2022 Hall of Fame Inductees (L-R): Wes Hamilton, Katie Williams, Laura Cecil, Randall Shively, and Don Cinnamond
Laura Cecil is a Trinity graduate of the Class of 1990. She is the daughter of Larry and Connie O’Bryan. She has been married to her husband, Brian Cecil, for 27 years, and they have two children, Shelby Jo and Austin. This is Laura’s 28th year as a public educator. She spent the first 7 years with Owensboro Public Schools at Seven Hills Elementary, where in 2000 she received the Campbellsville University Excellence in Teaching Award and was recognized as Elementary Teacher of the year for Owensboro Public Schools. She has worked the last 21 years with Daviess County Public Schools at Sorgho Elementary, serving in her 10th year as principal. Laura is a member of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators. She and her family are current members of St. Williams Catholic Church. In her free time, Laura enjoys running, reading, car rides, and time with family.
During her time at Trinity, Laura played 4 years of varsity basketball and 4 years of varsity softball. She was ranked in the top 20 of the region in rebounding and scoring her junior and senior years. She made Messenger Inquirer 2nd Team regional her senior year. Laura led the team in rebounding junior and senior year and led the 11th district in scoring and rebounding senior year. She made 11th district All-Tournament Team her senior year as well. Laura received an athletic and academic scholarship from Kentucky Wesleyan College and represented Trinity at the Hugh O’Brien Leadership Conference. She earned the Army Reserve Scholar and Athletic Award, Principals’ Leadership Award, Owensboro Noontime Optimist Leadership Youth Award, the UK School of Journalism certificate, and was listed in Trinity’s Religion Hall of Fame; she was a member of the National Honor Society, co-salutatorian, and a cum laude graduate.
After high school, Laura went on to play basketball at KWC and later transferred to Western Kentucky University where she has obtained a Bachelor of Science in Education, a Master Degree in Elementary Education, and a Rank I in School Administration with Emphasis in School Principalship. Laura also wants to acknowledge how grateful she is for her parents teachings in faith and their sacrifices, which enabled her to attend Trinity. She knows the teachings of Faith, self discipline, teamwork and leadership learned through her opportunities at Trinity formed values she has been able to apply throughout her life.
Don Cinnamond is a Trinity graduate of the class of 1981. Don is married to Dette Howard Cinnamond. He and Dette have been married for 8 years.
During Don’s times at Trinity, he ran on the cross country team and qualified for the state meet both his junior and senior years. His senior year, he finished 6th in the region while battling a foot injury. He set the school record at 17 minutes and 32 seconds. He held that record for 3 years.
While attending Brescia University and earning his Bachelor Degree in Math and a KY teaching certificate for Math, Don coached the THS girls and boys cross country teams, and his team qualified for the state meet at least once. He also coached cross country and track & field at Owensboro Catholic High for a few years, and spent one year coaching at Nelson County High, where Megan Newcome was a state champion. Don says it was her talent, not his coaching, and she went on to run for the University of Florida and made the Olympic trials! Don earned his Master in Statistics from the University of Kentucky. After college, Don went into manufacturing and has been a quality engineer for the past 28 year. Don resides in Georgetown and works at Big Ass Fans.
Wes Hamilton is a Trinity graduate of the Class of 2004. He is the son of Jimmy and Krista Hamilton and the brother of Brittany Hamilton (all Trinity graduates). He is married to Jamie Hamilton, a 2005 Trinity graduate. They have four children: Grant (10), Kate (9), Quinn (6) and Miles (3). While at Trinity, Wes played basketball and golf. He was voted Messenger Inquirer 3rd Region Player of the Year Runner-Up – 2004, Messenger Inquirer 3rd Region 1st Team – 2004, and Messenger Inquirer 3rd Region 2nd Team in 2002 & 2003. He was the THS team MVP in 2002, 2003, 2004, an athlete on two District Championship teams – 2002 and 2004, a part of 3 Class “A” 3rd Region Championship teams – 2002, 2003, 2004, and was on the Courier Journal All-State Team, Honorable Mention, in 2002, 2003, 2004.
He scored over 1,500 points and grabbed over 1,000 rebounds in his career. He started all 4 years on the varsity team, averaging double digit points and rebounds every season. Wes led all 4 Trinity teams to winning seasons, was on numerous all- tournament teams, including regional, district, Class “A” and the Owensboro Invitational. For multiple years, Wes was listed among Kentucky’s season leaders for most rebounds and highest field goal percentage. He grabbed 24 rebounds in one game; according to the newspaper, this was a school record (since stats were kept). Wes was also a member of the National Honor Society, maintained a 4.0 GPA all 4 years, and was the class salutatorian.
After Trinity, Wes attended Lindsey Wilson College to play basketball. After a year, Wes decided to focus on his education and earned a full academic scholarship for the remainder of his time at the school.
Wes graduated from Lindsey Wilson College in 2008 with his Bachelor Degree in accounting. He maintained a 4.0 GPA and was recognized as Lindsey Wilson College’s Top Business School Student in 2008. He earned his CPA license in 2009 and has practiced as a Certified Public Accountant since. He currently works at Independence Bank in Owensboro, KY, as the Manager of the Accounting Department.
Wes writes, “I would like to say thank you to all the players, coaches, teachers, and classmates who helped make my accomplishments possible. And a special thanks to all the amazing THS fans who supported our teams in the early 2000s. You all made the old “THS barn” the most electric place to play high school basketball in Western Kentucky. Those Tuesday and Friday nights were truly some of the best moments of my life, and I will always cherish the memories.”
Randall Shively is the son of Carroll and Barbara Shively and the oldest of six kids. He graduated with the Class of 1977. Randall has been married to Randa Rainwater Shively for nearly 43 years. They have 3 children. Benjamin is the oldest and is married to Jennifer, and they have 2 children, Grayden and Lennon. Chandra is their second child; she is married to Oliver Sattler, and they have 1 child, named Sullivan. Luke is 26 years old; he is the youngest and lives at home.
Randall played baseball his freshman year while at Trinity High but did not play his sophomore year. He chose to work instead. One of the highlights of his high school career is when Coach Mike Baker came to Abel’s Grocery to recruit a pitcher his junior year of high school. Over the years he has been so thankful for Coach Baker doing this. Another couple of highlights are when Trinity beat Owensboro Senior High both his junior and senior years. Randall was the winning pitcher in both situations. And Owensboro Senior later became the Kentucky High School state champs both years. On a good day, we could be the best!
In order, beginning the fall of 1977, while attending Rend Lake College, in Ina, Illinois, Randall:
- Received 2 wins in relief during the Fall season.
- Worked extremely hard over the winter and became a new stronger pitcher.
- Ended the spring season of 1978 7-0 with an earned run average of .70.
- Lost the last game of the season in the 14th inning and pitched all 14 innings.
- Was ranked #1 in the state of Illinois and #3 in the Country.
- Made 1st team all state at the Junior College level.
- Made the All-Region team which was made of players throughout the Midwest.
- Played for the Senior Babe Ruth league and also for the Velvet Bombers American legion teams, while working full-time all summer in 1978. (At the end of summer the Velvet Bombers were Kentucky state champions.)
- Was 4-0 for the Senior Babe Ruth league and 10-1 for the American Legion team
- At the end of the 12-month run Randall was 23-2 for the year.
- Went back to Rend Lake College and had another winning year and made the 2nd team All-State.
- Was awarded the Most Strikeouts trophy the 1978/79 school year.
- Was awarded Best Sportsmanship both years while at Rend Lake College and this award was selected by the teammates.
Randall got married in the spring of 1979 to Randa Rainwater Shively.
Together they turned down a full athletic scholarship to play baseball at the University of Kentucky and took a better deal at Murray State University. Randall was invited to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds for 3 summers in a row during his prime. He had the pleasure of playing baseball in Busch Stadium in St. Louis and Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Randall was never cut from a professional baseball tryout, but was never offered a professional contract. Randall graduated from Rend Lake College in May of 1979 with an associate degree. He graduated from Murray State University in May of 1981 with a bachelor degree, and graduated from Southern Illinois University in December of 2003, at the age of 43, with a master degree. Randall served on the Wayne City school board for 8 ½ years and served on church leadership as a Deacon and an Elder for 35 years while at the First Christian Church in Wayne City. Randall has taught Sunday School and midweek Bible studies for nearly 40 years.
After a 21 year career as the Director of Facilities at Rend Lake College, Randall retired in June of 2016. Now, Randall, Randa, and Luke enjoy life on their small farm in Wayne City, Illinois. A couple of greatest rewards in raising a family are seeing your children succeed and the grandchildren enjoy life with us.
Randall writes, “I would like to thank Trinity High School for a high quality education, the faith in God that was planted in me, and this gift I am receiving now. I will be forever grateful.”
Katie writes, “I graduated from St. Mary’s High in 1965, and started teaching at Trinity in the Fall of 1969. This is my 54th year of teaching, all but two at Trinity. I was asked to help raise money for the old gym, which doubters believed would never become a reality. Doug Evans, a friend of Bryce Roberts and my husband Benny, kicked off the campaign with a $1,000 donation. In under 10 years, the gym was paid off.
I was asked to coach girls’ basketball when the law said, equal rights for boys’ and girls’ sports. I knew nothing about coaching basketball. Bryce Roberts helped me set up basic drills like dribbling up and down the court, in and out of folding chairs, switching hands. That first year I remember Beverly Aud Howard as my high scorer. I remember Theresa Hagan seeming slow to the eye, but she was always down court when you needed her. I remember June Hagan as my forward. Because other schools in our area were also new to girls’ basketball, we almost won the District tournament that year. We had a decent lead at half-time. Unfortunately, the other coach’s locker room talk was better than mine. After we lost, Scott Ward, who helped coach the boys, explained what I didn’t do right. When I asked why he didn’t tell me during the game, he said some coaches don’t like all the spectators’ back seat coaching. The next year I was a coach in name only. Scott Lamar, my assistant, was the real coach. He definitely did not want anyone else’s opinion about the team or the way he directed them. I was much more successful as a girls’ softball coach. We had slow pitch back them, more of a whole team sport that didn’t just rely on the pitcher. Leon Mills was my irreplaceable helper. The year the Lanham cousins and Principal Hernandez were Freshmen, the Seniors had retreat during our district tournament. We couldn’t reschedule the game, and as a Catholic school, we couldn’t ask the seniors on the team to skip their big retreat. The Freshmen came through and won the District for Trinity. We nearly won the next year. Playing against Daviess County at Shiffley Park, we had a good lead after the fifth inning. Then, probably due to my nervousness, one girl dropped a fly ball, the first of about five errors that cost us the game. Parents and coaches may not realize how much their nerves affect the players. My family as always love sports. My son Ben got to play in Rupp Arena on his 16th birthday (just a few minutes) in the Class A. My husband refereed many a game and got his share of complaints about bad calls (didn’t bother him). I even had an umpire’s license for three years in softball, but I admit I had a big strike zone.
I firmly believe in Trinity. I love this community. I’ve been principal three different times, but teaching is my true love. If I could just get teenagers to believe in themselves, I would feel successful.”
Mrs. Hernandez wanted to add a few words: “Mrs. Williams loves students. She expects excellence and the students, year-in, year-out, meet her expectations. She spends hours of her own time teaching them because she loves them and wants them to succeed. She has spent time at school tutoring students in June, when they needed a class to graduate even when they were not in her class. She often downplays what she has done, but for 54 years she has dedicated her life to Catholic education and Ms. Williams is most deserving of the Trinity Hall of Fame; she is the epitome of a servant leader and I thank God for her life and her love of Trinity High School!”
