MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Six outstanding contributors to Mountaineer athletics make up the 35th class of honorees in the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame, announced today by Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker.
The class of 2025 includes Chelsea Carrier-Eades (track & field), Bill Kirelawich (football), Pat McAfee (football), Bill Stewart (football), Darrell Whitmore (baseball/football) and Petra Zublasing (rifle). This class brings the total number of inductees to 243.
Induction ceremonies will take place on Saturday, Sept. 27, prior to the West Virginia-Utah football game.
Chelsea Carrier-Eades
Chelsea Carrier-Eades is one of the most decorated track & field athletes in school history, earning eight All-America honors from 2008-12.
In 2010, the Buckhannon, West Virginia, native earned her first and second All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Her first came after a fourth-place showing in the pentathlon, finishing with 4,133 total points. Later in the day, Carrier-Eades earned her second with a sixth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles (8.29).
That year, she was named the Mid-Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year after earning two Big East champion honors and breaking the school record in the pentathlon at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge with 4,136 points, eclipsing the school record previously set by All-American and WVU Sports Hall of Famer Pat Itanyi (4,111).
In 2011, Carrier-Eades earned first team All-America honors in the heptathlon after placing third with 5,761 points and third team All-America honors in the 100-meter hurdles after placing 19th in 13.56 seconds. Once again, Carrier-Eades was named the Mid-Atlantic Field Athlete of the Year after winning three individual Big East titles in the long jump, 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles.
During the indoor season, Carrier-Eades earned All-America honors in the 60-meter hurdles with a fourth-place finish in 8.08 seconds, besting her personal best of 8.15 seconds. She notched another All-America award in the pentathlon with a fifth-place finish, scoring 4,128 points.
Her junior campaign saw her break school records in the 60-meter hurdles, pentathlon, 100-meter hurdles and the heptathlon. She also participated in the USA Track and Field Championships, finishing 16th in the semifinals round in a time of 13.04 seconds.
In 2012, she notched All-America awards in the heptathlon and the 100-meter hurdles. Carrier-Eades placed third in the heptathlon with 5,839 points and seventh in the hurdles in 13.31. She ran a career and school-best 12.78 in the 100-meter hurdles during the semifinals at NCAAs and won the heptathlon for a second consecutive year at the Texas Relays.
Carrier-Eades still holds WVU school records in the 60-meter hurdles (8.08, 2011), pentathlon (4,170, 2011), 100-meter hurdles (12.78, 2012) and heptathlon (5,927, 2011).
In all, Carrier-Eades was an 11-time NCAA individual qualifier and a 10-time Big East champion.
Outside of WVU, Carrier represented Team USA at the Thorpe Cup in Germany and finished third in the heptathlon and competed in the USA Olympic Trails and numerous professional events.
In high school, Carrier-Eades won 11 state championships in track, was a two-time Gatorade Athlete of the Year and multiple winning of the Ray McCoy Awards, given annually to the top amateur track & field athlete in West Virginia. She was inducted into the Buckhannon-Upshur Hall of Fame.
Carrier-Eades received her bachelor’s degree from WVU in child development and family studies with a certification in special education.
She married her high school sweetheart, Wesley Eades, and they have four children, Tristan (7), Brecken (5), Nolan (3) and Evie (1). After retiring from her professional track & field career in 2016, she became a certified personal trainer/group instructor and currently works from home with a new wellness business while raising her children.
Bill Kirelawich
Bill Kirelawich, the winningest assistant football coach in WVU history, spent 32 years at West Virginia from 1979-2011.
During that time, Kirelawich was part of 23 bowl appearances, including some of WVU’s top bowl wins and national championship appearances in school history, culminating with WVU’s win over Clemson in the 2012 Orange Bowl.
Kirelawich joined Frank Cignetti’s staff in 1979 before joining Don Nehlen’s staff in 1980 as a defensive line coach. He coached the defensive line from 1980-87, outside linebackers from 1988-90, the defensive line from 1991-00 and was an administrative assistant in 2001-02. Kirelawich was then the defensive line coach on Rich Rodriguez‘s staff from 2003-07, Bill Stewart’s staff from 2008-10 and Dana Holgersen’s staff in 2011.
In 2010, Kirelawich was named the FootballScoop.com’s National Defensive Line Coach of the Year with Bruce Irvin finishing second in the country in sacks. In 1996, the Mountaineer defense ranked first nationally in total defense, second in rushing defense and fourth in scoring defense. The 2005 team ranked 13th in scoring defense, the 2006 team ranked 13th nationally in rushing defense, the 2007 team ranked seventh in total defense and eighth in scoring defense and the 2008 team ranked 11th in scoring defense.
His lines helped the Mountaineer defense lead the Big East in rushing defense and scoring defense four times. Kirelawich coached eight first-team All-Big East selections, including at least one each of the last four years and eight second-team honorees. He coached five All-Americans (Johnny Dingle, Bruce Irvin, Chris Neild, John Thornton and Henry Slay).
Kirelawich also coached numerous professional players: Todd Campbell, Johnny Dingle, Keilen Dykes, David Grant, Bruce Irvin, Pat Marlatt, Jim Merritts, Chris Neild, Henry Slay, Renaldo Turnbull and John Thornton, and recruited the likes of Anthony Becht, John Bertram, Aaron Beasley, Noel Devine, Rick Gilliam, Jake Kelchner, Irvin, Kurt Kehl, Chris Neild, Chris Parker, Lovett Purnell, Bo Orlando, Tom Robsock, Freddie Smalls, Steve Slaton, Thornton, Kevin White and Grant Wiley.
A native of Frackville, Pennsylvania, Kirelawich was a standout linebacker at Salem College under WVU Sports Hall of Fame member Donnie Young. The senior captain led the Tigers to an 8-1 record and a top 20 NAIA national ranking. His 89-yard interception return stands as a school record. He earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Salem in 1969 and was inducted into the Salem Hall of Fame in 2006.
Kirelawich began his coaching career, serving as the head coach at Cardinal Brennan (Pa.) High from 1970-78. He had nine players sign scholarships at Division I schools and his 1975 team was ranked No. 10 in Pennsylvania. Following his WVU career, he served as a defensive line coach for Rodriguez at Arizona.
Kirelawich and his wife, Maggie, have three children, Miki, Billy and Jake, and five grandchildren.
Pat McAfee
Pat McAfee was one of the top kickers and punters in the Big East Conference, as well as the nation, from 2005-08.
The native of Plum, Pennsylvania, handled the team’s punting, kickoff, extra point and field goal duties. During his career, McAfee was named a CBSSports.com First Team All-American, Walter Camp Football Foundation Second Team All-American, Associated Press Third Team All-American, Ray Guy Award finalist, Lou Groza Award semifinalist and played in the Under Armour Senior Bowl.
McAfee was a four-time bowl winner: 2006 Sugar, 2007 Gator, 2008 Fiesta and 2008 Car Care. He set the WVU career records for most games played (51), scoring (384), kick scoring (384) and extra points made (210), was third in punting average (43.7) and field goals made (58) and eighth in number of punts (126). He held the Big East records for most extra points made, was second on the all-time scoring list, second in punting average and third in field goals made. At the conclusion of his career, he was tied for 22nd in overall scoring and 16th among kickers in NCAA history.
As a senior in 2008, McAfee hit a career long 52-yard field goal against Villanova and then again against Cincinnati to send the game into overtime. He was one of two players that season to hit two or more 50-yard field goals. McAfee averaged 44.7 yards per punt with a season long of 65 yards and hit all 36 extra points.
In his junior season, he was the second-leading scorer on the team with 103 total points. McAfee had 12 points on two field goals and six extra points against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
In 2006, McAfee hit a 51-yard field goal at Pitt, which at the time, was the longest (college or pro) in then-Heinz Field history. He made all 62 extra points that season and made four field goals in the triple-overtime win against Rutgers, including one less than a minute in regulation.
McAfee earned the job on placements and kickoffs as a true freshman in 2005 and was named the Big East Player of the Week against Maryland.
McAfee was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He made two Pro Bowl appearances, was an All-Pro in 2014 and played in Super Bowl XLIV in his rookie year during an eight-year NFL career.
McAfee retired from football in 2017. He has hosted The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN, is an analyst on College GameDay and is a color commentator and occasional wrestler for the WWE.
In high school, McAfee was first team all-conference at Plum High and ranked as the No. 1 kicker in the nation by Scout.com. He was the 2003 national Punt, Pass and Kick champion and won the One-on-One kicking competition in Miami with a 65-yard field goal. McAfee was a three-time first team All-WPIAL in soccer.
McAfee and his wife, Samantha, have one child, Mackenzie, and live in Indianapolis.
Bill Stewart
Bill Stewart, best known as Coach Stew, led WVU to one of the greatest bowl wins in school history and had a .700 winning percentage as a head football coach from 2009-11.
After guiding WVU to a remarkable 48-28 victory against Oklahoma in one of the most memorable and significant wins in school history at the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Stewart was named WVU’s 33rd head football coach on Jan. 3, 2008, a day after that impressive triumph.
He followed up the Oklahoma victory with three consecutive nine-win seasons, including trips to the Meineke Car Care, Gator and Champs Sports Bowls. Stewart’s nine victories in 2008 represented the most ever by a first-year Mountaineer coach, and his 28-12 career mark included a .700 winning percentage that ranks fifth among all WVU grid coaches. His Big East championship in 2010 was the school’s sixth at the time. The players Stewart recruited won another Big East title and Orange Bowl victory over Clemson in the next season in 2011.
Stewart coached 30 players to All-Big East accolades in his three seasons, including quarterback Pat White, who became the NCAA’s all-time leading rushing quarterback and the first in college football history to win four straight bowl games as a starting quarterback. Stewart saw 18 of his West Virginia players drafted by NFL teams, and he led two Mountaineer squads to Top 25 finishes in 2008 and 2009, while his 2010 team was ranked for several weeks during the season.
Prior to being named head coach at WVU, Stewart spent eight seasons on the West Virginia staff under WVU coaches Don Nehlen and Rich Rodriguez, working with the Mountaineer tight ends and serving as associate head coach in 2007 after spending the prior seven seasons coaching the quarterbacks. He also had the role of special teams coordinator under Rodriguez. It was Nehlen who brought him back to his home state in 2000 as quarterbacks coach, and Stewart helped guide the squad to a winning season and Music City Bowl victory in Nehlen’s final game.
His lengthy coaching resume began at Fairmont State, where he was a student assistant coach for a season, before becoming an assistant coach at Sistersville (W.Va.) High in 1975. In 1977, he moved to Salem College, where he was an assistant football and head track coach for two seasons. In 1979, he moved to North Carolina; he was later an assistant at Marshall (1980), William & Mary (1981-83), Navy (1984), North Carolina (1985-87), Arizona State (1988-89) and Air Force (1990-93). Aside from the 10 bowl games he coached in West Virginia, Stewart was also a part of bowl squads at North Carolina and Air Force.
In 1994, Stewart became head football coach at VMI for three seasons. His 1995 team was the highest scoring squad in VMI history, and Keydet running back Thomas Haskins set a I-AA rushing record with 5,349 yards.
Stewart came to WVU in 2000 from the Canadian Football League, where he served as offensive coordinator of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1999, tutoring two all-conference receivers and a 1,000-yard rusher. While he was offensive line coach for the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes in 1998, Stewart’s line blocked for Mike Pringle, the first 2,000-yard rusher in CFL history.
Stewart was a 1975 education graduate from Fairmont State where he was a three-year letterman and team captain for the WVIAC champions in 1974. He later earned his master’s degree in health and physical education from WVU in 1977. Before transferring to Fairmont State, Stewart played on the WVU freshman football team under legendary coach Bobby Bowden and was the head coach of the Mountaineers against Florida State in Bowden’s final game in the 2010 Gator Bowl.
Stewart died on May 21, 2012, leaving behind his bride, Karen, and son, Blaine, a former WVU assistant coach and now assistant coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Darrell Whitmore
Darrell Whitmore was a two-sport standout in baseball and football from 1988-91.
The Front Royal, Virginia, native played two seasons in right field with the Mountaineers in 1989-90, hitting .392 with 78 hits and 72 RBI in 199 at-bats. Whitmore had 18 doubles, 11 home runs and three triples with 57 runs scored and six stolen bases, playing in 71 games with 60 starts. He was named to the All-Atlantic 10 First Team and to the All-East Region Second Team in 1990.
Whitmore owns school records with a .678 slugging percentage and .481 on-base percentage. He set the school record with a .392 career batting average, which now ranks second all-time. Whitmore had a .757 slugging percentage in 1990, which now ranks fifth all-time and was second in program history at that time and posted a .559 on-base percentage in 1990, which now ranks fourth all-time.
He was drafted by the then-Cleveland Indians in the second round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft and played professionally from 1990-2002. Whitmore played in 112 games in three MLB seasons with the then-Florida Marlins, recording 67 hits, 31 runs scored, 11 doubles, five home runs and two triples.
Whitmore was also a four-year starter at safety on the Mountaineer football team, recording 14 career interceptions and left as the career leader in passes broken up with 21.
He started 11 games as a freshman, finishing as the fifth-leading tackler on the team with 61 tackles, including 36 solo stops, and was second on the team with four interceptions. In his first collegiate game, Whitmore caused a fumbled punt and blocked a punt, resulting in two WVU touchdowns. He missed the Fiesta Bowl game versus Notre Dame with a broken leg suffered against Syracuse in the final game of the regular season.
Whitmore started all 12 games as a sophomore and was the fifth-leading tackler on the team with 68 stops, including 42 unassisted. He had a pair of interceptions at Maryland, including one on the first drive of the second half that set up WVU’s first score, and his second came with just four seconds remaining to stop the Terps’ final drive. Whitmore had nine tackles in the 1989 Gator Bowl.
In 1990, he started all 11 games as a junior and was the fifth-leading tackler with 64, including 35 unassisted. Whitmore finished with a team-leading four interceptions and had three interceptions against Cincinnati, setting a new Mountaineer Field record. He also recorded seven tackles and forced a fumble against the Bearcats. Whitmore had a career-high 13 tackles at South Carolina. He was named AP All-East and honorable mention All-America.
In 1991, Whitmore played 11 games and started seven as a senior, finishing with 23 tackles and a team-leading three interceptions.
Whitmore and his wife, Ayanna, have two children, Gianna and Ava.
Petra Zublasing
Petra Zublasing is the only Mountaineer to win three individual NCAA Championships during her career from 2011-13, claiming the 2012 air rifle title while winning the air rifle and smallbore disciplines the following season in 2013.
Her 2013 success marked the first time in WVU program history a student-athlete had won both disciplines in the same season. She was the third Mountaineer to win titles in back-to-back seasons.
She was a five-time NCAA All-American, claiming the honor in air rifle three times (2011, 2012, 2013) and smallbore twice (2012, 2013). Zublasing was named the 2013 College Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) Shooter of the Championship in 2013.
Zublasing claimed two Great America Rifle Conference individual titles, winning smallbore in 2012 before earning the air rifle title in 2013. She was named the conference Shooter of the Year in 2012 and 2013 while adding Senior of the Year honors in 2013. She also added All-GARC First team honors in air rifle, smallbore and combined score in 2012 and 2013.
At the time, Zublasing was one of seven Mountaineers to record a perfect 600 in air rifle and still holds the third-best mark in smallbore with a 595. Her 120-shot aggregate match score of 1193 was a program best, while her 120-shot season average of 1187.67 also topped the program record book. Her 60-shot smallbore season average of 591.33 is the second-best in program history.
Academically, she was a three-time CRCA Academic All-American (2011-2012-2013) and earned CoSIDA (now CSC) Academic At Large All-American honors in 2012 and 2013 while also adding all-district II honors during both seasons. She added an Academic All-Big 12 honors in 2013.
Zublasing competed at two Olympics, representing Italy, qualifying in 2012 for the London Games and then again in 2016 at the Rio Games. During her first Olympics, she finished in 12th place in air rifle and smallbore. At Rio, she narrowly missed the podium in smallbore, taking home a fourth-place finish and a 437.7 score. She added a 33rd-place finish in air rifle.
Zublasing closed out her WVU career by earning the 2013 Order of Augusta Award, winning the Red Brown Cup in 2012 and 2013 and being named the 2013 WVU Outstanding Senior.
Zublasing is a native of Appiano, Italy. She graduated from West Virginia University in 2013 with a degree in civil engineering.
After nearly two decades of competing on the world stage in rifle, she earned another degree in visual communications from Istituto Europeo di Design, where her designs have been used in a wide range of applications from children to scientific illustrations.
