WHEELING — The stars came out Saturday night as WesBanco Arena played host to the 13th annual OVAC Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

And while 12 classes — encompassing more than 200 honorees– have already been enshrined, the latest inductees took their rightful place in the OVAC Hall with glowing credentials.

The OVAC Hall of Fame covers all bases. Enshrinees included athletes, coaches, an official, media member, family and contributor.

Not to be left out were five legends — individuals from schools that were not members of the OVAC when their careers played out.

One of the legends was Jewett-Scio product Aime Marks Cormell. She tallied more than 2,300 points in her prep hoops career, second only in valley annals to St. John Central’s Stephanie Petho, while also winning a state high jump title. In addition to her family, the Akron University grad’s entourage Saturday night included New Athens resident Ray Miller, former Major League pitching coach and manager of the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles.

The night’s largest delegation belonged to former Oak Glen great Jim Woofter. The Golden Bear three-sport star earned a football scholarship to Tennessee and started two years for the Volunteers. He was supported at the banquet by some three-plus tables of family and friends, including his brother Jeff, another Oak Glen great who played football at Penn State.

Andy Cross delivered one of the most eloquent speeches of the evening. The Morgantown High grad entered the hall in the officials category — and rightly so. Cross has been an excellent baseball umpire and basketball official for many years while also being one of the nicest gentlemen in his profession.

It was disappointing that Rob Munn was unable to attend and deliver his acceptance speech in person due to health issues. Don Cash filled in nicely for the 1966 Bridgeport grad. For years I have heard of how great a basketball player and quarterback he was for the Bulldogs. He went on to be a three-year varsity contributor in hoops at Marshall. I asked Bridgeport hoop coaching legend Frank Baxter one time who was the best basketball player he ever coached. Without hesitation he said, “Rob Munn.”

The enshrinement that hit home for me the most was Jimmy Mountain entering the hall in the media category. He was an Eastern Ohio journalistic icon and one of my mentors when I first cut my teeth in this business. I am certain he covered more football games at Nelson Field in Bellaire than any other scribe.

St. Clairsville wrestling great Dave Delande joined his brother-in-law  (Shadyside’s Pat Miller) in the hall. Delande amassed a brilliant 136-10-1 record at St.C., winning three OVAC titles and finishing state runnerup as a 132-pound junior. He went on to enjoy a brilliant mat career under the tutelage of Dr. Vince Monseau at West Liberty, earning All-American honors three years and finishing as national runnerup at 158 as a senior.

Miller entered the OVAC shrine in 2012 after his amazing Tiger career in which he won a state pole vault title and earned all-Ohio baseball honors in the same season. Miller, also an Orange grid standout, was one of three Shadyside grads in the house Saturday night who could lay claim to being OVAC Hall of Famers, joining Ty Fleming and Rudy Jovicic. They were enshrined a year ago.

It was also good to see Bob Koch enter his rightful place in the hall. The former Cameron High athletic director entered in the family category. He has been a loyal and passionate OVAC soldier for countless years, including his tremendous work as director of the OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game.

The hall added three more coaches to its already illustrious honor roll with Stan Blankenship, Dave Linn and Tom West all getting the call.  Blankenship was one of the pioneers of girls’ basketball in the valley, winning a state record 542 games and a state title at John Marshall. Linn led Buckeye Trail to four state girls’ state basketball appearances, winning it all in 1979. West, meanwhile, won 223 football games in his 36 years as head coach of Valley.

Two of the finest prep hoopsters in OVAC annals were enshrined — Barnesville’s Matt Powell and Bellaire’s Kacie Vavrek.

Powell scored 2,174 career points for the Shamrocks. He was named Division III player of the year as a senior, a season which he averaged 32 points a game. He went on to star at Rio Grande, scoring 2,367 points, second in school annals to the legendary Bevo Francis.

Vavrek was the night’s final honoree. She is arguably the finest female athlete in Bellaire High history.  She scored 1,631 points for Gregg Bonar en route to earning a hoop scholarship to Kent State. She was also a state hurdles champion for the Big Reds.

The beauty of the OVAC Hall of Fame is that there is no end to worthy candidates. The Ohio Valley athletic talent pool runs quite deep.

Next year, 2006 prep graduates become eligible. The 14th annual induction banquet is set for Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017 at WesBanco Arena.