Shepherd Adds Four to Hall of Fame

This past Friday at the Clarion Hotel in Shepherdstown, W.Va., Shepherd University added four members to its Athletics Hall of Fame.

The Rams added three former athletes and one former coach to its historic annuls. Vic Holmes, Greg Stup, and Joe Reel all played for Shepherd. Jodie Runner coached the women’s basketball team.

Holmes is a native of Shepherdstown and played baseball and basketball for the Rams in his day. On the hard courts, he led Shepherd to a pair of 20-win seasons and was also a two-time all-conference player for Shepherd.

Now, Holmes can be heard on WRNR providing the color commentary for Rams home football games. The 1974 graduate also led Martinsburg High School to three state championships as their head baseball coach.

Stup played defensive end for the Rams from 2002-2006 and was selected to the all-conference team after leading the Rams in sacks with 13 and to a 7-3 conference championship record in 2006. Stup is the only Rams football player in history to lead the team in sacks all four years that he played.

The quietest inductee in this year’s class was Joe Reel. Reel was a four-year starter and standout defensive lineman for the Rams from 1967-1971. Following his career at Shepherd, he was scouted by numerous NFL teams. Eventually the NAIA All-American went to British Columbia to play in the Canadian Football League.

The speech of the night went to former Rams women’s basketball head coach Jodie Runner. Runner was beyond honored to be inducted in the Hall of Fame and even went on to say that it was even more special because the people that she coached and coached with were also in attendance.

In her career at Shepherd, Runner compiled a record of 116-87 and even led the Rams to the NCAA tournament. In 2008, the Rams went 24-7 in the regular season on their way to the Eastern Region title game in the playoffs, which they fell just short of winning.

Runner added in her speech that the best thing she ever did while coaching for Shepherd was hiring now head coach Melanie Ford. Runner said, “Melanie never coached for me—she coached with me.”