The Ravenscroft Alumni Association inducted three new members into the Sports Hall of Fame during the All-Alumni Awards Celebration on Friday, May 3: runner Wesley Frazier ’13, runner Ryen Frazier ’15 and longtime Ravenscroft P.E. teacher and coach Greg Long, who was inducted for his coaching of the varsity baseball team.

The event was part of Alumni Weekend and was attended by nearly 200 alumni and guests.

The Sports Hall of Fame was created in 1994 to honor alumni who graduated from Ravenscroft at least five years prior, coaches and athletic administrators. The award recognizes Ravens who “have left a lasting impression of achievement and excellence on the Ravenscroft athletic family” and shown “consistent respect for and loyalty to Ravenscroft School and good sportsmanship and citizenship.”

Runners Wesley Frazier ’13 and Ryen Frazier ’15

As two of Ravenscroft’s most lauded student-athletes, sisters Wesley Frazier ’13 and Ryen Frazier ’15 are both well-deserving of their places in the Sports Hall of Fame. Two track & field coaches from the sisters’ eras of dominance at Ravenscroft participated in the awards presentation, sharing their respect and appreciation for the opportunity to be part of their journeys.

Head coach Shon Hardy, who presented both awards, said, “I was grateful to be the head coach of Ravenscroft track & field and share in the joy of working with them. I was in admiration of the love and support Ryen and Wesley demonstrated towards one another as sisters and athletes.”

Wesley Frazier is a four-time All-American and eight-time high school national champion who went on to run for NC State, where she was a member of the 2016 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country team and helped lead the Wolfpack women to the ACC Championship. Here are some of her impressive accomplishments as a high school athlete:

• As a freshman, she won a state title in cross country; snagged MVP, All-Conference and All-State honors; and set a new record for the 5000m race — 17:05:09 — at the Seahawk Invitational.

• She was the team MVP and won All-Conference and All-State recognition in track & field during all four of her varsity seasons at Ravenscroft. During those seasons (2010-2013), Ravenscroft varsity girls won the Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Conference Championship Meet three times and were state runners-up all four years. 

• Across all four years of varsity track & field competition, she won the 800m, 1600m and 3200m at the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Championship, graduating as the state record-holder for all three events. She also shares with teammates Julie Verdru ’14, Rebecca Powell ’14 and sister Ryen Frazier the school record for the 4x1600 relay.

• During her senior year, she set a new United States high school girls record in the 5000m — 16:18:01 — and won the New Balance Indoor National Championship.

“Even as a freshman, Wesley was a fierce competitor, always racing to do her best and put the team first. I couldn’t have asked more from someone so young at the time, and so talented,” Hardy said. “As I shared with Wesley, she was a constant in our program and the rock upon which we achieved three regional championships and four straight state runners-up trophies.”

Earlier this year, she was inducted into the fifth class of the North Carolina High School Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame.

Ryan Frazier is a two-time All-American and five-time national high school champion. Her record includes numerous successes in high school track & field:

• In 2012, during her freshman year, she was a member of the Ravenscroft varsity girls track team that was the NCISAA state runner-up, securing an All-State nod.

• During her junior season, she won an individual title at the NCISAA Track Championships and earned team MVP, All-Conference and All-State honors. The team won the TISAC Championship and placed second overall in the NCISAA Championship.

• That same year, she placed first in the girls 3200m run at the Raleigh Relays.

• As a senior, she won the mile at the 2015 Prefontaine Classic and won the “long-distance triple” — taking first place in the 5000m, the 2-mile run and the mile run — at the New Balance Indoor Nationals.

Ryen Frazier went on to become both a three-time All-ACC Cross Country Performer and an ACC All-Academic honoree at NC State. She also showcased her talents on the Wolfpack track team, qualifying for the 5000m at the National Collegiate Athletic Association East Regional three times during her career. She was inducted into the fifth class of the North Carolina High School Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of Fame earlier this year.

“Besides being a phenomenal runner, one of the things that impressed me most about Ryen was the joy and care she exhibited for her teammates,” Hardy said. “If Ryen ever felt the pressure of being compared to her sister, it never showed, as she dominated in her own right. Ryen went above and beyond in being there for her teammates when it was her time to lead.”

Former assistant track coach Steve McGill, sharing his congratulations by video, called Wesley and Ryen “two of the best runners to come out of the state of North Carolina. … You were examples, role models, and now that I’m a head coach at my own school, I use what I saw from the two of you in training my own athletes,” he said. 

Coach Greg Long

Coach Greg Long is a legend at Ravenscroft, teaching Physical Education and coaching athletic teams for the last 40 years (and counting!). A graduate of UNC-Greensboro, where he played baseball, he said the thing he loves most about his job at Ravenscroft is “being able to teach and coach young people and see them improve and observe the ‘aha’ moments when they get it.” Today, Long coaches junior varsity football and junior varsity baseball in addition to teaching Lower and Middle School P.E.

Long was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame for his time coaching the varsity baseball team, which he led to the school’s first state championship in 1996. He was inducted by Michael Goodmon ’98, a Ravenscroft lifer who played for Long during that championship season and was his team MVP for the next two years.

Goodmon noted in his remarks that Long was recognized with the NCISAA Coach of the Year Award in 2004.

“I spent over a decade with Coach Long, either in the gym or on a field. And even though, at the time, it seemed like such a natural and insignificant thing, my time with him was important and his impact was immeasurable,” Goodmond said. “His commitment, patience, intensity and kindness live together in an incredibly unique balance that makes him one of the most impactful youth coaches I’ve seen. He has proven to possess a unique superpower in his ability to connect with kids over a span of multiple decades. … This, as you probably know, is no easy task — and he just keeps on doing it.”

“I feel very honored to have been elected into the Hall of Fame,” Long said. “I don’t think it has sunk in yet, as it still seems very surreal. Knowing the others in the Hall of Fame that I now join makes this honor even more special for me.”

Congratulations to these three new members of the Sports Hall of Fame!

The Ravenscroft Alumni Association presented a number of awards on Friday, May 3, as part of Alumni Weekend. Go to Our Ravens>Alumni to read stories about the recipients of those awards and the many other outstanding Ravens alumni who make our school community proud.