Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame announces Class of 2026

The Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame has announced its 2026 class, set to be enshrined at the WCSHOF’s bi-annual induction banquet June 20 at the Greystone Event Center in Wooster.

The class, which will be the WCSHOF’s 25th as it celebrates its 50th year, includes Andrew Bender, Ryan Berg, Ruth Coney, Jenna (Pew) Mack, Abby (Kacsandi) Majesky, Sawyer Polen, Travis Snyder, Joy Taylor, Adam Wallace and Crystal (Barber) Ward.

Bender, an All-Ohio defensive back at Wooster High and a 3-time lacrosse All-Ohioan who led the Generals to the 2002 Div. I state title, went on to be a 4-year lacrosse letterman and team MVP at Ohio State and a finalist for the Big Ten Medal of Honor, and then played a season in Major League Lacrosse.

Berg played football and basketball at Dalton High and made his mark on the hardwood, earning second-team All-Ohio as a sophomore, co-Div. IV Player of the Year as a junior, and first-team honors as a senior, leading the Bulldogs to two state tournaments and graduating as Wayne County’s all-time leading scorer before playing two seasons of college basketball at Toledo.

Coney is the longtime girls soccer coach at Chippewa High who in her three-decade tenure has amassed 484 wins — tied for second all-time in Ohio — and her record includes 19 league, 14 district, 7 regional titles and three state runner-up finishes. She was the first woman inducted into the State Coaches HOF.

Mack led Smithville High to state in both volleyball and basketball, earning Player of the Year and All-Ohio honors in both, and was 10th in the state in the discus. MVP of North-South basketball game played college volleyball at Wheeling Jesuit, becoming her conference Player of the Year and an All-American after four years as a starter.

Majesky earned four letters in soccer, basketball and track at Wooster High and was a two-time basketball All-Ohioan and three-time state qualifier in the high jump, placing sixth as a senior before going on to letter four times in track and field at Ashland, where she won the 2010 indoor national high jump title and was named the AU Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

Polen earned multiple all-conference honors with 12 letters at Triway High in football, basketball and baseball and became a first-team All-Ohioan in both football and baseball, setting school records in both before going to Kent State, where he started four seasons on the baseball team, including his freshman year for the MAC champs and College World Series qualifiers.

Snyder lettered in football, basketball and baseball at Triway High and then went on to set a slew of records in four years of baseball at The College of Wooster, graduating with top-5 career finishes in seven categories, setting four single-season hitting records, and as a three-time first-team All-NCAC pick who was also a two-time all-region pick.

Taylor earned 12 total letters in soccer, basketball and softball at Wooster High, becoming a three-time first-team All-Federal League pick in soccer, graduating with 10 school scoring records, and a three-time All-Ohio guard in basketball before starting every game in that sport as point guard in her college career at Div. I Charleston Southern, where she scored 1,265 points.

Wallace lettered a total of 12 times in football, basketball and track at Norwayne High, standing out as a quarterback and linebacker on the football team, leading it to 2011 Div. IV state title and being named first-team All-Ohio as senior after amassing 61 touchdowns, nearly 4,000 yards of offense, school- and conference record 188 tackles. Lettered four times, started three at OLB for Ashland, three-time all-GLIAC honoree.

Ward didn’t let the lack of a track at Rittman High keep her from sprinting to five state titles among her 19 state track meet appearances indoors and out, including championships in the outdoor 100, 200 and 4x100 as a senior, giving her a pair of state 200 crowns and 15 All-Ohio honors in and outdoors and propelling her to Malone, where she set or was part of four school records.

Jess and Beth Hamman, the longtime owners of Smithville’s Berkey Trophies, will be honored at the banquet with the Harold Oswald Special Contributor Award for exemplary service to athletics in Wayne County.

Ticket information for the banquet will be released in the coming weeks. The Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame’s new site, located at the Wayne County Historical Society in Wooster, will be open to the public in May.