Brown County Athletic Hall of Fame induction set for Dec. 28

Five individuals and one state champion cross country team will be inducted into the Brown County Athletic Hall of Fame during the Brown County Holiday Tournament at Georgetown High School on Dec. 28. The induction ceremony is scheduled to start around 5 p.m.

The 2023 Brown County Athletic Hall of Fame inductees are: Kerri Andrews-Petrillo (Eastern Brown High School), Jason Iles (Fayetteville-Perry High School), Dave Miller (Georgetown High School), the 1969 Georgetown High School Class A state champion cross country team, Joe Huff (Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington High School), and Jim Neu (Hamersville High School, Western Brown).

Kerri Andrews-Petrillo

Andrews-Petrillo is a 1998 graduate of Eastern Brown HS. Andrews-Petrillo was a standout basketball player under legendary coach Richard Kiser. She was a three-time Southern Hills League selection, as well as a Southwest District Special Mention her junior year and also a Cincinnati Enquirer 2nd Team All-Star, Southwest District 2nd team member and All-Ohio Honorable Mention her senior season.

She also played in the Ohio-Kentucky All Star game her senior year. She finished her outstanding high school basketball career with 1,108 points, 620 rebounds and 200 assists as a Lady Warrior. She went on to play basketball at Walsh University from 1998-2002. She was a 4-year letterman for the Cavaliers. She finished a stellar career with 398 career assists (2nd all time), 2nd in career 3 pt percentage at 38 percent and 3rd in career free throw percentage. She was named to the All-Mid East Conference all-star 2nd team as a junior and All Mid East Conference Honorable Mention as a senior. She finished her career with 1,056 points as a Walsh Cavalier. She was inducted into the Walsh University Athletic hall of Fame in 2010. Andrews-Petrillo earned a biology degree at Walsh and today is the vice president and Southeast Region General Manager at Baker Concrete Construction, where she oversees operations in the southeast region which consists of eight markets, over half billion in revenue and 1,600 co-workers. She lives in Florida with her husband, Damon Petrillo, and they have two sons, Corry and Kaiden Smith.

Jason Iles

Iles is a 2003 graduate of Fayetteville-Perry High School. He was a four-sport athlete for the Rockets in golf, soccer, basketball and baseball. During his soccer career, he was a two-time SHAC All-League selection and still holds the record for career goals in a season with 46 during his junior year and a career with 86 goals. He was selected to the Southwest District Honorable Mention team his junior season and SW District 1st team as a senior. Iles helped lead his team to two SHAC championships in soccer. On the hardwood, he scored 40 points in a game vs. Western Latham and 33 against Augusta, KY. He was a two-time SHAC All-League selection in basketball his junior and senior year. Iles was an All-Southwest District 3rd team selection his senior season. During his baseball career, he was a two-time SHAC All-Star. He hit for the cycle vs. Summit Country Day in an OHSAA sectional tournament game his sophomore year, which is the only known feat in school history. He had a .551 batting avg in baseball.

Iles went on to play college soccer at Southern State Community College where he was selected to the OCCAC 1st team. He was also the offensive MVP for the Patriots. He went on to Wilmington College and played baseball for the Quakers where he had an outstanding career. Iles is listed among Ohio Athletic Conference and Wilmington College record holders in multiple categories as well as starting in all 104 games he played in during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He is third all-time at Wilmington College in hits (140), 2nd in doubles (35), 1st in triples (10), 1st in Homeruns (17), 2nd in RBI’s (75), 1st in runs scored (123) and 1st in stolen bases (53).

Jason Iles is married to his wife, Kim, and they have four children – Jace, Jaden, Haley and Ashley.

He has been in education for the past 14 years and was recently hired as the Superintendent at Bright Local (Whiteoak HS) after serving as principal there for the previous four years. He has been involved in coaching at all levels and has been an OHSAA licensed basketball official for 19 years.

1969 Georgetown High School Class A state champion cross country team

On Nov. 1, 1969, the Georgetown High School boys cross country team won the Class “A” State Championships, under the direction of legendary coach Vern Hawkins, the team worked together and exhibited perfection throughout the season. Bob Stephen served as team manager. At the state meet and in heavy rain, 23 teams and a total of 161 runners gave their best. Danny Lindsey was the first Georgetown runner to complete the treacherous course. Despite losing his number and having to retrace his steps. Lindsey finished strong in 12th place. Also fighting for the gold were Davey Warner in 17th place, Dennis Brooks in 22nd place, Jeff Green in 30th place, Rick Brown in 45th place, Mike Bends in 50th place, and Craig Jurin in 51st place. The 1969 Team was the Class “A” District Champion and Class “A” Regional Champion, with record-setting scores of 26 points a meet. Although initially disappointed with their combined score of 126 points at the State Championship – their highest score of the season – the G-Men were the best by over 43 points.

Joe Huff

Huff is a 1974 graduate of Ripley High School. He was a multi-sport athlete for the Blue Jays, where he participated in basketball, baseball, cross country, track and volleyball. He was a tremendous basketball player and was a member of some of the best teams Ripley ever produced. He was All-Southern Hills Leagie in 1973 and 1974. In 1973, they won the Gold Ball, which is the only one in Blue Jay history. He went on to play basketball at Southern State Community College, averaging 18 ppg. Huff coached the youth sports programs for 25 years and during that time he started the girls’ softball program. He oversaw the youth basketball program eight years. He was the boys’ and girls’ basketball stat keeper for 20 years. He was also the recipient of the Ripley Women’s Club “Person of the Year” in 2000.

Huff received the Southwest District Athletic Board Dale E. Creamer Friends of Athletics Award in 2017.

Huff is a member of the Ripley High School Athletic Hall of Fame, as well. Huff has been a part of the Ripley Athletics program for the past 50 years and served the community in many capacities over the years. He is married to his wife, Glenda, and they have four children – Brittany, Stacy, Jodie and TJ. He worked as a boilermaker for 35 years.

Jim Neu

Coach Neu is a 1964 graduate of Hamersville High School, where he participated in basketball and baseball all four years. He was selected to the all-league basketball team his senior year in 1964 and batted .500 in baseball. Neu attended Miami University and graduated from there in 1968. After teaching jobs at Fayetteville High School in 1968-69 and Ripley from 1969-1972, he returned to Western Brown High School during the 1972-1973 school year, spent one year at Mt. Orab Elementary (1973-74) and then spent the next 24 years teaching and coaching at Hamersville Elementary and Middle School. He retired from teaching in 1998, but has continued his legendary coaching career for the Broncos, as he is currently in his 56th year.

Coach Neu began coaching middle school and youth basketball for many years and in 1986 he took over the boys cross country team from Coach Jim Malott and also started the girl’s cross country team the same year where he has left his mark. Coach Neu has been honored as the Southern Buckeye Conference Coach of the Year 16 times and has won 18 SBC cross country titles as either the boys or girls coach. The boys won their first league title in school history under Neu in 2000, and also finished district runner up the same year.

He coached the girls to their first league title in 2004. Coach Neu currently has 1,723 wins as the boy’s CC coach and 1,579 wins as the girl’s CC coach. Neu has also been an assistant track coach for many years, building the pole vault into a very competitive event for the Broncos.

Coach Neu started the Bronco 5K run which is held on the first Saturday in August each year. He also participated in the Boston Marathon in 1991. On top of his very busy schedule, Neu has found time to run the varsity football score clock, starting in 1973 and finally retiring from the position in 2022 after 50 years, volunteering his Friday evenings in the fall. He was the only clock operator the Broncos ever had for the first 50 years, and to honor Neu the press box was named after him in his honor in 2022.

Neu was honored by the Southwest District Athletic Board with the prestigious Dale E. Creamer “Friends of Athletics” Award in 2013 and he is also a member of the Western Brown Athletic Hall of Fame. If you were to look up in the dictionary what “Bronco Pride” means, Coach Neu’s picture would be there.

David Miller

Miller is a 1964 graduate of Georgetown High School. He was a four-year track and field athlete and Georgetown’s first STATE CHAMPION! In 1964, he jumped 21’6” in the broad jump to win the OHSAA Class “A” state title! He also played basketball for four years at Georgetown, where he was the co-captain on the undefeated 1964 basketball squad. Miller was also a proud member of the National Honor Society. After graduating from Georgetown in 1964, he went on to medical school at Harvard University. He then graduated from Harvard in 1968 and attended Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Miller completed his residency at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals after Harvard and became a surgeon.