This column introduces a new writer for the Icon, Bill Herr, who will be providing monthly articles about Bluffton athletes.
Who is the greatest of all time (GOAT) among female athletes at Bluffton High School (BHS)? It is Juleen Matter (track)? Or Ann Stechschulte (track)? Or Caity Matter (basketball)? Or Bonnie Stratton (track)?
Another candidate is Janet Shelly. Janet (Shelly) Donigan was a good student in my mathematics classes at Bluffton High School. She graduated in 1979. Her father was Bruce Shelly, a Nationwide insurance agent. After retirement Bruce and Marilyn Shelly moved to Florida. Janet has owned her own business, Health Care Financial Group, for 32 years in Florida. She is a CPA and is a consultant to hospitals. She and her husband, Jim Donigan, have three adult children.
Janet was the most valuable person (MVP) in track and basketball her sophomore and junior years. She qualified for the state track meet her first three years in high school. She still owns the 400 meter record at BHS with a time of 58.3 seconds. In basketball she made the UPI All-Ohio during her junior year. She was offered a track scholarship from Bowling Green State University.
Then she tore her ACL. Unlike today, the medical profession was not able to repair her injury. She had to give up track and basketball her senior year, but she went out for the golf team. In the yearbook picture of the golf team, there are eleven guys, and Janet.
In the summer between her junior and senior years, I witnessed something that I will never forget. My church softball team played in the Bluffton Church League. In those days, the diamond was in the southeast corner of Harmon Field near the railroad tracks. Down past the first base line and to the right was an old building that the football team used for weightlifting, and where they gathered at halftime of football games. It was left open and there was weightlifting equipment inside.
On a very hot summer day, my softball team played a game there. In one inning we made the third out and came to the bench for our turn at bat. After a few moments I noticed a girl walking toward the old building. She had a duffel bag over her shoulder. One of her legs was wrapped heavily and she was limping badly. It was Janet Shelly. I knew she must be going there to lift weights to rehabilitate her knee. It was a poignant moment that I will never forget.
I had such admiration for her. She was a fighter. She was fighting to get back to the sports that she loved. She wasn’t successful, but she demonstrated an inner drive, a fighting spirit that exceptional athletes have. Today Janet plays golf with her daughter in Florida. She also has twin boys. All three were good athletes. In Pirate sports annals, Janet Shelly will never be forgotten.
