The following is the second in a series of seven features profiling members of the SRU Athletic Hall of Fame's Class of 2013
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Louis Hanna, who earned distinction as an all-state football student-athlete at Slippery Rock State College and later as a high school coach and athletic administrator, will be honored posthumously in September by induction into the Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame.
A 1940 Slippery Rock graduate, Hanna will be one of seven members of the Class of 2013, the 30th group to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Hanna earned Associated Press all-state honors as a right halfback and served as co-captain of the unbeaten, untied (8-0-0) 1939 Rock football team.
In addition to playing football at The Rock, Hanna was the gymnastic team manager and intramural basketball president during the 1939-1940 academic year.
Following graduation from Slippery Rock, Hanna served 30 seasons as a head football coach, the final 22 at Corry High School, where he led teams to seven District 10 Section II championships and two undefeated seasons. His compiled an impressive 123-63-7 record at Corry and had a 173-86-9 career record.
Hanna also served as a physical education instructor from 1940-1978 and was Corry's athletic director from 1948-78, a time during which he promoted equality in sports for women. Under his direction, Corry hosted the first co-ed tennis match in 1975. Hanna also helped fellow Rock graduate and Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Roy Van Horn co-found the nation's first football camp in 1961.
On Sept. 30, 2011, the Corry Area School District recognized Hanna's longtime commitment to the district by erecting a commemorative "Champions Wall" and naming the athletic fields and stadium "The Lou Hanna Athletic Complex."
Born in New Salem, Pa., and a graduate of Masontown High School in 1936, Hanna was a member of the first-ever induction classes of the the Pennsylvania High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame (1986) and Corry Sports Hall of Fame (1998). Hanna was also inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Erie Metropolitan Chapter, in 1988.
The father of five children, Hanna passed away in January 1983. He will be represented at the induction ceremony by members of his family.
Joining Hanna in the Hall of Fame's Class of 2013 will be fellow football All-American Rick Allen (SRU Class of 1983), former Rock gymnastics coaches Cheryl Levick and Lucy Sack, former cross country All-American Fred Lucas (SRU Class of 1965), former track and field national champion Stephen Rihel and former swimming and diving standout Robert Peterson (SRU Class of 1961).
Induction ceremonies for the Class of 2013 are scheduled for Sept. 28 as part of The Rock's home football game weekend vs. Mercyhurst University. Festivities are scheduled to start with a social hour at 1:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 2:30 p.m. Members of the Class of 2013 will also be honored during halftime of the football game.
Tickets for the Athletic Hall of Fame dinner are $40 each. All reservations must be made online at
www.rockalumnicafe.com/halloffame.
For more information on the induction ceremonies, contact Pearl Shaffer, associate director of alumni engagement, at
pearl.shaffer@sru.edu or 724.738.2768.
