Sports: BC to induct five into Hall of Fame

Staff Report

Five Bridgewater College athletics standouts will be inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Friday night in the Kline Campus Center as part of BC’s Homecoming Weekend.

The inductees include:

– Douglas A. Coleman, who was a two-sport standout at Bridgewater College, running track and cross country. Coleman helped lead the cross country team to three consecutive Virginia Small College meet titles, and in 1971 and 1972 was the individual winner at the small college meet. He broke the Bridgewater College course record many times during his career, and was a team captain in 1971 and 1972.

On the track, Coleman was a champion at the Mason-Dixon conference mile, the Virginia Association of College Athletes indoor 880-yard run and the Virginia Small College 880-yard run.

Coleman has worked at Wintergreen Resort since 1975, where he developed environment programs and wrote the first “Rare Plant Management Manual” for the Blue Ridge Parkway.

– Ray Lynn Heatwole, who excelled in basketball, football and baseball at BC. He played second base for the Eagles baseball team for four seasons and was named team captain during his senior year. He was also president of the varsity club during his senior year.

Following graduation, Heatwole embarked on a teaching and coaching career and became one of the most respected and successful high-school coaches in Virginia. He was the head coach at Turner Ashby High School for 17 seasons, and also coached several seasons at the college level. He was an assistant coach at James Madison University before taking over the head-coaching position from 1990-1993.

– Sydney Fultz John, who played four years on BC’s lacrosse team and excelled on the volleyball court, as well. In lacrosse, she earned second-team ODAC honors as a sophomore and first-team honors during her junior and senior seasons.

During her four seasons on the volleyball team, John helped the Eagles compile a 94-30 record. The Eagles were runners-up in the ODAC during the 1994 season and won the ODAC championship in 1996. John was named Most Valuable Player in her senior year.

Following graduation, John served as an assistant women’s volleyball coach at Western Illinois University, where she also coached the men’s club volleyball team.

– Beverly A. Marcum, who played basketball, field hockey and tennis at BC, lettering in all three sports. She was selected to the Southeast Regional Field Hockey Team as a junior and senior, and was listed in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, and twice served as president of the Women’s Athletic Association.

She is currently professor of biological sciences at California State University, Chico, and director of the Northern California Science Project.

– Charles Phillips, who participated in football, indoor track, outdoor track and cross country at Bridgewater. His achievements include helping lead the cross country team to three championships; placing in the top four finishers in three years of cross country competition; provided BC with several top or near-the-top track finishes; and broke a number of long-standing records.

For the past 30 years he has worked for the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, currently serving as a project engineer. He has also functioned as a pastor, Bible School teacher, workplace Bible teacher, visiting evangelist and missions teacher/minister.