Covington High School inducted four new members into the Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday. (L-R) – Carly Shell, Shannan Irvin-Francois, Michael Molesky and Josh Long.

SHANNAN IRVIN-FRANCOIS

Shannan is a 1984 graduate of Covington High School. She is the daughter of Blair and Patricia Irvin. During Shannan’s career at Covington, she was a three-sport athlete, earning a combined 12 varsity letters: 4 in volleyball, 4 in basketball, and 4 in track.

Shannan earned All-District honors in both volleyball and basketball, and she was named MVP of the basketball team as a freshman.

As a member of the Covington Track Team, Shannan qualified for the State Meet in seven events, and earned five state medals in her career. At one point, Shannan was a member of the relay teams that held the school records in the 4×200 relay and the 4×800 relay. She individually had the school record in long jump, which has since been broken. She was also a member of the 4×100 meter relay that still owns the school record with a time of 50.4 seconds.

Shannan’s accomplishments at the state track meet include: 5th place at state in 1981 as a member of the 4×800 meter relay; state qualifier as a member of the 4×100 meter relay in 1981; state qualifier in the long jump in 1982; 6th place at state in 1982 as a member of the 4×100 meter relay; 5th place at state in 1982 as a member of the 4×200 meter relay; 5th place at state in 1982 as a member of the 4×800 meter relay; and 5th place at state in 1984 in long jump.

After graduating from Covington, Shannan attending the Ohio State University and graduated from the College of Financial Planning. Shannan worked in the financial industry for several years before becoming a stay-at-home mom.

In recent years, Shannan has competed in Masters track and field, and won the silver medal in the long jump at the USATF Masters National Championships.

Shannan resides in Galena, Ohio with her husband, Mike, and their two sons, Beau and Eli.

MICHAEL MOLESKY

Mike Molesky was a 2002 graduate of Covington High School where he earned a combined 11 varsity letters as a three-sport athlete in football, basketball all and track.

In track Mike earned four varsity letters and held the school’s high jump record until Ryan Craft broke the record in 2013. He was also a member of the 4×100 relay team that qualified for the state meet in 2001 along with teammates Boomer Schmidt, Bubby Bubeck and Ryan Otte.

Mike lettered in three seasons on the basketball court for Covington and was a part of the best teams under long-time coach Roger Craft. As a junior in the 2000-2001 season, Molesky and the Buccaneers won a district championship and reached the regional tournament before falling to Bethel, the eventual state champions. Molesky and the Buccaneers returned to the District Final the following season in 2001-02.

On the football field is where Mike left a legacy as one of the grittiest players and hardest hitters in Buccaneer history as a rare four-year letter winner. Proof of Mike’s football tenacity came in a state playoff game his senior season when Covington hosted Williamsburg and the state’s leading rusher Jason Bainum. Molesky set the tone early in the game with a crashing hit on Bainum to force a fumble that swung the momentum en route to a 47-14 Buccaneer victory. It was one of many highlights from an outstanding career where Mike was a part of three state playoff teams in 1999, 2000, and 2001. He concluded his senior year by being named All-CCC, All-Southwest District and earning Honorable Mention All-Ohio recognition. Mike was also Academic All-CCC and was chosen to play in the North-South All-Star Game at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.

After graduation Mike went on to play football at the collegiate level at the University of Dayton under coach Mike Kelly. Molesky was an All-Academic selection in the Pioneer League in 2002. He majored in Visual Communication and Design at UD, where he earned a Bachor of Fine Arts Degree in 2006. In 2015 Mike graduated from Kettering College and is currently a Traveling Nurse. He is the son of Dr. John and Kathy Molesky and is married to his wife Natalie. Mike and Natalie have won children, Sloane and Beckett.

CARLY SHELL

Carly is 2016 graduate of Covington High School. She is the daughter of John and Kim Shell. During Carly’s career at Covington, she was a three-sport athlete, earning a combined 12 varsity letters: 4 in cross country, 4 in basketball, and 4 in track.

On the basketball court, Carly was always a team player and would do anything that needed to be done to help her team and her teammates. One highlight was when she came off the bench her freshman year during against Bradford in the sectional tournament to hit two big threes. Carly had 6 points that game, and Covington won by 6.

While Carly loves basketball, she stamped her name all over the Covington record books as a runner.

In cross country, Carly helped lead her team to two CCC Championships in 2013 and 2015, three District Runner-Ups in 2013, 2014, and 2015, a Regional Runner-Up in 2015, and to the state meet in 2015 (the second team in history to advance to state).

Carly’s individual cross country accomplishments include: four of the top five fastest times at Covington history; the school record for cross country with a time of 19:09; the Runner of the Year in the Cross County Conference in 2013 and 2015, becoming the only girl in school history to do this twice. She also won an individual District Championship in 2013 – second girl to do so – earned First Team All-Ohio honors in 2013 and 2015, and was named to the All-Ohio Academic Team in 2013 and 2015.

Carly’s running success continued as a member of the track team. In Carly’s high school career, she was a five-time individual Conference Champion (3200, 4×800 twice, 1600 twice).

Carly’s post-season track accomplishments include: district champion in the 3200 in 2013, and set a school record; helped win a team District Championship in 2016 – first since 1982; and regional champion in the 3200 in 2013; and a 6th place finish at the state track meet in the 3200, and set a new school record.

She narrowly missed qualifying for state in the 1600 in 2015 (by 3 seconds).

At the time of Carly’s graduation, she held or was part of three school records (3200, 1600 and 4×800), and broke her own previous records numerous times.

After graduating from Covington, Carly chose to continue her running career at Ohio University. Carly earned a partial scholarship for both cross country and track. After struggling with injuries, Carly decided to switch from running to throwing the javelin, and competed at the MAC Championship in 2021 in the javelin.

While at Ohio University, Carly earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Training in 2020, and is currently in the process of acquiring a Master’s in Public Health.

Carly currently resides in Athens, Ohio while working on her Master’s, and is a Sales Associate at Ohio Valley Running Company.

HONORARY INDUCTEE: JOSH LONG

Josh Long is a 1991 graduate of Covington High School. While at Covington, Josh participated in golf, football, basketball and baseball. He went on to Wright State University to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Education in 1999. Josh Long started out his teaching career at Covington as a 6th grade Math Teacher. Josh went on to earn his Master’s from the University of Dayton in 2010.

While teaching, Mr. Long has also spent his time coaching almost every sport offered at Covington. Josh has coached Junior High Football, Junior High Girls’ Basketball, Junior High Boys’ Basketball, Junior High Cross Country, Junior High Track, Reserve Baseball, High School Track, Reserve Boys’ Basketball, and Varsity Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country (16 years).

Over his coaching career, Mr. Long has had outstanding teams that have won conference championships, district championships, regional championship, and qualified for state. Because of these accomplishments, Josh has been name Conference Coach of the Year numerous times for both cross country and track.

Josh has always been one of those coaches that you can count on for anything, and that will always represent Covington well and be a strong role model for our students and student-athletes.

Mr. Long is currently the Elementary Principal at Covington, and still resides in Covington with his wife Libby, and their three kids, Asher, Elyza and Ivy.