Newark High School honors 2019 Hall of Fame class

NEWARK - Newark High School inducted five into its Hall of Fame last Friday prior to its game against Big Walnut.

Longtime athletic trainer Mark Doughty, Barry West, Nancy Pound Barker, Jerry Larason and Larry Gatrell were honored in Jimmy Allen Gymnasium.

Doughty, who graduated high school and college in West Virginia, came to Newark as head athletic trainer in 1984 from Arizona and never left, retiring in 2018 after 34 years. He was inducted into the Ohio Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame in 2004, and  was Ohio Athletic Trainers' Association High School Trainer of the Year in 1993.

He was appointed by Ohio's governor to the Ohio Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Athletic Trainers' Board, serving from 1990 to 2003. He was Ohio Athletic Trainers' Association vice president from 2007-2009.

West, who graduated in 1966, was a three-year varsity football performer. As a junior fullback-linebacker-punter, he made first-team All-Central Ohio League and scored five touchdowns in the first half against Ironton. As a senior quarterback-safety-punter, he was named COL MVP, first-team all district and honorable mention All-Ohio, earning a football scholarship to Western Michigan University.

He also played varsity basketball at Newark and on seventh, eighth and ninth grade teams at Roosevelt that went 34-0 and won the county tournament. In baseball, he played three years in the National AAABA Tournament in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Pound Barker (1980) will go down as one of the top female athletes in Newark history. In basketball, she led the Wildcats in assists and steals and they won back-to-back COL and district titles. She was first-team All-COL. In softball, the three-year starter and two-time All-COL performer at shortstop helped Newark reach the state semifinals twice, batting .540 with five homers and 32 RBI as a senior.

She went on to star at Ohio State, where she led the Buckeyes in stolen bases and started as a freshman. She played on the first OSU team to make it to the College World Series and was All-Big 10. Daughters Amanda and Abby also starred in high school softball, at Granville, and played in college, with Abby pitching the Blue Aces to a state championship.

Larason, who graduated in 1963, played golf, baseball and basketball for Newark. He was leading scorer on the 1962 district championship basketball team, and was a three-time All-COL selection. In his senior year, he made honorable mention All-Ohio. In 1962, he was Newark Babe Ruth League batting champion and MVP.

The Ohio University graduate is a United States Air Force veteran.

Gatrell (1949), played football for the Wildcats from 1947 through 1949, and baseball in 1948 and 1949. He helped Newark football win state and COL championships, making first-team All-COL and second-team All-Ohio. He went on to play in the North-South All-Star Game in Canton.

He started as a freshman tight end at Louisville University, but his career ended when he suffered severe injuries in an accident.

dweidig@newarkadvocate.com

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