Five new members inducted into Lancaster Athletic Wall of Honor

Tom Wilson, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
·4 min read
Five new members were recently inducted into the Lancaster High School Gary Mauller Athletic Wall of Fame. From left to right: Ray Mulrooney, Sam Vail, Brett McKnight, Chad McKnight, and Beth McKnight was representing Chris McKnight.
Five new members were recently inducted into the Lancaster High School Gary Mauller Athletic Wall of Fame. From left to right: Ray Mulrooney, Sam Vail, Brett McKnight, Chad McKnight, and Beth McKnight was representing Chris McKnight.

LANCASTER — Five individuals were recently inducted into the Lancaster High School Gary Mauller Athletic Wall of Honor.

The honorees were invited to tour the high school on the day of their induction, and there was a question-and-answer session for the inductees in the high school theater, as well as an informal social gathering in the cafeteria.

The induction ceremony took place before the Lancaster boys’ basketball game against rival Newark. It was a night to remember because the Golden Gales defeated snapped a 26-game losing streak to the Wildcats.

The 2022 inductees were:

Sam Vail: Class of 2010 – Soccer: Vail was a four-year varsity letter winner and starter for the Gales. He was a two-time Fairfield County Player of the Year, a two-time All-District honoree, and earned All-Ohio Capital Conference honors three times and as Archie Griffin Sportsmanship Award Winner in 2010.

He is the school’s record holder for goals in a season (21), goals in a career (41), assists in a career (38), points in a season (51) and points in a career (120). Vail attended Notre Dame College and finished with a career record of 71 wins, 10 losses, 1 tie. The team was National Runner-Up 2010, had three Top 25 National Rankings (2010, 2012, 2018), 3 National Tournament Appearances (2010, 2012, 2018), and Vail was an All-MEC Academic Team selection.

Chris McKnight: Class of 2006 – Basketball: McKnight took home a ton of honors during his playing days. He was third team All-Ohio in 2005, first team All-Ohio in 2006, District 11 Player of the Year 2006. He helped lead the Gales to the Division I State Final Four team member 2006, was named first team All-Ohio Capital Conference in 2006.

His Lancaster’s all-time leading career scorer with 1,165 points, as well as the school’s all-time leading career rebounder with 699, and the Gales’ all-time leading career made field goals 458. McKnight graduated from the University of Akron 2010 in Business and Organizational Communications. He was a full athletic scholarship recipient. As a three-year starter, the Zips won the Mid-American Conference championship in 2009.

McKnight was All-MAC Honorable-Mention 2009 and 2010, MAC All-Tournament Team 2010 and NCAA Tournament qualifier 2010. Professional basketball athlete – Euro League: Boras (Sweden) 2010-15, Charleville (France) 2015-16, Nantes (France) 2016-18, Israel 2018, Blois (France) 2019, Al-Manama (Bahrain) 2019-20, Union Poitiers (France) 2020-21, Kataja (Finland) 2020-21.

Chad McKnight: Class of 2001 – Basketball: He earned honorable mention All-Ohio in 2001 and finished with 601 career points, had a career field goal percentage of 68 percent (253-of-370), finished with 357 career rebounds and the Gales were 34-12 when he was in the starting lineup.

McKnight graduated from Morehead State University with a degree in Computer Science. He played in 99 games in college and had a career field goal percentage 58.8% (369/628), career free-throw percentage 68% (243-358), 437 career rebounds, 981 career points. In 2005, his field goal percentage of 63% ranked fourth in the nation for all NCAA Division I players.

Professional basketball athlete – Guildford Heat (UK) 2006-07, Leicester Riders (UK) 2007-08, Guildford Heat (UK) 2008-10, Holiday Check (Germany) 2010-11, Makkibi Frankfurt (Germany) 2011-12. Upon retirement, McKnight returned to Lancaster and began his coaching career, which included five years at Lancaster High School, one year at Liberty Union, and he is currently the head boys coach at Berne Union High School.

Brett McKnight: Class of 2007 – Basketball: McKnight had a record-breaking season when he was named first team All-Ohio in 2007. He was also the Ohio Coaches Association D-I Player of the Year 2007, All-OCC first team and scored 573 points in 2007, which is a Lancaster single-season record. That same year, McKnight averages 26 points per game, which is also a single-season Lancaster record.

McKnight finished his career with 1,057 career points, which is fourth in school history. The Gales recorded an impressive 71-24 overall record and reached the final four in 2006 while McKnight was in the lineup.

He graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in Business Management Technology, received a full scholarship. During his playing days for the Zips, McKnight scored 1,142 career points. They were MAC Champions in 2009 and 2011. He received the MAC Sixth Man of the Year award in 2009, was All-MAC Second-team 2009, ALL-MAC Honorable Mention 2010, and was MAC All-Tournament Team 2009 and 2011. Professional Basketball athlete – Schalke (Germany) 2012 – MVP, Columbus Condors 2016 – MVP, China Tour 2017, 2018 & 2019, Columbus Condors 2018, 2019 & 2020, Owensboro Thoroughbreds 2019, Lancaster Thunder 2022.

Ray Mulrooney: Honorary: He served 40 years as the Lancaster High School football statistician, which included over 400 games from 1970 to 2009. He coached ninth grade football (1975-1977), coached eighth grade football in 1978, was the cameraman Lancaster football 1969 and basketball 1970’s. He was also a track and field high jump judge 1970s and was a teacher at Lancaster High School from 1967 to 1997.

Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on Twitter @twil2323.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Five new members inducted into Lancaster Athletic Wall of Honor