Miami Ohio University Athletics
Miami to Honor Five Coaches This Weekend
1/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
OXFORD, Ohio—Miami University Athletics will honor five individuals on January 24, 2015 as it inducts the Cradle of Coaches Class of 2014-15. Comprising this year’s class is Steve Cady (Ice Hockey/Men’s Soccer/Administrator), Dona Layman (Softball), Ron Masanek (Wrestling), Tracy Smith (Baseball) and Dan Stimson (Cross Country/Track & Field).
Steve Cady was one of the main forces behind the growth of hockey at Miami University in 1976 and has been synonymous with the program ever since. Cady, who has been a part of Miami for nearly 40 years, has served as senior associate athletic director since 1998 and was tabbed assistant vice president for finance and business services that same year. Cady served as the head coach of the Miami ice hockey team for nine seasons, including its first seven years of varsity status from 1978-85, while also serving as head coach of the men’s soccer program from 1978-80. He compiled a 121-126-11 record in seven varsity years of ice hockey and a career mark of 157-147-12, while taking his 1983 and 1985 teams to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs. Cady was recognized for his hard work and dedication in bringing college hockey to Southwest Ohio by receiving the prestigious Jim Fullerton Award from the American Hockey Coaches Association in 2002. In addition to his contributions to Miami’s hockey program, Cady’s hard work can be seen all over campus as he has served as the chairman of the Athletic Facilities Master Plan Committee since 1995. During his time in that role, Miami’s athletic classrooms have undergone a remarkable transformation. During that time, the addition to Miami’s ever-growing roster of state-of-the-art facilities was the construction of a $34-million ice arena that bears his name. Steve “Coach” Cady Arena at the Goggin Ice Center, which opened in July 2006, serves as the home of both Miami’s hockey and synchronized skating teams. Cady’s body of work extends beyond the boundaries of Miami University, serving on the NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee and Championship Committee which he was chairman of in 2009. He was inducted into the Miami Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
Dona Layman, a former multi-sport athlete at Miami, was a decorated high school coach at Valley View High School (Ohio), serving as the softball coach for 35 years where she amassed well over 400 wins in addition to stints as a basketball and volleyball head coach. Layman was instrumental in starting the Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association in 1986 and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1997. Layman was a five-time league Coach of the Year, earning the honors in 2000, 2003, 2008, 2010 and 2011. She also was tabbed the area coach of the year in 2011. She guided one of her first teams to a state runner-up finish in 1979 and led Valley View to district titles in 1979, 2000, 2011 and 2012 as well as nine league championships. She spearheaded Valley View to a No. 12 ranking among 716 Ohio high school fastpitch programs in number of wins. Layman has been inducted into the Valley View High School, Western Brown Senior High School and Brown County Ohio Athletic halls of fame. In 2007, she received the Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association Ethics and Integrity Award for the Southwest District.
Ron Masanek, former wrestler at Miami, also was a decorated high school coach, who led the Fairfield High School (Ohio) wrestling program for 48 years. Masanek amassed a 410-83-3 record at Fairfield, which ranks fourth in Ohio High School wrestling history. Under his leadership, Masanek’s teams compiled 11 undefeated seasons, 23 Greater Miami Conference Championships and nine Ohio state runner-up finishes. The Indians won eight district crowns and captured 15 sectional titles in addition to finishing third in the state in 1991 and 1992. Over his career his wrestlers captured 200 individual GMC titles, qualified for the state championships 150 times, seized 127 sectional championships and 42 district/regional titles, placed at the state championships 43 times, won six individual state titles and were named high school All-Americans nine times. Masanek has been inducted into the Ohio Wrestling Coaches, Butler County, Southwest Ohio, Fairfield High School and Buddy LaRosa halls of fame.
Tracy Smith is in his 19th season as a NCAA Division I head coach, taking his teams to five NCAA Tournaments, including a College World Series berth. Smith, a former baseball player with the Red and White, served nine seasons as head baseball coach at Miami where he produced 317 wins with the RedHawks. While guiding the RedHawk program, Smith’s teams posted eight-straight 30-win seasons, two NCAA Regional appearances and advanced to the MAC Tournament finals six times. Miami won the MAC regular-season title in 2005 and the conference tournament in 2001 and 2005. Smith spent nine seasons at Indiana, earning a National Coach of the Year honor with the Hoosiers and was twice named Big Ten Coach of the Year. The Hoosiers’ College World Series appearance was the first in program history and the first in 29 years for a Big Ten team. His teams recorded more than 40 wins each of the last two seasons at IU, guiding the Hoosiers to consecutive Big Ten Conference Championships for the first time in school history. In 18 total years as a head coach, Smith has seen 54 of his players selected in the MLB Draft, including 22 in the first 10 rounds. Smith, who owns more than 600 career wins, is in his first season leading the Arizona State program.
Dan Stimson served as a collegiate coach for more than 40 years, including nine at Miami, and spent the last 28 years at William and Mary. He earned a master’s degree at Miami while in Oxford and had his first NCAA qualifier in Dave Zipko in 1979 while coaching for the Red and White. Stimson spent 25 years as the Director of Track and Field at William and Mary. He led the Tribe men’s and women’s cross country/track & field programs to a remarkable 56 of a possible 106 Colonial Athletic Association titles during his tenure, more than all but one other CAA school earned combined in every sport in the history of the conference. Since the CAA began sponsoring track championships in 1990, Stimson-coached throwers won 59 of 200 possible championships, almost 20 more than any other school and nearly more than the next two teams combined. He has coached numerous All-Americans as well as Olympians. Stimson was inducted into the William and Mary Hall of Fame in 2014, in addition to being named an Honorary Alumnus of William and Mary in 2011.
The members of the Cradle of Coaches Class of 2014-15 will be honored during the induction dinner on January 24 and will be further recognized at the second intermission of the Miami hockey game versus Denver later that evening. Game time is 7:05 p.m.
