LEAVITTSBURG — LaBrae Local Schools is inducting four new members into the LaBrae Schools Athletic Hall of Fame at a ceremony Dec. 22.

Denise Conyers, Bobby Cruse, Voren Hughes and Jeremy Sewell will be recognized at an induction ceremony in the LaBrae auditorium at 5:15 p.m. There will be a reception with family, friends and members of the HOF prior to introductions before the varsity basketball game against Bristol.

• Denise Conyers is a 1989 graduate of LaBrae High School, although she did not get to walk across the stage to receive her diploma with her classmates. She was unable to participate in her high school commencement because she was competing for LaBrae at the Ohio State High School Championships.

She is being recognized as an outstanding athlete in track and field. Conyers was a four-time state qualifier in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes. Her career at the state meet began as a freshman when she finished 5th in the 100 meter and 7th in the 200 meter. She followed that up with a third-place finish in the 100 meter and a first-place state championship in the 200 meter her sophomore year.

In 1988, Conyers qualified for the finals in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes once again, but tragedy struck. She also had qualified for the finals in the long jump, in which she eventually placed 4th overall. It was in the finals of the long jump that she tore her ACL and was taken to The Ohio State University Hospital, resulting in her inability to compete in the finals of the sprint races.

Conyers managed a third-place finish at the state meet in the 100 meter her senior year. She set school records in indoor track (long jump 16′ 1″; 55-meter dash, 7.16; 400-meter dash, 62.8); and outdoor track (long jump, 17’7″; 100 meter, 12.25; 200 meter, 24.87; and 4 x 100 relay, 50.46.

Following high school, she ran for the University of Toledo and was a member of the M.A.C. record-setting 4 x 100-meter relay.

• Bobby Cruse graduated from LaBrae High School in 1997. He is being recognized as in track and field, having shattered records and leading LaBrae to the state championships.

In 1995, while just a sophomore, he took first-place honors at the Ohio High School Division II state meet in both the 100- meter (10.95) and 200-meter (22.33) dashes, assisting LaBrae in the district’s first and only state championship trophy in any sport.

He went on to claim wins in invitationals, conference, district and regional meets, setting the pace at the state meet by winning the 100-meter (10.63) and setting a new state record, the 200-meter (21.5), and 400-meter (48.82) dashes, achieving the Triple Crown of Sprinting, which has been done by only 12 others in the history of Ohio Track and Field. The LaBrae squad garnered a team third-place finish on the back of this performance.

In all, he claimed seven individual state titles. After graduation, he was invited to the national indoor track and field meet in Boston, where he took first place in the 200-meter dash. He also represented Ohio in the Midwest Meet of Champions (Ohio, Indiana & Michigan) where he took first place in the 200-meter. He competed for Kent State University for four years, where he is a top 10 record holder in eight events. He was invited to the 2002 Olympic tryouts; however, an injury prevented him from attending.

• Voren Hughes, from the Class of 1986, was the premiere sprinter in Ohio short events all four years of his high school career at LaBrae. Hughes’ only real competition was against himself and the clock. He is being inducted in track and field.

As a freshman, Hughes qualified for the state meet in the 400-meter and made it to the finals. He experienced a breakout year as a sophomore, earning runner-up titles in the 400-meter (49.12) as as part of LaBrae’s 4×4 meter relay. He added his first state championship title in the 200-meter with a 21.89. LaBrae High School tied for the team runner-up title that same year.

As a junior, Hughes added two more state championship titles — the 100-meter (10.99) and the 200-meter (21.64). Additionally, LaBrae’s 4 x 100 relay finished in third place, earning him All-Ohio honoros for the sixth time.

His senior year was one of dominance rarely seen in the 108-year history of Ohio Track and Field. He swept through the season winning everything he entered. He took all three regional spring titles in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400m races, and then took all three championship titles in those same three events at the state championships. His 100m time of 10.69 set a state record, which he then followed up with a 21.56 in the 200m and a 47.64 in the 400m. His total medal count included six individual state championship titles and two state runner-up titles. He earned All-Ohio honors nine times.

Hughes competed for two years at The Ohio State University, lettering in 1987 and 1988. In 2016, he was inducted into the Ohio State Track and Cross-country Hall of Fame.

• Jeremy Sewell is a 1997 graduate of LaBrae High School and a lifelong member of the LaBrae community. He is being inducted as a Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Athlete for Football, Basketball and Baseball.

In high school, Sewell was co-valedictorian of his class. He was a member of Student Council, Beta Club and Letterman’s Club. He also served as a teacher’s aide and was on the Homecoming Court.

After receiving a partial scholarship to attend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology — ranked the No. 1

Undergraduate Engineering Program by US News and World Report for 24 years — he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, with a minor in Latin American Studies, in 2001.

In college, he was an active member of his fraternity and participated in service events such has highway clean up efforts and worked with Habitat for Humanity.

Sewell is listed as an inventor / key contributor on four patents for products used in the transformer industry. He led the development of the Horace H. Sewell High Voltage Testing and Research Center in Newton Falls. In 2019 and 2020, he was awarded a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the development of a revolutionary new product of his invention to be used in the electric power distribution grid. He is currently in the development phase, working towards commercialization.

Sewell is involved with ASTM (formerly American Society of Testing and Materials), a nonprofit organization that develops and publishes approximately 12,000 technical standards, covering the procedures for testing and classification of various materials.

He is a member of IEEE (Institute of Electrical And Electronics Engineers), the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity; IEEE Power and Energy Society; IEEE Standards Association; and a contributing member of the Subsurface Transformers and Network Protectors Subcommitee.