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An outstanding group of 14 honorees, including 11 living inductees, one deceased inductee and two Volunteers of the Year will be honored at the West Branch Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame during the annual Hall of Fame banquet at the Genetti on Sunday night, Nov. 8.
The induction class includes inductees: Rachel (Houseknecht) Anderson, Alexis Bower, Chris Eiswerth, Ashleigh (Wetzel) Espinosa, Charlie Fisher, Hannah (Allison) Harris, Doug Kohler, Mike Kirby, Keenan Michael, Casey Waller and Craig Weaver Sr., Joey Prato (posthumously) and the Volunteers of the Year are Jim and Bonnie Winder.
• Rachel (Houseknecht) Anderson was a Hughesville track and field athlete. She was a 2007 PIAA Class AA Outdoor Champion in the 100 hurdles (14.49) and was a three-time district champion and four-time league champion in the event at Hughesville. Anderson was a four-time state qualifier and three-time finalist, finishing third in 2006 (14.64) and won 2007 PTFCA Indoor Championship in the 60 hurdles (8.85).
She ran track and field at Division I Liberty University, helping the team to three Big South Championships and earned All-Big South Conference honors in pole vault, taking third as a senior. Anderson was a three-time conference finalist in 100 hurdles at outdoor championships, twice in 60 hurdles at indoors and placed in top six in pole vault twice at outdoors and three times indoors. Anderson sits in top 10 in Liberty’s program history in 60-meter hurdles (8.64), pole vault (12-5.5) and holds piece of shuttle hurdles relay school record (58.77).
• Alexis Bower played softball at Williamsport and was the 2013 Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year at Williamsport after going 17-3 with a 0.45 ERA and 225 strikeouts in the circle and hitting .613 with nine homers. Bower was a 2012 Pennsylvania Class AAAA Player of the Year, a three-time all-state selection, earning first team honors twice (2012, 2013) and second-team accolades in 2011 and was a three-time Sun-Gazette Pitcher of the Year. She led Millionaires to a pair of district championships, going 52-10 with 595 strikeouts in three years and was a two-time first-team All-Northeast Conference at Division I St. Francis (Pa.) (2014-15).
• Chris Eiswerth is inducted as a coach/football at South Willaimsport and Lycoming College. Eiswerth has a 119-81 (.595) career record in 18 seasons as football coach at Warrior Run (2008-10) and South Williamsport (2011-present). He has a school-best 114-56 (.671) record in 15 seasons as South's football coach and is only coach at the school to win 100 football games. Eiswerth led team to 12 straight .500 or better seasons from 2012-23 and has coached nearly 20 all-state honorees. Eiswerth led Mounties to state semifinals twice (2014, 2023), two district titles and six straight league championships (2012-17).
He was named 2023 Pennsylvania Class A Coach of the Year and was a running back at Lycoming College (1992-93), helping team to conference title in 1992, and also played at Mansfield University.
• Ashleigh (Wetzel) Espinosa ran track and field and cross country at Lewisburg. Espinosa was an All-SEC cross country runner at Vanderbilt, earning first-team all-conference honors with a fifth place finish in 2004 (21:07.18), also earning all-region honors that year with a 10th-place finish (21:22.93). She placed in top 20 twice at SEC Championships and was the only freshman to reach finals in 1,500-meter run at SEC Indoor (eighth) and Outdoor (10th) Championships in 2004.
Espinosa was a two-time NCAA East Region qualifier in track and won 2003 PIAA Class AA state title in the 1,600-meter run (4:55.12), finishing less than a tenth of a second off the state record. She won 11 medals in three appearances at PIAAs and was a state runner-up three times (1,600, 2002; 3,200 relay, 2002-03). Espinosa won 12 District 4 titles (cross country (2003), 800 (2001-03), 1,600 (2001-03) and 3,200 (2003) and the 1,600 (2002) and 3,200-meter (2001-03) relays.
She was a top 10-finisher at PIAA Class AA cross country championships twice, taking sixth in 2002 and ninth in 2003 and was a two-time SVL Female Athlete of the Meet.
• Charlie Fisher coached football in college and played at Warrior Run. He was a college football coach for 37 seasons, spending seven of those as head coach at West Georgia (1993-97) and Western Illinois (2016-17). He recorded a 50-26 record, reaching Division II Championship twice (1995, 1996) and FCS Championship once (2017) and helped team win 1997 Gulf South Championships.
Fisher was a finalist for Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year in 2017 and spent time as an assistant coach, mostly as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and wide receivers coach, at Eastern Kentucky (1982), Ole Miss (1983-84), Lenoir-Rhyne (1985-91), North Carolina State (1998-99), Temple (2000-01), Vanderbilt (2002-10), Miami (Ohio) (2011), Penn State (2012-13), Richmond (2014-15) and Arizona State (2018-19).
Fisher coached four NFL Draft choices at quarterback and five first round picks at wide receiver. He was inducted into the Warrior Run (2015) and West Georgia (2013) Hall of Fames.
• Hannah (Allison) Harris played field hockey, basketball and softball at Mifflinburg. She was a four-year starter as a forward/midfielder at Penn State, helping field hockey team to three appearances in the NCAA Championship, reaching the quarterfinals in 2011 and 2012 and winning Big Ten titles both those years as well. She scored a game-winning goal against Michigan in 2011 Big Ten Championship game and scored 26 goals, including five game-winners, in her career and added nine assists for 61 points. Harris helped Mifflinburg to the 2007 state championship as a senior, earning first-team all-league honors for second time by posting 20 goals and 19 assists. Harris notched 56 goals and 61 assists in career, helping her earn four all-league honors and she was the second 1,000-point scorer in Mifflinburg girls’ basketball history
• Mike Kirby coached basketball at St. John Neumann and Loyalsock. He posted a 592-249 (.705) record in 34 seasons as a high school basketball coach. As the boys basketball coach at Neumann Regional Academy (2015-19), he led the team to an 86-17 record in four years, two undefeated regular seasons, two district titles, three appearances in the state tournament and a run to the state quarterfinals in 2017.
He served as the girls basketball coach at Loyalsock from 1978-2008 and won 506 games and six district championships with the Lancers, retiring the area leader in girls basketball wins. Kirby coached team to 13 state tournament appearances, including the Class AA quarterfinal in 1984.
Kirby played point guard for Bishop Neumann which won the 1972 Pennsylvania Catholic Interscolastic Athletics Association Class C state title as a senior with 22-4 record.
• Doug Kohler played basketball, baseball and tennis at Williamsport. He was the starting point guard for 1968 Williamsport team that advanced to the Eastern Region semifinals. He played basketball and baseball at the University of Scranton and earned first-team All-MAC Northern Division honors in basketball and as an outfielder with the baseball team in 1972.
He finished his basketball career with 1,013 points, as his 13.6 scoring average is 26th in program history, being named team MVP in 1972 when he posted two 30-point games. Kohler was a three-year starter in baseball, playing with Scranton Red Sox in Atlantic Collegiate Summer League in 1971
• Keenan Michael competed in track and field at Montoursville. He was an honorable mention All-American in the 400 hurdles (52.06) in 2013 at Michigan State University. He was a three-year letterwinner at Michigan State, competing at the NCAA East Region qualifier three times and the NCAA Championships twice.
At Montoursville, he was a 2008 PIAA Class AA champion in the 110 hurdles, setting state record with a 14.00 time and also won 300-meter hurdles in 38.17. Michael also won the 2008 PTFCA Indoor Track and Field title in the 60 hurdles (7.99) and was a three-time state qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing fifth in 2006 and eighth in 2007. The former Warrior won six District 4 titles (200, 2008; 110 hurdles, 2007 and 2008; 300 hurdles, 2007 and 2008; and 1,600 relay in 2007). He won eight District 4 medals.
• Casey Waller was head coach of Lycoming County high school baseball teams for 17 seasons at Loyalsock (2004-09), Hughesville (2011-16) and South Williamsport (2020-24), compiling a 271-93 (.744) record. Waller coached Loyalsock to 115-29 (.799) mark, three district titles, three state tournament appearances, two state semifinals (2008, 2009) and a PIAA Class AA state title (2008).
He coached Hughesville to 93-38 (.710) mark and a state tournament appearance (2013) and went 63-26 (.708) with three straight state tournament berths (2022-24) at South Williamsport. Waller coached Loyalsock softball to 15-6 record and HAC-II title in 2026.
He played eight years in the minors after being drafted by Philadelphia in 11th round of 1989, playing parts of three seasons with AAA Scranton-Wilkes-Barre (1991-93) as an infielder and started every game of three-year career at Virginia Tech, earning first-team All-Metro Conference honors twice (1987, 1989).
• Craig Weaver Sr. coached at Muncy, Montgomery and Hughesville over his career in a number of different sports. He won more than 1,000 games as a girls' basketball, softball, tennis, boys' basketball, baseball and football coach at Lycoming County high schools and is the all-time county leader with 613 girls basketball wins.
Weaver coached Montgomery from 1984-2013, winning five district titles and reaching the state semifinals in 1991 and also coached Hughesville (2016-20) to a pair of state tournaments and two district finals. He won three straight district titles at Muncy (2021-present) from 2024-26, mentoring team to state quarterfinals in 2025.
Weaver's girls tennis teams won District 4 titles at Montgomery (2005) and Hughesville (2022) and he helped the 2010 Montgomery softball team earn its first District 4 title and a state final appearance. He coached softball for nine years, leading teams to playoffs each season, reaching the state tournament twice.
• Joey Prato, being honored posthumously, played basketball at St. Joseph's High School from 1956-59 and finished his career with a then-Lycoming County record 1,892 points. He scored 483 points in 21 games as a junior in 1958, averaging 21 points per game -- ranking among the top 50 scorers in Pennsylvania and establishing a new Lycoming County single-season scoring record.
Pato was the first player in county history to surpass 600 points (24.2 average) in a season in 1959, leading the Irish to a 20-2 record and a berth in the PCIAA state tournament, their second appearance in four years. He earned honorable mention All-State honors in 1959, held the Lycoming County career scoring record for 39 years and scored more than 400 points in each of his four varsity seasons, all before the introduction of the 3-point line.
Volunteers of the Year
Jim and Bonnie Winder
Inducted into Babe Ruth International Hall of Fame in 2023, the Middle Atlantic Babe Ruth Hall of Fame in 2014 and Pennsylvania Babe Ruth Hall of Fame in 2004 for more than four decades as volunteers with Williamsport's West End Babe Ruth program, Jim has served as a president of West End Babe Ruth for 38 years and Bonnie has served as the secretary and treasurer.
They have been involved with West End program since 1982, serving as president, secretary, treasurer, manager, coach, groundskeeper, player agent, scorekeeper and purchasing agent.
Jim has served as District 8 commissioner for 33 years and state commissioner for six. Winder Field in Old Lycoming Township was named for the couple and approximately 2,500 young men and women have participated in the West End Babe Ruth during the Winder's involvement.
The West End program has placed six times at the Babe Ruth World Series and in 2018, the West End 13s, 14s, 15s, and 16-18s all made it to the state championship game.