Riverside High School recently inducted four new members into our Riverside Athletic Hall of Fame:
SARA EMERICH
Sara graduated from Riverside High School in 2009. Sara played softball and basketball while at Riverside. In softball, Sara earned all-state honors in her junior and senior seasons and was the NWCC player of the year in her senior season. Sara still holds the Riverside single-season records in earned run average (1.04) and career earned run average (1.18) She finished with 7 no-hitters,19 shutouts, and a 1.000 fielding percentage. She went on to pitch for 3 years at West Liberty University and pitched in 91 games with an earned run average of 3.65. In basketball, Sara earned 2nd team all-league in the NWCC her junior and senior seasons and was selected for the District 9 all-star game her senior year.
TOM EVANS
Tom is being inducted posthumously. Tom passed away this past spring. Tom was the Riverside Varsity Boys’ Basketball coach for nine years. He still has the highest winning percentage in boys’ basketball at Riverside with a 128-66 record for a .660 winning percentage. During his time coaching at Riverside, Tom won three WCOC championships (1987/88, 1988/89, 1994/95) and Tom was named the WCOC league coach of the year in all three of these seasons. Tom’s teams tied the single-season school record for wins three times with 20 wins (1988/89, 1994/95, 1995/96). He also coached Riverside’s only undefeated regular-season basketball team in 1994/95. For the 1994/95 season, Tom was named the Ohio State Division IV coach of the year, and the Southwest District coach of the year, and the team finished 4th in the state final poll. At one point, his teams had a 36-game winning streak. Tom coached basketball for a total of 39 years and finished with 479 career wins.
MIKE FREESE
Mike graduated from Riverside in 1970. Mike was a 4-sport athlete at Riverside. He earned varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Mike was the team Most Valuable Player on the baseball team, and he served as captain of his football and basketball teams. Mike coached and taught for 41 years. Mike was awarded the Longevity Award by the Ohio High School Athletic Association for his many years of involvement in High School and Middle School athletics.
RANEE FURROW ROBERTS
Ranee graduated from Riverside in 1995. While at Riverside, Ranee starred in basketball and softball. In basketball, Ranee scored 396 points which is 8th all-time; she scored 38 points in a game, which is 4th all-time; she averaged 18.9 points per game, which is in the top ten all-time. During the 1993/94 season, Ranee made 112 free throws, which is still a Riverside record; She also made 70.9% of her free throws, which is 2nd all-time. Ranee was selected to the District 9 team, the Southwest District Team, and WCOC first team her junior and senior years and was the WCOC Player of the Year her senior season.
In softball, despite playing only 2 seasons due to shoulder surgery, Ranee earned All-State honors in 1993 and 1994; she was also selected 1st team WCOC. Ranee still holds the Riverside record for career on-base percentage at .679 and is 2nd in career batting average at .577. She is 5th all-time in home runs with 12 and 3rd all-time in fielding percentage at .983.
