Ray and Janie Cebula will enter Westminster 'hall' together

NEW WILMINGTON -- Like father, like daughter.
That's the way it has been with Ray and Janie Cebula during their sports careers at Westminster College and Wilmington Area High, spanning two generations.
The two former three-sport performers, with roots and ties to Campbell, are the first father-daughter team to be selected to the Lawrence County Historical Society Sports Hall of Fame.
Ray, a graduate of Ursuline High (1962) and Westminster (1967), and Janie, a graduate of Wilmington Area (1992) and Westminster (1997), will be among 12 former Western Pennsylvania standouts inducted at a banquet April 29 at The New Englander in New Castle at 3 p.m.
The other 10 selections are Jennie Book Conrad, John DiMuccio, Kathleen Furst, Joe Hudak, Randi Bell Knight, Anthony "Monk" Laurenza, Eugene Matsook, Bill McNees, John Novalesi, Joe Scungio and Mark Stanley.
Track and field link
The Cebulas' three shared sports links in their careers are Westminster, Wilmington Area and track and field.
Ray was a member of the Westminster track and field, baseball and football teams for four years, and also coached boys track and field team for 40 years at Wilmington Area before retiring as a teacher and coach last spring after producing many WPIAL and PIAA champs..
Janie was a member of the Wilmington track and field, basketball and volleyball teams, before advancing to an outstanding three-year collegiate career in volleyball at Westminster, after transferring from Youngstown State where she was on a volleyball scholarship.
Under coach Tammy Swearingen at Westminster, Janie became one of only six players to register 1,000 or more career kills. She helped the Titans to a 92-27 record in three seasons, and the KECC title in 1994.
Janie, who also grew up playing Junior Olympic volleyball in Pittsburgh and Ohio, ranks No. 6 in kills (1,001) and No. 9 in digs (1,239) on Westminster's career lists.
She now is an elementary school guidance counselor in Western Pennsylvania.
Volleyball best sport
"[Janie's] best sport probably overall was volleyball, mostly because she worked at it," said Ray. "I think that was her favorite sport. And I didn't know a thing about volleyball, so it worked out well," meaning that Janie was very independent about learning sports.
But, Ray did introduce Janie to the discus, and later gave her valuable tips.
"She was in the seventh grade and was going to a junior track meet to run and I told her to try the discus. She didn't think that she would like it but she did," said Ray. And, "As a boys coach, I helped to coach my daughter throwing the discus."
Ray's best sport growing up was baseball, but Ursuline didn't have a baseball team and he never went out for football, so he ran track instead.
"But during a track meet in Canton, a football coach recognized how fast I could run and encouraged me to go out for football my senior year," said Ray.
Then when Ray went on to Westminster, he would wear his track uniform under his baseball uniform, and during the game would leave to join the Titans' track team and run the 100, 220 and 440 relay, and then return to finish the baseball game.
In football at Westminster, he was an All-West Penn Conference honorable mention and NAIA All-District in 1963. In 1965, he was named to the All-West Penn Conference football team as a defensive end.
In track in 1965, he went undefeated in the 220, and in baseball the same year, he led the team in stolen bases.
Ray was named Westminster athlete of the year in 1966.
Westminster runs in the Cebula family. Ray's father, George, a 1928 Campbell Memorial graduate and former teacher and coach there, also was a Westminster graduate (1932).
Ray, whose wife, Sondra is a native of New Castle, also has three brothers: Tom is a retired Memorial teacher and still lives in Campbell, while Ted is a retired librarian from the Milwaukee Public Library and lives in Milwaukee. And George is retired from the National Weather Service in Alaska, and lives in McCarthy, Alaska.
kovach@vindy.com