Latest PM Hall Inductees Laud Teammates

Parry McCluer High School’s Athletic Hall of Fame inducted its most recent class Saturday night in Buena Vista, and a recurring theme resonated throughout the acceptance speeches at Parry McCluer High School.

The most recent group of honorees into the hall included Rad Patterson, class of 1984; Monica Keiser, class of 1980; Eric Wheeler, class of 1988; Dr. Thomas B. Hedrick; Chris Wheeler, class of 1988; and Steve Coleman, class of 1967. While nearly each thanked the usual suspects – family, friends, coaches – almost every one of them went out of their way to mention teammates Saturday night.

“Win or lose, you always had great teammates,” noted Coleman, who said that the 1967 baseball team was comprised of athletes who had been on the field together since they were children. “Teammates are everything.”

Coleman, whose daughter Lindsey Coleman Fitzgerald was tapped for the Hall of Fame in 2017, was one of the standouts on that 1967 baseball team, earning all-Valley District and second team all-state honors in helping lead that squad to the Valley District championship. Coleman boasted a gaudy .601 batting average that season as a first baseman and hit for the cycle – a single, double, triple and home run – in his final game. Coleman also played football and basketball for the Blues.

Later in life, Coleman was a fixture on the sidelines at PM football games as a member of the chain crew, and he served as an assistant coach for the Parry McCluer baseball team for more than a decade, helping to lead the Blues to the team’s only Region C title in 2011.

In his acceptance speech, Patterson joked that he found out early that he was not very good in baseball, leading to the decision to take up tennis. In that sport, he earned all-district and all-region accolades and was part of the doubles tandem that finished third in the state his senior season. It was on the football field and basketball court that he earned his Hall of Fame induction, however.

As a member of the 1983 state championship football team, Patterson was named first team alldistrict, all-region and all-state. As a three-year starter on the basketball team, he helped lead the Blues to a 50-19 record during that span.

Patterson went on to play football at Bridgewater. His entire professional career, except for one year, was spent as a teacher and coach at his alma mater, coaching the same three sports he played in high school. Patterson’s junior varsity basketball teams, which he led for more than three decades, posted over 400 victories.

Calling his teammates “a special group of players,” Patterson extended his “team” to the coaches with whom he spent so many years prowling the sidelines.

“When you coach for a living, you have to have other coaches that you can trust and get along with,” Patterson said, specifically pointing out childhood friend Danny Cole and longtime basketball cohorts Nelson Fox and Jerry Tutt. “They were all legends, the best of the best. Not many people are lucky enough to be best friends with the people [with whom] they coach.”

Eric Wheeler was lucky enough to be on the same football field with another inductee, Chris Wheeler. He was quick to point out the fact that he was fortunate to have many others like that around him during his playing days.

“There have been so many great athletes at PMHS,” Eric Wheeler said. “There are so many teammates that made this possible. I’m here because of them.”

Addressing those teammates directly, he added, “I hope I was as good a teammate for you that you were for me.”

Eric Wheeler played three sports during his tenure at Parry McCluer, football, wrestling and baseball. On the football field, he was named first-team all-district, all-region and all-state as both a defensive back and wide receiver after his senior season and earned a spot in the Virginia High School Coaches Association allstar game. On the baseball field, Eric Wheeler finished with 22 career wins on the pitcher’s mound, including a pair of no-hitters, and compiled a .300 batting average for his career. He joins the hall along with his father, Joe, who was inducted in 2016.

Chris Wheeler also played in that VHSCA all-star football game, taking the field at quarterback. As the signal caller for the Blues for nearly three years, Wheeler finished his career at or near the top of all the Parry Mc-Cluer passing records and is one of only a handful of football players to have his number retired. The Pioneer District Player of the Year as a senior, he was named to the first team of the all-district, all-region, and all-state squads.

Inducted posthumously, Chris Wheeler’s plaque was accepted by his brother Shaam, and he wasted no time revealing how much his “hero” thought of his teammates.

“He would want me to tell you thank you,” Shaam Wheeler began, “and I love you. He wanted to be the best possible teammate for all of you.”

Also receiving posthumous inductions were Keiser and Hedrick.

Keiser was a star for the girls basketball and volleyball teams of the late 1970s. She helped lead the basketball team to back-toback appearances in the Region C championship game in 1978 and 1979, and in 1979 she was named the Pioneer District’s Player of the Year. Keiser was the first female athlete at Parry Mc-Cluer to earn an athletic scholarship, receiving the honor from James Madison University.

Kristen Dorsey accepted the award for her older sister, recalling fond memories of “borrowing” Keiser’s letter jacket, at least until she was old enough to earn one of her own.

Hedrick was tapped for the Hall of Fame as a contributor after serving as team doctor for the Blues for more than 30 years. Arriving in Buena Vista in 1951 after studying at the Medical College of Virginia, Hedrick was on the sidelines for most Parry Mc-Cluer events, at least the ones he could attend when he was not busy delivering babies, three of this year’s inductees being counted in that number.

Hedrick’s daughter, Carolyn Hedrick Williams, accepting on his behalf, answered a question her father was often asked: “Why did you pick Buena Vista?” His “teammates.” “Because of the people,” Williams said. “He loved Buena Vista, and he loved the people. He was a true Blue, through and through.”

After Saturday night, and 100 years of Parry McCluer athletics, six more of those “True Blues” were added to the Parry McCluer Hall of Fame.