Meet the 10 newest members entering the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame this weekend

Ten members will be inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame next month in Hamilton. The inductees represent Fairfield, Hamilton, Hamilton Badin, Middletown and Seven Mile high schools.

Here are the 2019 inductees, in alphabetical order:

Nancy Fry Sturgeon, Hamilton

The 1948 Hamilton High graduate played tennis for three years for Big Blue before moving onto Miami University where she was a four-year athlete in basketball, field hockey and tennis.

While at Miami, she and her partner Jo Popp won the 1952 state doubles tennis championship. In her lifetime, she has 18 tennis tournament championships in singles, doubles and senior events.

She won three awards as a Women’s Athletic Association officer also while at Miami. She worked from 1956-2002 at Miami University where she spent several years as a tennis coach and the fencing club advisor among other things.

David Fultz, Middletown

He initially made his mark in cross country and track with the Middletown Middies. In cross country, he was a two-time district champion, a regional champion, and ran to a second-place finish in the 1981 State Championship.

He held the school record for the 3,200-meter until it was broken by fellow Butler County Hall of Famer Jeff See in 2003. He ran cross country at Miami University leading its ’83, ’84 and ’85 teams to MAC championships. In 1985, he was an NCAA national qualifier.

He has coached cross country and track at MHS for the past 31 years. He has guided athletes to 10 individual state championships, four state relay championships and a national championship.

He’s a member of the Middletown Athletic Hall of Fame.

Charles Harden, Seven Mile

The 1956 graduate of Seven Mile High School competed in four sports – basketball, baseball, football and track – for three years. In his senior year, he was named to the Cincinnati Post All-Star team in basketball after averaging 14 points per game. In baseball, he averaged more than .300 all three years and was named honorable mention on several lists.

In football, he played offense, defense, and scored 18 touchdowns as a half back. In track, Harden ran the 440-yard event in under 54 seconds collecting several wins along the way.

After high school, Harden made his mark playing softball for Ohio Casualty for 36 years. For 20 of those years he was a player/manager and the team won two state championships.

At age 55, he continued playing senior ball with the Miami Valley Masters, where he was selected to five All-American teams in 13 years.

Bill Hogan, Hamilton Badin

He played basketball at Badin for two years, and then went onto play four years of college basketball at St. Joseph’s College, but it was after college where he made his biggest impact in athletics.

In 1981, Hogan became the business manager, professor and assistant men’s basketball coach at St. Joseph’s College. A year later, Hogan was named the Director of Athletics at the school. In 1984 he also became the men’s basketball head coach. He was the youngest athletic director in the NCAA in 1982 leading what is regarded as one of St. Joseph’s greatest decades as he directed major facility projects including a new Student Recreation Center and a football field press box.

In 1991, he was hired as the Director of Athletics at San Francisco University, where he stayed until 2006 when he was named the Director of Athletics at Seattle University.

Mark Martin, Hamilton

He was a member of Hamilton High School’s baseball team for three years and was the catcher in 1983 when Big Blue won a state championship. He was named first-team Greater Miami Conference with a .390 batting average. He was the starting catcher for the Midland Cardinals Mickey Mantle National Championship team in 1982, and the starting catcher for the Midland Redskins Connie Mack National Championship team in 1984.

He caught at the University of Cincinnati for four years where he was the team captain his senior year.

After graduating from UC, he signed with the Atlanta Braves organization playing in the Pioneer League in 1987. He later

played in the New York Yankees organization playing in the Florida State League and the New York-Penn League in 1988.

Martin is member of the Hamilton High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Tim Nichting, Hamilton Badin

The 1978 graduate of Badin High School played baseball in high and at Xavier University.

After college, Nichting was selected in the 22nd round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Montreal Expos and played Class A baseball. He also played baseball for summer and travel teams Wilson Freight Baseball Club and Reading Tatman Taxi.

In 1983, he decided to help his father Ray Nichting, a 1994 Butler County Sports Hall of Fame inductee, coach the White Sox at the West Side Little League. Since then, Nichting has taken West Side Little League teams to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., in 1991, 1993, 2007 and 2010. His teams have won 19 district championships, 17 state titles and four regional championships.

In 2007, Tim was named Hamilton’s Citizen of the Year by the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and the Journal News. He also is a member of the Badin Athletic Hall of Fame.

Todd Oberdorf, Fairfield

The 1985 graduate of Fairfield High School competed in football and track.

In football, he was named to the Greater Miami Conference first-team his senior year. He also was named to the All-Golden Triangle first-team and played in the Tri-County Football All-Star game.

He received a football scholarship to Northeast Mississippi State Junior College, followed by a full scholarship to Indiana University. In his first two years at junior college, he received the Outstanding Offensive Lineman award.

At Indiana, he played in two bowl games – the Peach Bowl and the Liberty Bowl – and was given the Most Improved senior award in 1989.

In the 1990 NFL Draft, Oberdorf was selected by the Seattle Seahawks. He went onto play for the London Monarchs in the World Football League winning a World Championship in 1991. From 1996 to 2003, he played semi-pro football winning league championships in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2003.

He is a member of the Fairfield High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Dale Robertson, Seven Mile

He’s a 1964 graduate of Seven Mile High School where he was a three-sport athlete.

Upon earning his degree in education from Miami University, Robertson has been a teacher, coach and administrator in several area school districts for the last 46 years. He has coached football, basketball, wrestling and baseball, and as a football coach, he compiled an 88-47-6 record in 14 years coaching at Edgewood, Hamilton Taft and Hamilton high schools.

His teams were Mid-Miami League champions three times and he was named the Mid-Miami League Coach of the

Year three times. He’s a member of the Edgewood Athletic Hall of Fame.

Antwaun Rogers, Middletown

He was a standout two-sport athlete in football and track at Middletown High School where he graduated in 2000.

While at MHS, Rogers helped the Middies track team to a third-place finish at the state championships.

In his junior season, Middletown was co-champions of the GMC and Rogers and the other members of the 4 x 400 relay team took third place at the state meet.

He earned a full scholarship to Purdue University for football. During his time as a Boilermaker, Rogers was named Newcomer of the Year in 2001 as a redshirt freshman. In 2002 as a defensive back, he had 50 tackles and 13 pass breakups in helping lead Purdue to a win in the Sun Bowl that year.

In his junior season, Rogers recorded 61 tackles and was named Big Ten honorable mention. He was injured as a senior and played six games.

In 2006, he signed with the Berlin Thunder of the NFL European League where he started nine of 10 games. Rogers lives in Houston where he runs a Top Golf franchise.

Chris Wells, Middletown

The 1991 Middletown High School graduate was a standout football and baseball player.

It was on the gridiron where he excelled most earning first-team honors in the Greater Miami Conference as a junior and senior. In addition, as a senior, the Middies were crowned GMC champions and Wells was named to the first-team All-Butler County, All-Southwest District and All-Ohio.

He played one year of football at Kent State before transferring to Thomas More College where he was an all-conference first-team selection three years in a row from 1993-95. In 1995, his senior year, Wells was the teams’ Most Valuable Player and a Division III first-team All-America player.

Wells has since had a long coaching career that has included stops at Thomas More College, Fenwick, Middletown, Hamilton, Madison and Middletown Christian high schools.

Well is a member of the Middletown Hall of Fame and Thomas More Hall of Fame.


HOW TO GO

WHAT: Butler County Sports Hall of Fame Induction

WHEN: Nov. 24. Reception: 5 p.m.; Dinner: 6 p.m.; Program: 7 p.m.

WHERE: Courtyard by Marriott, 1 Riverfront Plaza, Hamilton

HOW MUCH: 425

TICKETS: Tickets available at Clark's Sporting Goods, 15 S B St., Hamilton. Ticket deadline is Nov. 20

About the Author