Standing on the stage of the auditorium, 14 former students, coaches and contributors of Harrisonburg High School athletics held plaques made from the stands at the old football stadium, commemorating their induction into the HHS Hall of Fame. 

Victor Smith graduated from Harrisonburg High School in 1964, with a senior class of just 99 students. Smith, along with history teacher and football coach Joe Carico, started the Harrisonburg High School Hall of Fame in 2008 because he wanted star players’ legacies to live on forever. 55 years later, Smith is being inducted into a program he started.

“I’ve always been involved in this kind of thing and [have been] interested in preserving these players memories and it has continued since then,” Smith said.

A collection of newspaper clippings, yearbook pages and anything else about the inductee was put into a book and laid out next to their high school portraits.

“There was a man by the name of Robert Sullivan who clipped out articles for 50 years and kept them all. That’s what all of these are, and that’s where all the information is. He’s in this Hall of Fame, he went to Harrisonburg High, graduated in ‘56 and passed away about five or six years ago. His family let [Carico and I] keep these books,” Smith said. “Every game: baseball, football, basketball, wrestling, we got it all here. If I want to know what happened in 1988 in basketball, I’ve got a book I can go to.”

One former student to be honored was Julie Harrison, who played sports all four years of her high school career from 1990-94. Harrison then came back and coached from 2000-03. 

“I played basketball, volleyball and softball, and then I came back after I graduated from college and I taught at Harrisonburg High School for three years. When I was teaching here I coached basketball and softball,” Harrison said.

Unlike most students, Harrison is doing exactly what she thought she would be doing after high school: teaching. 

“I always wanted to be a teacher. I had Mrs. Strickler for tenth grade honors English, and we had to do a project. In the project I said I wanted to come back to Harrisonburg High School and be an English teacher, and that’s what I did,” Harrison said. “I’m still a teacher in an elementary behavior and support class in North Carolina, so it’s different than high school English, but I’ve stayed on a similar track.”

The three-sport athlete had a movie-like senior year in 1994. Along with being voted Most Athletic Female by her peers, she was also homecoming and prom queen and led her basketball team to the state tournament. Two of her biggest mentors were her basketball coaches. 

“From both Mrs. Jennifer Thompson and Coach Myers, I’ve had lasting lessons. I think it’s the fact that they were very strict on us and had high expectations but it was also really fun. You felt the love, they really cared about us. So that’s something I’ve always tried to carry into my teaching and coaching,” Harrison said. 

Another one of the honorees was also a three-sport athlete in high school, playing football, basketball and track. Sean Shingler graduated in ‘87 and had the privilege of playing under Coach Roger Bergey. The makeup of the community was much different back when Shingler played.

“Harrisonburg then was a small community, and it felt really small at the time which was good. Everybody pulled in the same direction and it was a really special place, and I’m hoping it’s still like that,” Shingler said. “It was wonderful, the rivalries with Broadway and Turner Ashby, before you guys got big and split up into different divisions, it was a very special time and the community and families were really involved.” 

Shingler ended up going into the Navy after high school, and spent 12 years serving. His best sport was football, where, in ‘87, they were the team to beat.

“We were very good at the time, we were ranked #1 for most of the year in the state, and unfortunately we didn’t win it all. We stumbled a bit in the state semifinals, but it was a great year anyhow and a great experience,” Shingler said.

Both Harrison and Shingler were not expecting to get the call that they were going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

“Honestly, this probably sounds corny, but I’m really honored and humbled, really. Having grown up in Harrisonburg and lived here my whole life, and being in the same room with Coach Bergey and Coach Myers, Don Burgess, all these people I grew up around. It’s just amazing. There aren’t really words,” Harrison said.

Shingler had similar things to say, coming back and seeing the coaches was one of the highlights

“It’s great. You never expect that. It’s fun coming back and seeing all the coaches and people that I played with. It was a thrill when I got the call that I was going to be inducted. I never thought that would happen. It’s a great place, great coming back here and I hope they’re able to keep the Harrisonburg Blue Streak legacy moving on,” Shingler said.

A victim of Coach Bergey’s famous stomp of dissatisfaction  many times on the basketball court, Shingler still remembers the lessons he learned then. 

“Coach Bergey was one of my coaches, and Coach Sarver, Cummins, and the big things I took away were teamwork, discipline and just showing up every day and giving your best. If every kid could learn that lesson from their coaches, that’s all you can ask for,” Shingler said.