2012 Inductee Matt Turner, 1988
Matt Turner, a 1988 graduate of Bellevue High School, excelled as a runner in the sports of cross country and track and field. He earned a total of seven varsity letters along the way.
In cross country, Matt was a three-time Northern Ohio League first team performer, a three-time Regional and State qualifier, and a three-time All-Ohio runner.
As a sophomore, Matt was a member of the Redmen team that won the Maumee Invitational, NOL Meet, District, Regional, and State Championships. The team also took second place at the Tiffin Carnival, and individually Matt was First Team All-NOL and First Team All-Ohio after finishing ninth overall in Columbus.
As a junior, Turner was the first runner to cross the line in eight of nine dual meets. He was First Team All-NOL, led his team to runner-up finishes at Perrysburg, the Tiffin Carnival and Regionals, finished fifth overall at State and helped the Redmen to a third place finish. He was team captain and MVP and broke 16 minutes twice during the season, running 15:48 at Shelby and 15:54 at the NOL Meet.
In 1987 as a senior, Matt was co-captain and took first place individually at all 10 dual meets. He helped the Redmen team to runner-up finishes at the Tiffin Carnival, NOL, District, and State. Matt won both the NOL and District Meets and was runner-up at Regionals. He capped his career for Bellevue with a runner-up finish at State, the highest-ever finish for a Bellevue runner. He broke 16 minutes four times with a season-best time of 15:52 at Regionals. He ran at the Midwest Meet of Champions where he finished fifth.
Matt earned four letters in track and field for the Redmen, scoring 38 points as a freshman, 107 ¼ points as a sophomore, 141 as a junior, and 177 ¼ as a senior. He lowered his distance times all four years. In the 3200 run, he ran 10:10.3 as a freshman, 9:40.4 as a sophomore, 9:35.8 as a junior, and 9:28.9 as a senior. In the 1600 run, his times were 4:58, 4:41.5, 4:29.8, and 4:29.2.
He qualified for Regionals his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, and ran at the State Meet his final two seasons. He was co-captain in both 1987 and 1988 and team MVP his senior season. He finished sixth overall in the 3200 run as a senior at State, and his time of 9:28.9 in the 3200 run is a school record that still stands today.
Matt then ran at the Naval Academy for two years, earning letters in cross country and track and the N-Star for beating Army, before transferring to LaSalle and earning three additional varsity letters in both cross country and track.
Matt and his wife, Jennifer, and their two children, reside in Charlotte, NC. He is a partner in a management consulting firm as an industrial/organizational psychologist.