NEW MIAMI — New Miami High School inducted two new members into its athletic Hall of Fame.
Paul Stapleton (Class of 1990) and Eric Allen (Class of 1981) were recognized during a ceremony on Saturday, April 13 at New Miami.
Stapleton, a four-year letterman in basketball who also competed in one season of football and track and field, led Butler County in rebounding and scoring during his senior season.
“I was surprised,” Stapleton said of learning about his nomination. “I feel proud. I consider it a privilege to be part of something with so many good people and athletes.”
Stapleton also broke the 1,000-career point milestone to become the second leading scorer in New Miami history at the time of his graduation.
In that same season, he received numerous postseason honors including All-Miami Valley Conference First Team and Player of the Year, All-Southwest District First Team and Ohio Division IV Second Team All-State recognition.
“It’s just like in any sport — it’s all about the discipline,” Stapleton said. “The teamwork, drive, confidence to competitiveness — there’s a lot of things that came out of playing at New Miami. I felt like I excelled in my sport, which was what I wanted to do in just about anything I did.
“It was all about the memories we made and the friendships that you built back in the day and the memories that you make to be able to carry on as the years went by that you can sit and reflect and look back on.”
Allen, a member of the varsity football team in his junior and senior seasons, had a successful career at New Miami with many notable accomplishments.
Doug Krause, the hall of fame ceremony’s emcee, coached Allen during his football career. Allen attributed a lot of his success on the gridiron to Krause.
“I didn’t come from a big sports family background,” Allen said. “I had friends who played on the football team. They wanted me to play, and I said, ‘OK.’ I really didn’t even know the rules of the game.
“Krause, he was a great player himself. He kind of took me under his wing. He just showed me how to play. He was such a great motivator. I really just owed it all to him. He put me on the right path.”
During Allen’s senior season, the Vikings went undefeated in the MVC with a 5-0 record, finishing at 8-2 on their season-long campaign that included six defensive shutouts.
Allen led the team in tackles and recorded 21 sacks as a senior and was named the Vikings’ Best Defensive Lineman, MVC All-Conference First Team, All-Southwest District Second Team, All-Golden Triangle and All-State Second Team.
“You look back on it and think about how fun it was,” Allen said. “It was a great accomplishment. I’ve always been pretty proud of that.”
New Miami athletic director Eric Hayes said the hall of fame ceremony was an inspirational event.
“This year’s Hall Of Fame induction ceremony was inspiring to me, and I hope our current generation of athletes can draw inspiration from it as well,” Hayes said. “New Miami has such a proud tradition of athletics, and our community loves to celebrate its athletes from the past and recognize their accomplishments.
“During their induction speeches, Mr. Allen and Mr. Stapleton each spoke about New Miami being a small school, but that they wouldn’t trade their high school memories or athletic careers for anything. These gentlemen truly recognize how special our school is, and their Viking pride is an example for our current and future athletes to follow.”
