Mike Maynard, Staff Writer—

On June 24th, 2023, Bill Mason ‘57 will be inducted into his fourth athletic hall of fame: the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA).

The Ohio Lacrosse Hall of Fame ‘96, Orange High School Hall of Fame ‘96, and the Denison Athletic Hall of Fame ‘97 are the three other esteemed groups where his contributions have been acknowledged.

In the Ohio Lacrosse Hall of Fame, he is recognized in all four categories that warrant induction: as a player, a coach, an official, and a “Pioneer” of the sport.

During his time at Denison, Mason was known to be a dual-sport athlete, but that wasn’t initially the case.

He was only here for basketball when he first arrived at the university in 1953. At the time, an alumni from Cleveland had sponsored Mason to attend Denison.

“Every year I send a scholar athlete from the greater Cleveland area to Denison, and I want to send you,” Mason said about the conversation that brought him to Granville.

For his first two years at the university, Mason only pursued basketball. It was not until his junior year of college where he would be recruited to join the lacrosse team.

Dr. Rix Yard, the Athletic Director at the time, was planning on starting a lacrosse program at Denison.

“It was enjoyable,” Mason said. “I loved basketball but I wasn’t a shooter. I was a playmaker. If there had been a point guard back then, I would have been a point guard. But lacrosse captured all the things I loved about athletics.”

The addition of lacrosse to his athletic repertoire came easy, racking up several accolades in his short collegiate career.

In his senior year alone, Mason won MVP on the midwest championship team, was a All-Midwest Mid-field selection, and set a record of 38 consecutive controlled faceoffs.

For Mason, that was only the beginning of his impact on the sport.

Soon after graduating, he took on an assistant coaching role with the lacrosse team for the next ten years. After his stint in coaching, Mason spent the next 22 years as an lacrosse official.“I played it up until I was in my late 50’s,” Mason said.

He was also part of starting the Columbus Lacrosse Club, where he both played and coached for a long time.

But as he advanced in his career as an educator, maintaining his commitment to the club became more difficult. Mason also remained in the local Newark community after graduating from Denison.

Between 1957 and 1997, Mason held several roles in education such as teaching, principal, superintendent, and a professor at Ohio State Newark.

He additionally received several awards in his educational career during the late 80’s and early 90’s.

Working with young people has been a long time passion of Mason. Just like the alumni who saw something in him, Mason carried on that same approach in life toward those who he could make a difference for.

Denison Swimming Head Coach Gregg Parini saw that from Mason during the very first time they met. His son, Joe Parini, was a lacrosse player at Granville high school.

In one of his first games he got thrown out of the game, and Parini has never forgotten what happened next.

“He was pretty wound up on the sideline, then I watch this guy walk down to the end of the bench and put his arm around Joe. Within five minutes he had Joe calmed down,” Parini said. “So after the game I talked to Joe and I asked who was that?”

Who was it? None other than volunteer coach Bill Mason.

“That was my first introduction to Mace, and then I watched him the rest of the season and saw what a positive impact he had on the young men on that team,” Parini said.

It was not long after that introduction that Parini was hiring for his own team at Denison. He called Bill Mason.

“I offered him to come in and work as our strength coach,” Parini said. Mason’s athletic experience consisted of playing basketball and lacrosse. He did not know anything about coaching a swim team.

But for Parini, it wasn’t about having knowledge in the sport itself.

“He knew how to handle young men and women, I knew he was really good at it. That’s the kind of guy I want on my staff,” Parini said.

Parini says Mason has a gift for working with young people. “He does a really good job of empowering the kids to go after their goals and they always feel supported,” Parini said.

Mason has always been an encouraging presence regardless of the environment, whether it be in the weight room, the classroom, a board meeting, a sit down interview, or in a fraternal space.

Sigma Chi President, Will Solis ‘25, knows Bill Mason from their interactions at the fraternity’s house, where Mason is the active house manager and a former member of the chapter during his college years.

“When I met Bill, I just knew he was a total Denison guy,” Solis said. “[That] was really unique because there’s not many people I know who have been here as long as Bill has.”

The brothers of Sigma Chi look up to Bill Mason. He is a valuable leader in their eyes. Mason has been able to connect with the fraternity men in a lot of ways, oftentimes being able to relate as they have members who are student-athletes.

“He’s been through the exact same thing that we’ve been through or going through right now,” Solis said.

Wherever Mason goes, he leaves his mark on those around him.

The stories from the many individuals he has positively influenced over the years do not make it difficult to understand that Mason is a humble, considerate, and hard working person that believes in helping others, and consistently sees and brings the best out of people.

Congratulations to Bill Mason on his upcoming induction into the Ohio High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, the honor only scratches the surface of the interpersonal impact that his legacy embodies.