time consecutive winner of the Marshall University Merit Award, as well as being listed in "Who's Who Among American Teachers" on four occasions, Martin has been published seven times and involved in 22 research projects and 20 other presentations and activities. Active in the Rotary Club since 1986, being designated as a "Paul Harris Fellow" in 1994, Martin has served the organist for the Central Christian Church in Huntington, WV, since 1987 after previously serving in such a capacity during his college years in Bethany, WV. Martin is single.

Dr. Earl J. Foster -- More than two decades ago Foster began serving as an orthopedic surgeon with the Marshall University Sports Medicine program. Foster specializes in hand surgeries, but has consulted and operated on many areas injured by student-athletes in the Marshall athletic program.

Foster is a member of the Scott Orthopedic Group in Huntington while also maintaining offices in nearby Ashland, KY. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1970, then stayed in Iowa City to graduate Iowa's Medical School in 1974. He served as a resident in the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY, a sort of homecoming for the Brooklyn, NY, native.

Certified by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and has a Certificate of Added Qualification in Hand Surgery, Foster is a member of many societies and associations: he is a diplomat in the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons; a member of the Riordan Hand Society and the American Society for the Surgery of the Hand; and belongs to the Southern Medical Society, the Southern Orthopedic Association, various Cabell County and West Virginia State Medical Societies, as well as being a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. William W. Briner -- Served a Sports Medicine Fellowship with the Marshall University Primary Care from July 1988 through June of 1989 before moving to Illinois. Briner is a physician and surgeon with certifications in cardiac life support and sports medicine, while serving as a diplomat for both the American Board of Family Practice and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Briner graduated from Denison University in Granville, OH, with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 1981. He went on to The Ohio State University College of Medicine, receiving his degree in 1985. Briner served his residency in the Family Practice of the MacNeal Memorial Hospital in Berwyn, IL, from 1985 through 1988 before serving with Marshall. From there, he became the Medical Director of the Lutheran General Sports Medicine Center at the Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL, in 1989 to present.

Briner's other duties at Lutheran General have included being on the faculty of the Family Practice Residency there since 1989; being the Associate Director of the Family Practice Residency at Lutheran General since 1998; Director of the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at the hospital since 1990; being the Medical Director of the Advocate Fitness Program since 1997; and Coordinator of the Research and Scholarly Activity in the LGH FR Residency Program since 1999. He is in addition a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Practice with the University of Illinois-Chicago.

He has served as a Team Physician with both the United States National Soccer team (1990-95, including the Olympic team) and the United States National Volleyball team in 1994. Briner served as a volunteer assistant of the Olympic Volleyball team at the training center in Colorado Springs in 1994, at the Olympic Festival in Boulder, Colorado, in 1995 and at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996. He served as the Physician in Attendance at Illinois' Prairie Games on three occasions and is involved in annual marathons, triathlons and Pro Beach Volleyball-AVP Tour in Chicago every year.

He served as a Team Physician at the University at Illinois-Chicago since 1999, following like assignments at Oakton Community College (1991-2000), Northeastern Illinois University (1991-1997), the Chicago Stingers Professional Soccer team (1998-99) and various high schools throughout Illinois.

Briner has presented 18 original articles for publication, seven book chapters, three articles for non-referred journals, 22 abstracts, 15 presentations at meetings and lectured on 22 occasions. He currently has seven manuscripts in preparations and has reviewed stories for The Physician and Sports Medicine, as well as Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

Briner is married to Dr. Christine Briner, a pediatrician in Oak Park, IL, and has a nine-year old daughter.

Hall of Fame Class of 2002 bios

Dr. Joseph J. Czerkawski, Jr.
Czerkawski (pronounced Zer-KOW-ski) did his fellowship with the Marshall University School of Medicine from July of 1990 through June of 1991. During that time, Czerkawski was the Medical Director of both the Sports Medicine Clinic with the MU School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Sports Science and Wellness Institute at Marshall University.

During that time, he worked with all Marshall athletes and traveled with football, men's and women's basketball. He was also involved with sports medicine at Barboursville High School, West Virginia State Special Olympics and Senior Olympics and served on numerous committees and programs during his fellowship. After his fellowship at MU, Czerkawski became the Medical Director of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation at Cabell Huntington Hospital.

He is a graduate of William and Mary College, the Autonomous University of Guadalajara (Mexico) School of Medicine and The New York Medical College. Czerkawski, 43, was a resident at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine and is currently with Baptist Occupational Health and Sports Medicine in Jacksonville, Fla. He has served as the team physician for the University of North Florida, the Jacksonville Tomcats of the Arena Football League and the Jacksonville Lizards of the East Coast Hockey League.

Dr. Jose I. Ricard
Team Physician of the Thundering Herd since 1981,Ricard is a native of Cuba who fled communism and came to the state of West Virginia in 1963. A graduate of Havana University for both his undergraduate and degree in medicine (1960), Ricard fought in the war against Fidel Castro as a lieutenant in the Medical Corps from 1950-59.

Ricard worked as the Cuban Olympic Team Physician and was the Cuban Sports Medicine Director before escaping to the United States. He remains a member of the Cuban Medical Association, in exile. Ricard worked at the Saint Joseph Infirmary Hospital in Atlanta, Ga., before coming to Huntington where he still maintains his private practice as a family physician.

With Marshall University, Ricard has held many positions in the Sports Medicine program. He is an Associate Professor in the Family Medicine Department in the MU School of Medicine. Ricard is the Director of the MU Athletic Department Sports Medicine program and Co-Chairman of the MU School of Medicine Family Practice Sports Medicine Department. He was one of driving forces to establish a medical school at Marshall University and theMU Sports Medicine Hall of Fame. He and his wife Amy present a scholarship to the outstanding student-trainer at Marshall each year.

Ricard has been honored many times for his contributions to Thundering Herd Athletics over the years. He is a member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame -- one of two sports medicine inductees to be in that hall and the only doctor. He received a Lifetime Member Recognition Award by the Big Green Scholarship Fund, the fundraising arm of MU athletics. Ricard became an honorary alumnus of Marshall University in 1986. In addition, he was the "Doctor of the Year" for the WV Chapter American Academy of Family Physicians.

Ricard is a member of the Marshall Quarterback Club, Tip-Off Club (for men's basketball), Women's Basketball Locker Room Club, Tennis Booster Club and Soccer Booster Club. He has two daughters, Rachel and Jacqueline, and is one of nine children himself. Ricard counts among his many friends fellow Cuban exile and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Tony Perez of the Florida Marlins.

Dr. Thomas F. Scott
Scott is an Orthopedic Surgeon who has treated thousands of athletes since beginning to work with Marshall University in 1963. His chief practice is at the Scott Orthopedic Center, which he founded with his father and fellow Sports Medicine Hall of Famer Dr. Francis A. Scott. Eleven physicians treat Thundering Herd and other athletes at three Scott Orthopedic Centers throughout the Tri-State area (Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia).

Scott graduated from Dartmouth College before receiving his M.D. at the University of Michigan Medical School. He completed his internship and residency there as well and then completed post-graduate studies at Northwestern University, New York University and the University of Miami.

At the Marshall University School of Medicine, Scott teaches freshman anatomy and physiology, sophomore physical diagnosis and junior/senior year orthopedics. He instructs residents at MU in surgery and family practice. Scott is the section coordinator of the Orthopedic Section at the MU School of Medicine and is a Director/Instructor of post-graduate courses for doctors, nurses and physical therapists.

Scott took time from his medical practice to serve the region as a state senator in the West Virginia Legislature from 1996-2000. Scott is a Diplomat of the American board of Orthopedic Surgeons. He is a currently a counselor for the State of West Virginia branch of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery and the Associate Director of the WV Association of Crippled Children Service.

He was one of the driving forces in the establishment of the Marshall School of Medicine and the MU Sports Medicine Hall of Fame.

Vic Winburn
Winburn was the Head Athletic Trainer for Marshall University for morre than a decade. Taking over as the first full-time head trainer after the 1970 air disaster that killed 75 people, Winburn brought first stability, and then expansion, to the Marshall Sports Medicine program.

A native of North Carolina, Winburn graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, in 1968. He went to work as a teacher/coach/trainer at Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in Charlotte, NC, but returned to his alma mater for a Masters degree in Health and Athletic Training in 1971. Winburn helped the "Young Thundering Herd" football team of 1971 and worked with three head football coaches in his decade at Marshall as the school began the slow process of rebuilding the gridiron program.

Winburn taught health and sport medicine classes in the HPER department during his tenure at Marshall University. He directed the sports medicine program for all athletic programs, including grooming student-trainers for futures in the field of sports medicine. In 1981, he left his employment at Marshall but continued his treatment of Thundering Herd athletes. Winburn became the Director of Sports Medicine Services for Scott Orthopedics in Huntington.

In 1985, the Tar Heel state native was able to return to his roots when he was named Director of Sports Medicine at the Hickory Orthopedic Center in Hickory, NC. He remains employed there, working with athletes from Watauga and nearby Wilkes Counties, as well as nearby Appalachian State University.

Winburn is a certified member of the National Athletic Trainers Association. He is a member of the North Carolina Athletic Trainers Association and he is licensed as an athletic trainer by the state of North Carolina.

Hall of Fame Class of 2001 bios

Dr. Francis A. Scott
The first team doctor for Marshall College (University status was given to the school in 1961), Dr. Scott began treating student-athletes during the coaching tenure of the legendary Cam Henderson. Dr. Scott was the first orthopedic surgeon in the region and worked with Marshall for more than 25 years.

Dr. James A. Heckman
The second team physician at Marshall, Heckman served as team doctor and orthopedic surgeon for the Herd from 1960 until 1978. Dr. Heckman practiced orthopedic surgery in Huntington from 1948 to 1985 and among his many professional associations, served as Chairman of Cabell Huntington Hospital's Board of Trustees in 1975-76.

Dr. Colin M. Craythorne
The third physician to work with Marshall student-athletes, Dr. Craythorne stepped in to fill the void caused by the 1970 Marshall plane crash. The crash resulted in the loss of four Huntington-area doctors. Craythorne stayed on as head team physician through 1981 and as a consultant until 1997.

Edward "Ed" J. Prelaz
Prelaz was the first athletic trainer at Marshall University. An All-Ohio Valley Conference back in football under Cam Henderson, Prelaz graduated from Marshall in 1953 and became an assistant football coach and athletic trainer for the Herd in 1954. He remained as a coach through 1964 and as a trainer through 1969. During that time he also served as wrestling coach and as an assistant professor in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department at Marshall. Prelaz was a faculty member until his retirement in 1999 and belonged to many professional organizations including the American Red Cross, where he logged more than 4,880 hours of professional experience.

Robert "Bobby" M. Barton
Barton was assistant trainer for Ed Prelaz as a graduate student from 1968-70. After graduation, Barton joined the sports medicine staffs at the University of Florida, Florida International, and the University of Kentucky before becoming head trainer at Eastern Kentucky University. Barton is a two-time president of the National Athletic Trainer Association (NATA) and has won numerous awards.

Mark J. Smaha
Smaha came to Marshall as an assistant trainer in 1970. Working with football and basketball, Smaha decided to let a student trainer take his spot on the East Carolina football trip, which later would become the Marshall plane disaster. After the tragedy, Smaha spent many hours identifying the dead and later acting as a pallbearer at many funerals. He served as head trainer for the remainder of they year and finished his masters degree in 1972. He later served as research trainer at the University of Washington, head trainer at Interlake High School, head trainer at the University of Idaho, and head trainer at Washington State University where he retired in 1999. He spent four years as president of the NATA and has won numerous awards.

The 1970 Sports Medicine Staff

The final six members of the first Marshall University Sports Medicine Hall of Fame was inducted as a group, and include the medical personnel killed in the Marshall University football plane crash of November 14, 1970.

Dr. Joseph Chambers
Chambers was a family practicioner and father of two Marshall cheerleaders.

Dr. Ray Hagley
Hagley was a family physician and tireless support of Marshall.

Dr. Glenn Preston
Preston was an oral surgeon and life long friend of Marshall.

Dr. H.D. "Pete" Proctor
Proctor was an internist and Marshall alumnus, as well as team physician.

Jim Schroer
Schroer was the head trainer.

Don Tackett
Tackett was a student trainer.