By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It was Hall of Fame Night at North Adams High School on January 31 as the Green Devils hosted New Hope Christian in varsity boys basketball action. There will be five new plaques adorning the wall outside of the North Adams gymnasium, including Charlee Louden, Rob Meade, Madee Shipley, Kenny Wilmoth and as a Friend of North Adams, Rita Lucas.
Charlee Louden is a 2018 graduate of North Adams High School and is the North Adams volleyball record holder for most kills in a career, most kills in a season, and most kills in a game. She recorded 1,083 career kills in her high school volleyball career.
Charlee was named All-State in volleyball in 2017 and wasS an All-District playerthree years and All-SHAC three years.She was named the SHAC Volleyball Player of the Year in 2017 and her Lady Devils teams won the SHAC Gold Ball four consecutive seasons.
Charlee played college volleyball at Cincinnati Christian University and graduated with a degree in Elementary Education andis currently an elementary teacher and the Varsity volleyball coach at Western Brown High School.
Rob Meade has coached baseball, basketball, and volleyball at North Adams and influenced countless young men and young ladies.
He was the Girls varsity volleyball coach from 1996-2002, recording 97 career wins and three SHAC championships, was the SHAC Volleyball Coach of the Year three times, and District Volleyball Coach of the Year. He served three years as president of the District Volleyball Coaches Association.
Mr. Meade coached the varsity baseball team for 14 years, recording 120 career wins and remains the treasurer of the District Baseball Coaches Association.
In basketball, he was the Assistant varsity, JV, and freshman coach for 26 years. He was the District Basketball Assistant Coach of the Year in 2020 and also an assitant on the 1996 Final Four team.
Rob was awarded the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Bob Arnzen Longevity award for coaching basketball 20+ years at one school.
Recently, Rob has helped with the high school volleyball teams and been a valuable asset to the program for the past 5 years. He is currently a teacher at North Adams High School and in the 2026-27 school year, he will continue his work with athletics as the new Commissioner of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
Madee Shipley is a 2018 graduate of North Adams High School and was the North Adams starting soccer goalie for four years. She is the school record holder in career games, career saves, and career save %, recording 31 career soccer shutouts and 547 career soccer saves.
She was named All-State soccer in 2017, soccer All-District three years and All-SHAC three years.
Madee played college soccer at Muskingum University and graduated with a degrees in Health and Fitness and Health Administration. She currently owns and operates her own business, MJ’s Coffee Roastery.
Kenny Wilmoth is a 1996 graduate of North Adam High School and was co-captain and the starting shooting guard for the 1996 Final Four varsity boys basketball team. The team was also regional, district, sectional, and league Gold Ball champions.
Kenny is in the North Adams record book for most free throws in a game, best field goal % in a game, and best field goal % in a season. He was named SHAC All-League and All-District in basketball in 1996 and was also named SHAC All- League in golf in 1994. He was the county cross country champion in 1995, and a district qualifier in the 800m Run in 1996.
Kenny is employed at Cintas as the IT manager. He has been with Cintas for 22 years.
Rita Lucas was the secretary at North Adams from 1989-2000. She was supportive of every student at North Adams, a cross between a mom and a guidance counselor and was North Adams’ largest fan along with her husband RC.
She was the school volunteer photographer at games and in the days before digital pictures on Facebook, Rita printed pictures with her own money and gave envelopes full of pictures to each athlete. There were also baskets of pictures on the tables at the end of the season banquets. She also made many posters for games and the school hallways.
Rita designed and sewed a banner each year. She would have the athletes sign it and it would be displayed behind the team bench. She also made a hoop for the athletes to run through for home games.
Today, Rita continues to donate something to every benefit that North Adams hosts.
(Thanks to NAHS Athletic Director Katie Ragan for her assistance with this story.)
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