Class of 2022 Inductees
Ben Lippen Inducts Three at 2022 Athletics Hall of Fame Reception
Ben Lippen School will celebrate Homecoming 2022 by honoring three people who have made outstanding contributions to Ben Lippen athletics during its 82-year history that began in Asheville, North Carolina, the school’s first location.
The Hall of Fame inductees are:
- Marie Hadinger Coggin (’97), a Ben Lippen five-sport letterman in cross country, track, volleyball, basketball and soccer.
- Bobby Richardson, a Sumter native who played 12 seasons with the New York Yankees including nine World Series appearances. He served Ben Lippen as a community ambassador, director of summer sports camps, a volunteer baseball coach and the head basketball coach for one season.
- Bob Weeber (posthumously), served Ben Lippen School for over 40 years, with half of those years in athletics positions that included athletics director, as well as baseball and basketball coach.
The Criteria for Nomination includes, but is not limited to:
- Nominee must have been an outstanding athlete, coach or significant contributor to Ben Lippen Athletics.
- Nominee must have graduated or separated from Ben Lippen school at least eight years prior to being selected.
- Nominee must have demonstrated strong contributions to family and community life.
- Nominee must exemplify the ideals of Christian faith in his or her life.
2022 Hall of Fame Inductee Bios and Stats
Marie (Hadinger) Coggin was a five-sport letterman at Ben Lippen School, excelling in cross country, track, volleyball, basketball and soccer. She earned Ben Lippen’s Athlete of the Year award each of her high school years from 1993-1997, named to the SCISA All-Academic Team 1994-95 and was SCISA All-Region in basketball, volleyball and soccer for three years from 1994-1997.
One of Coggin’s most significant basketball accomplishments was becoming the first Lady Falcon to score 1,000 points. In her junior year, she helped her volleyball team win the first and only Ben Lippen State Volleyball Championship. Outside of athletics, Coggin was involved in student government and The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) at Ben Lippen.
Coggin continued playing soccer in college at Wingate University.
Today, Coggin has twin boys and resides in Monroe, North Carolina where she coached at the high school level for over 12 years, but now that she has sons, coaches basketball and soccer in the seven to nine-year-old age group and strives to instill valuable life skills such as PMA (positive mental attitude), which she learned at Ben Lippen.
Bobby Richardson grew up in Sumter, South Carolina, and by age 19 he was playing second base for the New York Yankees, the first of 12 outstanding seasons with the Yanks. During his career, the Yankees went to the World Series nine times, winning seven championships. Richardson played in 30 consecutive World Series games, and in 1959, earned MVP honors.
During his career, Richardson earned five Gold Glove awards, was selected to multiple All-Star teams, led the American League in hits in 1962, and was runner-up to teammate Mickey Mantle for MVP that same year. As a man of faith, Richardson had the privilege of leading his friend Mantle to the Lord.
After leaving the Major Leagues, Richardson coached at the University of South Carolina for six years. Under his leadership, the Gamecocks made it to the College World Series Championship in 1975.
Soon after leaving the Gamecocks in 1976, Richardson served as an ambassador for Ben Lippen School for two years where he also directed summer sports camps, volunteered as an assistant baseball coach, and was head basketball coach for one season.
Since then, Richardson has been an athletics director for Coastal Carolina University and Liberty University. Today he is retired and living back in Sumter. Two of his sons graduated from Ben Lippen and serve as pastors.
Bob Weeber
Bob Weeber (posthumously) served Ben Lippen School for over 40 years, with half of those years in athletics positions that included athletics director, as well as baseball and basketball coach beginning in Asheville and later on the Columbia campus.
Weeber, who in his high school years was scouted by the Detroit Tigers, led Falcons baseball to a second-place finish in the Carolina Athletic Association (CAA) in 1972. By 1974, they had an undefeated season. In the 1980s, the Falcons won nearly every conference baseball title.
Weeber is remembered as being very good at conveying the fundamentals of baseball including hitting, fielding and base-running with practices that were tough yet fun. He was also known for going out of his way to get to know his players and other students at a personal level by inviting two freshmen to his family dinner on Fridays.
Ben Lippen’s Weeber-Hathaway football stadium and track are named in part after Bob Weeber.