The Hall of Fame: Connections Beyond Time

Silver Creek High School opened for its first day of school in August 2001. 25 years later, on May 2nd, 2026, it honored alumni athletes by inducting them into the Silver Creek Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame Committee, including Joylynn Boardman, Patrick Decamillis, Steve McNichols, Devin Clark, and more Silver Creek staff, has been planning this event since May 2025. They have had to make the hard decision of who to induct, as well as hunt down every athlete in order to send them paper invitations.

The Committee ultimately decided to induct the 2008 Girls Soccer Team, the 2012 Football Team, and the two-time Olympic Champion in the women’s discus throw, Valarie Allman.

Devin Clark, athletic secretary at Silver Creek, was the one who started it all. With Silver Creek being a relatively new school, she felt it was important to pick the best possible individuals to induct.

The 2008 girls’ soccer team won state, so they were inducted as well. Many of the same athletes also played on the 2008 girls’ basketball team that went to the state finals. The 2012 football team is the only team that has won a state title in Silver Creek’s history, making them worthy of the Hall of Fame title as well. V Allman was an obvious choice, as a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist.

Clark’s idea of the Hall of Fame eventually blossomed into a full-on plan, with the help of Patrick Decamillis, Athletic Director at Silver Creek. Clark’s inspiration was contagious, and soon, the whole committee was looking forward to the event.

“[The teachers have] seen lots of kids that have come through, and they know a lot of the athletes that are being inducted; they had good relationships with them,” Clark said.

Steve McNichols is one of those teachers. He has taught history at Silver Creek since opening day.

“The graduating classes were probably a third of the size that we are now,” McNichols said. “So just with a smaller school, we have a lot more interactions with students where it wasn’t so much group-oriented.”

McNichols has seen many of the athletes come through Silver Creek. He even knew some of them personally, interacting with them in the Student Senate program as well as class.

“They weren’t [just] athletes,” McNichols said. “And I think that that is still somewhat [part] of our culture, where people kind of move in and out of different areas of the school community. I think that was a strong dynamic of those groups.”

Joylynn Boardman has taught English at Silver Creek since 2001. She had many of the inducted athletes in her classes, and as a teacher, got to see how they interacted with each other.

“I think we have enough of a history now that there are teams and individuals who we can recognize,” Boardman said. “There just weren’t a lot of traditions here at Silver Creek because it was a bright new high school for the longest time. Now we have the homecoming parade and we’re getting a stadium, which I think will create a lot of community.”

This idea of creating more community was another part of Clark’s mission. The Hall of Fame is intended to continue for as long as Silver Creek is teaching students, fostering connectivity for more than just students. The event was open to the public, allowing for more than just inductees and family members to come. Even retired teachers were invited.

The alumni celebrated were not just an inspiration to other athletes at Silver Creek, but also to students who value hard work academically.

“I’m hoping that it’s another event that [everyone] can look forward to every year,” Clark said. “It’s based on athletics, but all of these kids were also academically amazing, and they’ve gone off to do amazing things. It shows that even though they’re athletes, they can do way more things outside of athletics. It’s part of who they are.”

Not only is the Hall of Fame event working towards creating more community at Silver Creek, but the committee hopes that it will inspire future generations of athletes and students.

“Being an athlete is hard work,” Clark said. “If [athletes] see the level that these athletes have performed at and played at, they’re like, I want to be a part of that. I’m gonna see maybe one day, if I could be inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

Identity seems to go hand in hand with community. With Silver Creek starting out as a very small, close-knit community, the past 25 years have provided time for the community to grow, and now many Silver Creek community members feel it is time for more traditions to be added.

“I think it’s the next important step,” McNichols said. “In 10 years, that will grow and it develops a sense of identity, which I think over our history, that’s always been a challenge for us as a school.”

Teachers and parents honoring athletes

But all of the planning for the Silver Creek Hall of Fame event culminated into one afternoon of honoring the best of the best that, for many, felt like a reunion of old friends.

Barbara Keith, who recently retired from a position as a science teacher and track coach at Silver Creek, attended the event after teaching at Silver Creek since 2001. Like Boardman and McNichols, Keith knew many of the student-athletes personally.

“They were a fun group of kids,” Keith said. “When we opened up Silver Creek, we were like a family, not just with the kids, but also their parents. We all kind of grew up together.”

This perspective of how close Silver Creek was as it grew bigger and older is shared by many of the parents of the inductees. Kimberly Allen is the mother of one of the 2012 football inductees, Trey Fleming.

“The moms all became very close friends,” Allen said. “When you’re put together, and you’re doing the same thing, day after day, day in, day out, you just become family.”

The 2012 Football Team

Of course, there was not only a strong bond between the parents and the teachers, but also between coaches and their athletes. Brian McGee, who now teaches business classes at Silver Creek, was the defensive coordinator for the 2012 football team. Throughout the 22 years McGee coached at Silver Creek, he has focused on teaching his athletes to understand commitment and that success is not individual.

“[Being on the team] really builds a bond that you can’t believe,” McGee said. “More than that, it teaches them as young men that it’s okay to work hard and to struggle because the end goal is worth it.”

The bond goes deeper than learning to work hard; the football players have to stick together in order to be champions.

“In football, you have to play for the other ten guys that are on that field with you,” McGee said. “Understanding how you work together, how you bleed for each other, how you fight for each other, how you just give everything you’ve got for each other [really builds] the team.”

Even coaches who didn’t coach the football team back in 2012 see how the alumni athletes continue to impact Silver Creek. Brad Steward coaches baseball at Silver Creek, but he has still made connections with each of the football athletes.

“It’s kind of the brotherhood that we know,” Steward said. “It doesn’t matter where you go in life, how many years you’re apart. You always will have that connection. This 2012 state championship team embodies that. You look at these guys and they just pick up right where they left off.”

The players who were actually on the field truly did act like long-lost brothers at the event. Their connections were apparent as they greeted each other and spent the afternoon with their childhood friends.

Hayden Smith was one of the few seniors on the 2012 football team. The small group of seniors on the team was valued highly by the large group of juniors.

The season before their state championship win, the team suffered, getting all the way to the championship game, only to lose. This made a lot of the players feel like underdogs going into the next season, so it was a welcome surprise to win the state championship title. Going through a loss like that before a big win connected the team members even more.

“We knew we had something, but we didn’t believe it to be honest because the previous year we lost the same championship,” Smith said. “We kind of thought, well, that was our chance.”

It was no easy road to this unexpected win at the state championship game. The players practiced all summer and throughout the fall every day. Even on their off days, they had team bonding activities. The hard work paid off, but the path there was sometimes difficult.

“It was hard,” Smith said. “There was a day where I was like, I don’t want to play anymore. And I remember I went home and Coach Glen came to my house. We talked about it and he made me feel more understood, and it helped me in the end.”

The 2008 Girls’ Soccer Team

On the other hand, the girls’ soccer team did not suffer any losses throughout their entire season. With one tie at the beginning and several mercy-rule games, the team floated through remaining undefeated. Many of the girls came from a four-month season of basketball, making the two months of soccer feel short. Lauren Wolfinger was the goalie who only let 2 goals in for the entire season.

“We were prepared for it… it was like our habits were just good,” Wolfinger said. “When the coach came in, we did drills… He just had to come in and not get in our heads.”

But the team wasn’t just individual talent. Like the football team, these players used each other to be the best they could be. Jenna Greulich was one of the girls on the field. Her good spirit and kindness were contagious throughout the team.

“[Jenna’s] personality was such a big part,” Wolfinger said. “To have people like [her] who showed up and genuinely loved being there because you got to play soccer… I just remember my friends being on my team. I could be really good because my friends were out there.”

The connections this team built back in 2008 are still alive and well today, especially since many of the players stayed local.

“It’s easy to pick up where you left off, because you have that thing in common,” Grulich said. “When they’re done right, [high school connections] last for a long time.”

Valarie Allman

The qualities of these athletes, such as their focus, their dedication, and their passion, are part of what has allowed them to be so successful, both on and off the field. Valarie Allman’s dad, Dave Allman, saw how V Allman’s hard work in high school carried her to be the Olympian she is today. D Allman just always worked to support V Allman to the best of his ability.

“We would always say, make sure you feel you’ve done your best,” D Allman said. “You don’t have to be the best.”

But V Allman’s best was the best. After graduating from Silver Creek in 2013 as a state champion, V Allman attended Stanford University and holds the school record for discus. She went on to set American discus records and secure a Gold Medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

V Allman never pictured herself as an Olympian. In fact, she wasn’t even interested in discus until she attended Silver Creek, simply following in her older brother’s footsteps. V Allman’s friends encouraged her to attend the annual thrower spaghetti dinner, and she found her place in the community.

“I felt like I had a weird knack for it,” V Allman said. “I had this weird passion, and so many people embraced it and… [it helped] me feel confident.”

When she was in high school, not only was V Allman excelling at track meets and setting records, but she also was a member of the student senate and was surprisingly good friends with the 2012 football team. When the team won state championships, V Allman was among the many students who celebrated with them.

“It really was such a special moment,” V Allman said. “It started to write some of those legacy moments of Silver Creek.”

As one of the Track stars, V Allman felt the support from the Silver Creek community and tried to embrace her high school experience. Even after graduating, V Allman sees the importance of alumni within school communities.

“It’s been such an honor for me to be a Raptor and now to get to come back,” V Allman said. “In some ways, it feels like no time has passed, and other times it feels like an eternity.”

For many of the athletes at the event, coming back to Silver Creek brought on a flood of memories. Whether that was remembering soccer goals, football plays, or discus throws, each athlete was reminded of their high school experience.

“[Track practice] was such a special time for me because there were so many days I worked after school hours throwing the discus or watching the sprinters run hard, and it never felt like work,” V Allman said. “We were all working towards something that we were really excited about. It really started at Silver Creek, that initial motivation [that] we’re here all trying to be the best version of ourselves, but we had fun with it. I think that’s what’s led me to be able to [throw discus] for so many years.”

As she has traveled through life and become an Olympian, V Allman and the soccer and football teams have inspired so many Silver Creek students. Many have used their high school experiences throughout their life decisions.

“That’s probably the thing that I love the most, is being able to carry with me the pieces that have made me feel a lot of pride, and Silver Creek is one of those things that I just feel so grateful for,” V Allman said.

But the athletes aren’t the only ones carrying memories. Each teacher, coach, director, and family member of these Hall of Fame inductees acknowledged the power that each of these athletes worked to achieve.

“It is such an important part of growing up and the experience of high school,” Stewart said. “These are the [athletes] that you spend so many hours with. During your high school years, you create a special bond, and that bond is not broken even by distance… Time is irrelevant.”