WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The 35th annual induction ceremony for the West Liberty University Athletic Hall of Fame will be held on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the university’s Academic, Sports and Recreation Complex. This year’s class includes Jim Calhoun (football), Dave Coffaro (track and field), Tara Elkin (women’s tennis), Kevin Higgins (men’s basketball), Tom Moore (wrestling) and Cindy Sensenich (volleyball).
The six inductees will be guests of honor at a social gathering in the lobby of the ASRC from 8:30-9 a.m. with breakfast and the formal induction ceremony to follow at 9 a.m.in the R. Emmett Boyle Conference Center. The event is open to the public with tickets priced at $10. Reservations can be made by calling Athletic Secretary Robin Brunner at (304) 336-8046.
The inductees will be recognized on the field at West Family Stadium during halftime of Saturday’s home football game against McKendree (Ill.). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Following are information capsules for this year’s honorees:
JIM CALHOUN, Football
Jim Calhoun emerged as one of the top football players in the West Virginia Conference during his outstanding four-year career on the hilltop.
A graduate of Austintown (Ohio) Fitch, Calhoun stepped into the starting lineup on opening day as a West Liberty freshman and started every game for the next four years.
He played his first two years at offensive guard, earning All-WVIAC honors as a sophomore. Calhoun switched to linebacker in his junior year and began rewriting the Hilltopper record book.
A two-time first-team All-WVIAC defensive pick, he was named the 1977 WVIAC Defensive Player of the Year after averaging a stunning 19 tackles per game. Calhoun’s 21 tackles against Salem and his 192 total tackles for the season are school records which stand to this day.
After graduation, he embarked on a career in the steel industry, rising through the ranks to become an Area Manager for RG Steel. He wrapped up a 33-year career when the company closed in 2012.
Jim and his wife, Barb, have been married for 26 years. They reside in Boardman, Ohio, with their son, Tim.
DAVE COFFARO, Track and Field
West Liberty’s first NAIA track and field All-American, Dave Coffaro helped lead the Hilltopper track team to three straight West Virginia Conference titles during the mid-1970s.
An outstanding competitor in the field events, Coffaro won the javelin in three straight WVIAC Championship meets despite being totally self-taught in the event. Coffaro also placed in the high jump and discus at the 1975 and 1976 WVIAC Championship meets to help extend the Hilltoppers’ title run.
A 2-time NAIA National qualifier, Coffaro was the only Hilltopper ever to score at the NAIA Nationals. His school-record effort of 222 feet, 4 inches was sixth at the 1976 NAIA Nationals and has yet to be bested by a Hilltopper athlete.
After graduating from West Liberty, Coffaro continued to throw in Olympic Development meets and ultimately achieved a personal best of 260 feet, 9 inches.
Now a successful business owner in Pittsburgh, Pa., he remains an avid supporter of Hilltopper athletics. Dave and his wife, Ann, are the parents of three adult children.
TARA ELKIN, Women’s Tennis
One of the most dominant women’s tennis players in West Virginia Conference history, Tara Elkin was literally unbeatable during her four years at West Liberty.
Elkin was the WVIAC’s only four-time Women’s Tennis Player of the Year and perhaps the most dominant performer in league history. Not only did she never lose a WVIAC singles or doubles match, she never lost a set.
The Ontario, Ohio native won four consecutive WVIAC singles titles and four straight WVIAC doubles crowns with two different partners. She was regionally and nationally-ranked in singles throughout her career, rising as high as No. 37 in NCAA Division II singles as a senior.
After graduating in 2002 with a B.S. in Chemistry, Elkin attended graduate school at Clemson and went on to a stellar career as a research chemist. Most recently a Scientific Research Coordinator at Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim School of Medicine, she has earned multiple patents and authored several scientific publications.
Tara and her husband, Dr. Jeremy Chambers, reside in Miramar, Fla. with their 2-year-old son, Reed, and are looking forward to the arrival of their second child.
KEVIN HIGGINS, Men’s Basketball
Kevin Higgins was a dominating presence in the paint for West Liberty’s men’s basketball teams of the early 1990s.
A native of Parkersburg, W.Va., Higgins came to the hilltop after a stellar high school career at Parkersburg South High School and picked up right where he left off.
The rangy post was a four-year letterman for the Hilltoppers from 1991-95 and served as team captain during his junior and senior seasons.
Higgins earned first-team All-West Virginia Conference laurels in back-to-back seasons over his final two years and also was named to the NAIA All-East Region Team.
He finished his career in Black and Gold with 1,344 points and still ranks among the school’s single-season and career leaders in blocked shots and field goal percentage.
Currently employed as an Account Manager for Reppro Marketing, Higgins is about to begin his fourth season as head JV coach and assistant men’s basketball coach at Mount Union University.
Kevin is married to former West Liberty tennis standout Michelle Phillips. They reside in North Canton, Ohio with their two children, Hannah (10) and Hayden (7).
TOM MOORE, Wrestling
One of the most exciting and successful heavyweight wrestlers in school history, Tom Moore – better known as “Tank” to Hilltopper mat fans – was a 3-time NAIA All-American for legendary coach Dr. Vince Monseau.
A former OVAC champion from Cambridge, Ohio, Moore was a dominant performer at West Liberty from 1988-92. His sparkling career record of 108-19 (.850) remains one of the best ever in the long and storied tradition of Hilltopper wrestling.
Moore finished third in the nation at heavyweight in 1990 and 1991 before wrapping up his outstanding career with a runner-up finish in the 1992 NAIA Nationals.
In addition to his exploits on the hilltop, Moore was also selected to represent the United States on an NAIA All-America Foreign Exchange Team that wrestled in Russia and Finland. After graduating, Moore began a coaching and teaching career at his high school alma mater and has served as head wrestling coach at Cambridge for the past 20 years.
Tom and his wife, Crystal, reside in Cambridge with their two sons, Thomas (16) and David (12).
CINDY SENSENICH, Volleyball
One of the top volleyball players in West Liberty and West Virginia Conference history, some of Cindy Sensenich’s school records are still on the books more than two decades after the talented Western Pennsylvanian hammered down her last spike.
A rare four-time first-team All-WVIAC selection, Sensenich led the Hilltopper volleyball team in attacks, kills, aces and digs in each of her four outstanding seasons with the Black and Gold.
She teamed with fellow WLU Hall of Famer Rhonda Noble to help lead West Liberty to a runner-up conference finish as a freshman in 1991 and earned WVIAC All-Tournament honors in 1992. Her career attack percentage of .258 and her career average of 3.86 digs per game are school records.
After graduating, she returned to Western Pennsylvania to begin her teaching career. A teacher and volleyball coach at perennial Keystone State volleyball power Hempfield Area High School in Greensburg, Pa., she yielded the coaching reins a few years ago to spend more time with her growing family.
Cindy and her husband, Bryan Kline, are the proud parents of two children, Johnny and Katie.