Ohio Northern inducts 6-member Class of 2023 into Athletics Hall of Fame
By Wes Mayberry
ADA — The Ohio Northern University Athletics Hall of Fame inducted six new members during an on-campus ceremony and dinner on Friday night in the McIntosh Ballroom.
The Class of 2023 inductees included Kimi Blewett of Louisville, Ky., a 2012 graduate who majored in exercise physiology and played softball; J.R. Cipra of Columbus, Ohio, a 2001 graduate who majored in physical education and played football; Katie (Weininger) Kuhn of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, a 2009 graduate who majored in public relations and sport management and played and coached volleyball; Stu Levine of Pepper Pike, Ohio, a 1965 graduate who majored in education and played baseball; Luke Miller of Findlay, Ohio, a 2011 graduate who majored in civil engineering and competed in wrestling; and Jackie (Mangola) Price of Findlay, Ohio, a 2012 graduate who majored in health and physical education and competed in softball and now serves as the head softball coach at ONU.
Kimi Blewett played softball at Ohio Northern from 2009 to 2012, and her accomplishments remain scattered throughout the ONU record book. Blewett's 65 RBIs from 2011 remain a program record for a single season, and she holds the second and eighth spots on that list with 64 in 2010 and 45 in 2012, respectively. She led the team in home runs and doubles in 2010, was the team leader in doubles in 2011 and was best on the team in home runs, slugging percentage and walks in 2012. Her 31 walks from 2012 rank second in program history for a single season. Blewett currently holds the ONU record for career RBIs (210) and doubles (50) and ranks second all-time in home runs (42) and total bases (400). She also ranks third all-time in hits (224), fifth in walks (72) and slugging percentage (.705) and seventh in batting average (.395).
Blewett was a four-time First Team All-OAC selection and four-time All-Region pick, including three times on the First Team. She was also a three-time All-Region Tournament Team honoree in her career and was selected as a Second Team All-American in 2010. The Polar Bears posted a combined 138-41 record, including a 61-10 mark in the OAC during Blewett's playing career. That span included four OAC Regular Season championships, one OAC Tournament title and two NCAA Regional championships and NCAA World Series berths. During her playing career, Blewett was known for her competitive spirit and was highly respected by her teammates thanks in part to her get-it-done mentality and the selflessness she displayed in her excitement for others' successes.
Blewett graduated from ONU in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in exercise physiology and earned a master's degree in health promotion and kinesiology from the University of Kentucky in 2014. She coached collegiately at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., for several seasons before moving to Louisville in 2019. Blewett currently lives in Louisville with her beloved bulldog, Chevy, and frequently spends time with her parents and sister in southwest Florida. She works for Crothall Healthcare at North Audubon Hospital as the director of environmental services.
J.R. Cipra played football at Ohio Northern from 1997 to 2000 and remains the school's all-time career leader in kicking points (218) and extra points made (161) among his 23 program records. He also ranks third all-time in field goals made (19) and fifth in scoring (220 points). Cipra scored a program record 80 points on kicks during the 2000 season and made a record 54 extra points in 1998. His nine made field goals in 2000 rank third all-time at ONU for a single season. A D3football.com Third Team All-American in 2000, Cipra was a First Team All-OAC selection in 1999 and 2000. During Cipra's playing career, the Polar Bears went a combined 35-10, including 29-7 in the OAC, and made a pair of NCAA Playoff appearances, advancing to the quarterfinals in 1999 and the round of 16 in 2000. Cipra graduated from ONU in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and went on to earn a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Phoenix in 2005.
After graduating from ONU, Cipra played professional football from 2002 to 2014. During that time, he played in leagues including Arena Football 2, the American Indoor Football League, American Indoor Football Association, Southern Indoor Football League and Ultimate Indoor Football League. He was a member of the Peoria Pirates, Erie Freeze, Canton Legends, Erie River Rats, Baltimore Mariners, Harrisburg Stampede and Erie Explosion. Some of his professional highlights include winning four championships, earning multiple All-Star selections, finishing as the runner-up for the AIFA MVP award in 2005 after leading the league in scoring, being named MVP of the league championship game while with the Legends in 2006, and earning Special Teams Player of the Year while with the Mariners in 2014.
Cipra currently lives in Columbus, Ohio, and teaches at Binns Elementary School. Known for his generosity toward his students, Cipra has worked for Columbus City Schools for the past three years. His teaching career has also included tenures at Cleveland Metro City Schools and Baltimore (Md.) City Schools. In his spare time, he enjoys competing in an adult indoor soccer league, playing beach volleyball, working out, kayaking and surfing.
Katie (Weininger) Kuhn played volleyball at Ohio Northern from 2005 to 2008 and served as head coach of the ONU volleyball program from 2020 to 2022. As a Polar Bear student-athlete, Kuhn was a four-year letterwinner and three-year team captain. During her playing career, the team posted a 117-30 record, including a 34-2 mark in the OAC, won four OAC regular season titles and three OAC Tournament championships and appeared in the NCAA Tournament four times. Kuhn, who played outside hitter as a freshman and finished second on the team in kills with 276 in 2005, currently ranks third in program history in assists with 4,680 and led the team in that category in 2006, 2007 and 2008. She was named First Team All-America and Third Team Academic All-America as a senior in 2008 and was an Honorable Mention All-American in 2007. A three-time All-OAC selection, including twice to the First Team, Kuhn was named OAC Co-Player of the Year in 2008, the same season the Polar Bears reached the NCAA Final Four. She also earned three All-Region honors in her career, including a pair of First Team accolades.
Kuhn later served nine seasons as an assistant coach for the Polar Bear volleyball team and was also an adjunct professor in the Communication Arts department during that time. As an assistant coach, Kuhn focused on the setters, where she coached All-American Ashley Borchers. For her efforts on the sidelines, Kuhn was named one of the nation's top 30 volleyball coaches under 30 years of age in 2016 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Kuhn was named head coach of the ONU volleyball team in 2020. In her first season at the helm, she guided ONU to a 13-3 record, a No. 19 national ranking and a third-place finish in the OAC. She followed that up by leading the Polar Bears to a 22-6 overall record, OAC regular-season and tournament championships and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2021. The team was ranked as high as No. 8 in the AVCA national poll during the season and finished the year at No. 20. Her team's performance earned her the OAC Coach of the Year and AVCA Region 7 Coach of the Year honors. During her three seasons as head coach at ONU, Kuhn posted a record of 51-19, a winning percentage of .729, and a 27-7 mark in the OAC.
Kuhn graduated from Ohio Northern in 2009 with a dual degree in public relations and sport management and went on to complete a graduate assistantship at Ashland University where she earned her master's degree in education in 2011. Kuhn married fellow ONU alum and All-OAC swimmer Brett Kuhn in May 2011. The couple resides in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, with their two children, Soucie and Gier. She is currently in her first season as the head volleyball coach at Ashland University.
Stu Levine played baseball at Ohio Northern in 1964 and 1965 and still holds the school's all-time record for career batting average at .429. He also ranks sixth all-time in slugging percentage (.579). His .433 batting average in the 1964 season ranked ninth in the country that year and is tied for sixth all-time for a single season at ONU. He led the Polar Bears in batting average, slugging percentage and stolen bases in 1964 and 1965 and was the team leader in runs scored and doubles in 1965.
While at ONU, Levine served as president of Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity and was a member of the Interfraternity Council. He was named Greek Man of the Year in 1965. A Cleveland native, Levine graduated from ONU in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in education and went on to teach elementary physical education for five years. Later, he worked in the janitorial supply business for 35 years, 30 of which he spent as owner of Kinzua Environmental Inc.
Levine earned multiple athletic accolades after graduating from ONU. He was inducted into the JRC Hall of Fame in 1969. Additionally, he was named 1st Team All-City multiple times when Cleveland was the hotbed of Slo-Pitch Softball and was inducted into the Greater Cleveland Slo-Pitch Hall of Fame in 2000. He played in five Amateur Softball Association Slo-Pitch World Tournaments and was named 1st Team All-World in 1966 after hitting .762 in the event.
Now retired, Levine currently lives in Pepper Pike, Ohio, with his wife of 55 years, Leslee. They have two children, Lisa and Brett, and two grandchildren, Abe and Adiela. Levine's hobbies include reading, traveling, antiquing, collecting sports and celebrity memorabilia and playing golf.
Luke Miller wrestled at Ohio Northern for four seasons from 2007-08 to 2010-11 and was the NCAA Division III national champion at 157 pounds as a junior in 2010. Miller was 133-29 overall in his ONU career and became the third Polar Bear to win a national title, capping that 2010 season with a 39-4 record. He also placed third at 165 pounds at the 2011 NCAA Championships and fourth at 157 pounds at the 2009 NCAA Championships and is one of just three ONU wrestlers to be a three-time All-American. He was also a three-time National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-American, earning the accolade in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and was ONU's Clyde Lamb Award recipient in 2011. Miller was 33-11 as a freshman, 32-9 as a sophomore and 29-5 as a senior, and he is tied for third all-time at ONU in career victories. His .821 winning percentage ranks ninth in program history. Miller was the OAC champion at 157 pounds as a sophomore and junior and won the conference title at 165 pounds as a senior. He was named OAC Most Valuable Wrestler in each of his final three seasons and closed his career 17-4 in OAC duals and 9-1 in the OAC Tournament for a 26-5 record against conference competition. He was also a two-time champion in the Midwest Classic and ONU Invitational and finished with 24 career pins.
Miller graduated from ONU in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, boasting a 3.93 GPA. He went on to earn an MBA in management and leadership from Tiffin University in 2016, graduating with a 4.0 GPA, and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Ohio. Miller has worked for Marathon Petroleum in various roles over the past 12 years and is currently the damage prevention and geospatial technology supervisor for the company. Since graduating from ONU, Miller has remained involved in the sport of wrestling. He served as a volunteer assistant wrestling coach at ONU for six years before moving to Texas and has been a USA Wrestling Club coach in Findlay the past two years after returning to Ohio. Miller currently lives in Findlay with his wife, Sondra, and two daughters, Vera and Amelia.
Jackie (Mangola) Price played softball at Ohio Northern from 2009 to 2012 and is currently in her eighth season as head coach of the ONU softball program. As an ONU student-athlete from 2009 to 2012, Price was a two-time First Team All-American, two-time First Team All-Region, two-time Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year and three-time First-Team All-OAC honoree. She was named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team in 2009 and 2011, was an All-OAC Tournament selection in 2010 and 2011 and earned three Academic All-OAC accolades. She was Ohio Northern's Clyde Lamb Award recipient in 2012. Price is the program's all-time leader with 45 career home runs, which includes a school-record 21 during her junior year, and 417 total bases. She also ranks second all-time in RBIs (179) and doubles (44), third in runs scored (172), fourth in hits (222), walks (79) and slugging percentage (.735) and ninth in batting average (.392). Price led the Polar Bears in batting average in 2010 and 2011 and was the team's home run leader in 2009, 2010 and 2011. She led the team in doubles in 2009 and 2010. Her 138 total bases in 2010 remain a program record for a single season as do her 37 walks and 1.140 slugging percentage from 2011. The Polar Bears posted a combined 138-41 record, including a 61-10 mark in the OAC, during Price's playing career. That span included four OAC Regular Season championships, one OAC Tournament title and two NCAA Regional championships and NCAA World Series berths.
Price graduated from ONU in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education and went on to serve as an assistant coach at fellow OAC institutions John Carroll and Muskingum. Price returned to her alma mater in 2017 after a two-year stint as the head softball coach at Hiram College during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. In 2018, she led Northern to a 32-11 record and guided the Polar Bears to their first OAC Tournament championship since 2009 and their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2012. For her efforts in 2018, Price became the only coach in ONU history to be named both the OAC Player of the Year and OAC Coach of the Year at Ohio Northern. She was named the OAC Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons in 2010 and 2011. She and her staff were also named the OAC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2022. In seven seasons at ONU, Price has led Ohio Northern to a 154-92-1 overall record, three OAC Tournament titles and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. She currently owns 175 career victories, which includes her 21 wins at Hiram.
Price and her husband, David, currently reside in Findlay, Ohio, with their sons, Malcolm and Cameron.
The purpose of the Athletic Hall of Fame is to recognize Ohio Northern University men and women who have distinguished themselves in the field of athletics by virtue of their performance on athletic teams representing the university or by meritorious efforts on behalf of athletics either as an undergraduate or in years after leaving the university. Athletes must have graduated from ONU at least 10 years ago and must have earned two letters in one sport or one letter in three or more sports. All nominees must have demonstrated good citizenship both at ONU and beyond and served the athletics program in any capacity that contributed to the overall program. Nominations for inductees are solicited from letterwinners and others and may be forwarded to the Director of Athletics or Director of Alumni Affairs. A minimum of four nominations each are submitted to the Athletic Hall of Fame Selection Committee for both male and female inductees. The committee selects a maximum of six inductees, no more than three of one gender.