Six new inductees have been added to the Gary Mauller Lancaster High School Athletic Wall of Honor in 2024. These athletes and coaches have been recognized for their outstanding achievements as a Lancaster Golden Gale and their accomplishments collegiately.
Doug Henwood: Class of 1968
In 1973 Henwood joined the staff of the boys’ track & field team. He was a coach for nineteen years before taking over as the head coach for the girls track & field team. The teams he led won three regional championships and a state runner-up title. This is not the first time Coach Henwood has been recognized for his coaching ability, he was the 1999 OHSAA Sportsmanship, Ethics, and Integrity Award recipient. To add to that achievement he was inducted into the Ohio Track & Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014.
Doug Henwood’s son, Aaron Henwood was honored to have his father inducted into the LHS Wall of Honor.
¨It means a great deal to me, my family, his coaching staff, and his former athletes. My father, like all good coaches, was never one to put himself out front. For him the team came before anything except family and school,¨ Aaron Henwood said.
Coach Henwood’s motto was ¨Be Where You Are,¨ which means live in the present, not the past or future.
¨Prom would come during each track season. He would hear the girls talking about hair and nail appointments and who was going with whom. He would ask them, “Can you change any of those things right now at practice.” If you are at practice, be at practice. If you are in math class, be in math class. Don’t worry about things you can not change now, be mindful in the present,¨ said A. Henwood.
Coach Henwood connected with his athletes in a calm, but confident manner.
¨My father was a quiet, steady leader. He did not do a lot of yelling. He would cheer on his athletes, but if you messed up he was not yelling to correct you,¨ stated A. Henwood.
Hope Purcell: Class of 2018
Purcell was a star on the Lady Gales track & field team from 2014-2018. Purcell could do it all, from jumping, running, and hurdle events. Her senior year, Purcell scored thirty-one points by herself in the Outdoor State Meet to give Lancaster the State Runner-Up title. As of 2024 Purcell is the LHS record holder in Long Jump, High Jump, and 100 meter hurdles. Purcell continued her athletic career at Indiana University where she was a four year letter winner. She tallied up eight Big Ten podium appearances and was the 2023 Big Ten Pentathlon Champion.
Purcell has always dreamed of having her own plaque in the LHS Wall of Honor.
¨Being inducted into the Athletic Lancaster High School Wall of Honor is an incredible achievement to me. As I walked down the halls of Lancaster when I was a student, I saw many faces I recognized and many I didn’t. But, every single one of those people left an impact on their program, teammates, coaches, and community,¨ Purcell said.
During the 2018 Outdoor Track State Meet, Purcell was locked in both physically and mentally, single-handedly carrying the Gales to a State Runner-Up finish.
¨I love that the day meant so much to so many people. By that time I had gotten used to competing in four events at every meet, and this was my fourth year attending the state meet. So, I had finally felt like I had the right training, experience, and timing to compete with such composure and determination,¨ Purcell stated.
The countless days of hard work and focus paid off for Purcell in the end.
¨My whole year of training we knew what this day would look like and that allowed me to prepare mentally for the stress of that day. But the truth is, I was nervous but I had never felt more excited/confident than I did that day. I didn’t really care about winning or getting a team placement, I just knew I wanted to have fun,¨ Purcell described.
During her time at Indiana University, Purcell had to get surgery because of an injury. About half a year after her procedure, Purcell won the Big Ten Pentathlon.
¨In college just as I was starting to get my footing and strength, I had an ankle injury that set me back almost a year and a half. In that time I had gotten surgery and had sat out for what seemed like eternity. But it’s within those times that you push through and come back stronger. I was truly given the time and space to reflect on why I wanted to still compete and what it would take to make it back on top,¨ Purcell said.
The pentathlon consists of five events across the same day, all thirty minutes apart. Purcell was in first place entering the final event, which was the 800-meter run. Purcell described the 800 as her weakest event, but she held off two other competitors close behind her in the scoring and became champion.
¨We both knew it would come down to this and I would have to run faster than I ever have before to win. I was paced by my coaches and cheered on by my teammates and family to a 10 second personal best that secured me my first Big Ten Medal and scored 10 points for my team. It was an incredible day and one that really commemorates my time as a track and field athlete,¨ Purcell described.
Eric Deluse: Class of 2016
Duluse was an All-Ohio wrestler and played football for Lancaster. He was Division 1 State Runner-Up in wrestling his senior year and was a three-time OCC Champion. Deluse continued his athletic career at the University of the Cumberlands where he qualified for NAIA Nationals four times. He went from an All-Ohio wrestler in high school to an All-American wrestler in college.
Being inducted into the LHS Wall of Honor is one of the many accomplishments Deluse has earned. This honor in particular felt greater for Deluse.
¨When I got the phone call that I was in, I was filled with nothing but joy and excitement. It was a different type of joy. I had felt all the time and effort paid off. Even having the success I had as an athlete, it felt different. I felt like a little kid getting their first medal,¨ Deluse said.
Deluse realized he had a serious talent in wrestling during his sophomore year in high school.
¨This year I had made leaps above what I thought I was capable of. Through my training, my coaches, family, and peers helped push me to be what I had accomplished and did in my career.¨
Being an All-American athlete is something only a handful of people can say. Deluse achieved this elite honor.
¨My greatest accomplishment at the University of the Cumberlands was getting my first All-American status. The feeling was something of a different world. It didn’t mean I was one of the best in my conference or state, I was one of the best in the nation,¨ Deluse expressed.
Deluse also had to overcome the challenge of adjusting to college level athletics.
¨I was not the best at my school anymore. I had to work harder and more efficiently. It was intimidating being in a room full of great wrestlers. Battling through this helped me accomplish things as an individual and it helped with what we wanted as a team. Getting to know and work with these athletes helped strengthen my mindset,¨ Deluse said.
Alexis Matheney- Class of 2018
Matheney earned eleven varsity letters in high school. She played volleyball, basketball, and most notably softball for the Gales. She was OCC Softball Player of the Year, as well as earning All Ohio Softball First Team honors her senior year. Matheney tallied up 38 career home runs in high school before continuing her hot hitting in college at University at Buffalo . She was in the starting lineup for all 154 games in college. Matheney said he is honored to be a part of the LHS Wall of Honor.
¨There are so many amazing athletes and coaches in the wall of honor, so to be recognized with them is very special to me. I loved my time playing sports at Lancaster, it meant so much to me to represent the place I grew up and where I was able to fall in love with playing sports,¨ he said.
Matheney still holds an OHSAA record for hitting three home runs in a single game. Matheney had the same approach for every at-bat.
¨I had the same mindset going up to bat as I did any others. I wanted to hit the ball hard and put it in play to make something happen. The great thing about our team was they couldn’t pitch around anyone. If they were going to walk me, I had another person behind who could hit it out of the park as well. I was confident that I could find a pitch I liked because of that,¨ Matheney explained.
Being the best version of herself on the diamond and in the classroom was important to Matheney.
¨My personal greatest accomplishment at UB would have to be earning my master’s degree in occupational therapy while playing a Division 1 sport. I’ve always had to learn how to manage my time during high school and playing three sports. But this was really tested trying to manage a competitive sport with a vigorous and intense academic program,¨ she said.
For any current athletes, self-belief is the first step to becoming a Hall of Famer.
¨Advice I would give any athlete would just be trust and have confidence in yourself. Do it for your love of the game, and for the younger version of yourself when you first started playing,¨ Matheney said.
Kris Kern: Class of 1977
Kern has over 40 years of volleyball head coaching experience at various levels. Kern holds the single season or career win totals not only at Lancaster but at four other high
schools. He left high school coaching as Ohio’s all-time wins leader.
Jim Waugh: Class of 1951
Waugh played major league baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates. When he was only 18 years old and just out of high school, Waugh pitched all nine innings against the Chicago Cubs on August 9, 1952, and became the youngest pitcher in Pirates history to win a major league game.
