The difference between good and impactful can’t be measured by just talent.
Attaining any level of greatness takes longevity. Many have been standouts in their moment. Remaining one takes time.
It’s a characteristic shared by the five people selected to be in the Washington County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
The five inductees had a love and an ability for their sport of choice, and turned it into a career that sustained it while inspiring others following their path.
The quintet has used their talents to aid and inspire athletes in swimming, lacrosse, volleyball and basketball, using past experience to pay it forward.
The group will be honored at the 38th WCSHOF banquet on July 18 at Elks Lodge No. 378 on Robinwood Drive in Hagerstown.
The inductees:
Carol Brashears
Brashears excelled in four different areas. She was a teacher and a coach who founded and later managed sports programs. She spent 33 years (1978-2010) as the only female physical education teacher at St. Maria Goretti and became a two-time winner of the Archdiocesan Teaching Excellence Award.
She started as an integral part of swimming in Washington County, coaching at Northwood and the Hagerstown YMCA — where she guided swimmers to national competition — before starting the county’s only competitive high school program at Goretti in 1986.
She was Goretti’s assistant athletic director (1988-98) before assuming the AD position for 12 years (1998-2010), becoming the first female AD in the Apple Valley League, a three-state sports conference that included public and private schools.
During her tenure, Goretti started a girls soccer program and reintroduced girls basketball. She introduced a number of tournaments and events to highlight and elevate Gaels athletics, along with some charitable pursuits. She also served on state soccer and baseball championship committees.
Brashears has worked with five WCSHOF inductees, coaching Gwynn Rodemsky and Chris and Mark Brockway as swimmers before working with Cokey Robertson as Goretti’s AD and marrying Mike Brashears. She is a graduate of North Hagerstown, Hagerstown Junior College and the University of Maryland.
Avery Carey
Carey used his talent and interest in basketball to create a lifetime of impact.
The 1994 North Hagerstown graduate starred for the Hubs, where he became team captain, was named team MVP and made the All-Tri-State first team. He scored 646 points, including 62 3-pointers, and grabbed 200 rebounds in his scholastic career.
Carey then played at Hagerstown Community College for two years, helping the Hawks win two Region XX championships before graduating with a business degree.
The next stop was George Mason University, where Carey played 55 games over two seasons, winning a conference championship and earning an NCAA Tournament bid. He also earned a communications degree before signing to play pro basketball in Holland and Luxembourg.
Carey then became a coach, starting as an assistant for the Frostburg State women’s team for five seasons, including a conference title and a trip the NCAA Division III Tournament. After Frostburg, he coached basketball at HCC and St. Maria Goretti.
Carey has been a motivational speaker, a partner with A&B Basketball (a select club basketball organization), and created a self-named business offering an elevated approach that aims to guide upcoming players with physical training and mental mindsets to excel in basketball while learning tools to build character and integrity.
Emily Crabtree
Crabtree is the latest “branch” from the successful Williamsport volleyball “tree” to earn induction.
She started as a three-sport athlete at Williamsport, where she was captain of the 1981 state championhip volleyball team — the initial title that started the Wildcats’ dynasty in the sport, with a state record 17 state titles.
After graduating in 1982, she attended Hagerstown Junior College and competed in volleyball, earning Region XX first-team honors, and basketball.
After graduation, she returned to Williamsport and began the transition from volleyball player to coach. Crabtree spent the 1985-87 seasons as an assistant, helping the Wildcats to the 1985 state title to make her the first woman to win an MPSSAA volleyball championship as a player and a coach.
She had two stints as the Wildcats’ head coach, from 1993-95 and 2003-15, and guided the Wildcats to five state titles (Class 1A in 1995, a three-year stretch from 2003-05 in 1A, and 2012 in 2A) while earning or sharing county coach of the year honors.
In 2016, Crabtree became Williamsport’s athletic director, She was recognized as the 2026 Maryland District 1A AD of the Year. Williamsport has added four more volleyball state titles in that time, making Crabtree part of 11 of the school’s 17 state championships as a player, coach or athletic director.
Crabtree graduated from Frostburg State in 1997 and earned her Master’s degree in 2005.
Cullan Ganley
A preeminent athlete at Smithsburg, Ganley may have been the first face of lacrosse in Washington County. Today he uses his talents, reputation and natural leadership skills to guide the latest generation of lacrosse players as his alma mater’s head coach.
As a three-sport athlete at Smithsburg, Ganley was a team captain, set a record for careers steals in basketball that he still holds, and remains among the school’s all-time leaders in football yards per reception.
His greatest success came in lacrosse. He scored 248 career points, including 164 goals, and won consecutive Washington County player of the year honors (2010-11). He also was a finalist for the prestigious C. Markland Kelly Award, presented to the best high school lacrosse player in Maryland.
Ganley spent four seasons playing lacrosse at Lynchburg College, helping the Hornets earn three conference championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the 2015 Division III national championship game. Ganley and the national runner-up team were inducted into Lynchburg’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. Lynchburg amassed a record of 69-16 in his four seasons.
Ganley returned to Smithsburg to coach football and basketball before transitioning exclusively to the lacrosse program. After one season as an assistant, he became the second head lacrosse coach at Smithsburg, inheriting the program from another WCSHOF inductee, Joe Dietrich. In his first nine seasons as head coach, the Leopards amassed a 98-35 record with six straight region championships and six straight state semifinals appearances, including two state finals. He has earned multiple local coach of the year honors and three USA Lacrosse High School Coach of the Year honors.
Donnie Souders
Souders recently completed his 34th season as a basketball official. After beginning his career at age 17 officiating Hagerstown Junior League basketball at Western Heights Middle School, he began his affiliation with the Washington County Basketball Officials Association, where he served as the organization’s secretary, treasurer and vice president before becoming the supervisor of officials and president.
During his career, Souders has officiated numerous Maryland state championship games, been an officiating observer for other chapters and twice was named Official of the Year (2016 and 2023) by the WCSHOF.
In 2001, he was named a women’s college basketball official, working NCAA Division II and III Mid-Atlantic region games, including conference and NCAA Tournament matchups. He worked the Division III semifinal game in 2023 after having his 2020 national championship assignment cancelled by COVID. After 22 seasons, he became the second national coordinator of Women’s Division III officials, allowing him to work to improve the quality of the game’s officiating while creating more opportunities and developing new officials.
Souders is a 1991 South Hagerstown graduate and attended Hagerstown Community College. He has been serving as Mayor of the town of Smithsburg since 2021.
Other honors and awards
The Washington County Sports Hall of Fame will present a number a number of scholarships to a number of athletes who graduated in May. There also will be two service awards presented.
The scholarships:
- Gregg DeLauney Presidents Award Scholarship — Robert “Camilo” Mellott, Smithsburg
- Millie Shank Athletic Academic Scholarship — Lauren Ly, North Hagerstown
- Harry Cunningham Jr. Athlete of the Year — Landyn Clark, Hancock
- Sarah “Skip” Ward Athlete of the Year — Callie Hose, Clear Spring
- Carroll & Virginia Reid Memorial Scholarship — Jake Nussear, Smithsburg; Kaleb Ritter, Smithsburg; Macy Peters, Smithsburg
- Dottie Picolomini Scholarship — Olivia Kocevar, Smithsburg
- Greg Shank/Cumberland Valley Athletic Club Scholarship — Allen Anderson, North Hagerstown
- Donald “Lacko” Anderson Memorial Scholarship — Nate Bowman, Williamsport
- James F. Binau Memorial Scholarship — Jack Burns, South Hagerstown
- Robert I. Parasiliti Memorial Scholarship — Taylor Brown, South Hagerstown
- Jerry Spessard Scholarship — Blake Custer, North Hagerstown
The Donald Stoner Coach of the Year and William Lightner Official of the Year awards are to be announced.
Banquet information
Doors open at 5 p.m. The event begins with a social hour, followed by dinner at 6. The presentation program will follow dinner. Tickets for the ceremony are $35
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Frank Linn at 301-730-8401 or Gregg DeLauney at 240-675-1228.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County Sports Hall of Fame to induct five in Class of 2026
