ASU selects five for Hall of Fame honor

From staff reports

Before there was the 2005 football team, Appalachian State distance runner Mary Jayne Harrelson had already won two national championships.

Harrelson, who won national titles in the 1,500-meter run in 1999 and 2001, was one of four athletes selected into the Appalachian Athletics Hall of Fame.

She is joined by former punter Harold Alexander, former baseball coach Dr. Frank Lovrich, running back Alvin Parker and former Mountaineer soccer player Rob Wilcher. The announcement was made Friday.

Harrelson became the first, and is still the only individual to win a national championship at Appalachian State. She won her first in 1999 after being named the Southern Conference’s Female Athlete of the Year.

Harrelson, a six-time All-American in indoor and outdoor track, took 2000 off to train for the Olympic Games. She returned to Appalachian State in 2001 and won her second national championship in the NCAA finals in Eugene, Ore.

By the time she finished at ASU, Harrelson had added another Female Athlete of the Year award in 2001, had won 23 Southern Conference championships in indoor and outdoor track, earned the Woman of the Year for track in field in North Carolina in 2001 and helped set records in the indoor distance medley relay, the 1,600-meter relay, and the outdoor 1,600-meter and 4X1,500-meter relay teams.

Harrelson also represented the United States in the 2003 Pan-Am Games and produced second-place finishes in the 800-meter and the 1,600-meter run at the 2002 national track and field championships.

Harrelson also was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech from 2001-04.

Alexander was a freshman when current head football coach Jerry Moore took over the program in 1989. When he was finished at Appalachian, Alexander set the all-time yards record with 280 attempts and 11,963 yards.

He also has four of the 10 longest kicks (78,77,69 and 68 yards) in school history. His 46.7 yard-per-kick average led the nation in 1991, and he was a two-time all-Southern Conference selection.

Alexander, who played from 1989-92, was drafted in the third round by the Atlanta Falcons, where he punted for two seasons. He booted the longest kick in Falcons history, a 75-yarder, against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 3, 1993.

Parker, who played from 1980-83, ranks sixth in ASU history in rushing with 2,401 yards and is third with 24 rushing touchdowns. He ran for 222 yards on 37 carries in a 28-19 win over Marshall in 1983 and scored four touchdowns in a 48-9 win over Lenoir-Rhyne in 1981.

Parker led the Mountaineers in scoring with 48 points as a senior and played professionally with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

Lovrich coached the Appalachian State baseball team from 1967-73, posting a 125-76 record with the Mountaineers. His .622 winning percentage is still an ASU record and his 125 victories is second only to fellow member of the ASU Hall Jim Morris.

Lovrich led the Mountaineers to a 30-10 record in 1971, which is tied for the top winning percentage in a single season in team history. He also coached three players (Ron Hodges, Jim O’Bradovich and Mike Ramsey) who played in the Major Leagues.

Wilcher played in all 78 games during his four year career, which was from 1982-85. He was a four-year All-Southern Conference honoree, including first team during his final three seasons. Wilcher also holds the team record with 46 career assists and took 231 shots, which is fourth in team history.

Wilcher is currently the coach of both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams at T.C. Roberson, which he has has built into a soccer power. He was named girls’ North Carolina coach of the year in 1997 and boys’ coach of the year in 2002. He was also named the NSCAA National Coach of the Year for the boys’ 2002 season.