SALEM, West Virginia - Now that the fall season of Tigers athletics is in full swing, the Salem University Athletics Department has announced the 2022 Pinnacle Award recipients.

The Pinnacle Award honors those former student-athletes at Salem who have reached the pinnacle of their respective athletic endeavors whether that be through coaching, playing, or officiating professionally. Whether it be officiating in Super Bowls or winning championships as coaches and players, these former Salem student-athletes have represented the best of the best in their respective athletic pursuits. Additionally, any former Tiger who is honored by an outside organization via the naming of a facility in their honor (without providing for it monetarily) is also honored with the Pinnacle Award. 

The Pinnacle Award honorees were formally given their awards at a special awards ceremony in their honor on October 7th at 2 pm. In attendance was Kathy Deloplaine, wife of the late Jack Deloplaine, who was included in the premier Pinnacle Award Class. 

The honorees for the 2022 class are as follows:

Rex Bowen (Posthumous) (1929-1933)

Rex Bowen played both football and baseball in his time at Salem, and even captained the baseball team during his senior season. After Salem, Bowen had a lengthy career in the minor leagues of professional baseball as a player and manager. After his minor league days were done, Bowen got into scouting where he would excel professionally. He started off as a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers starting in 1943. In 1950, he moved over to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1955, he was elevated to the scouting director role for the Pirates, and he would serve in that role for the next 12 years. In 1967, the Reds hired Bowen to become a special assistant to the General Manager, where he orchestrated all the Reds scouting efforts across the country. After serving in that capacity until 1975, Bowen stepped down, but remained a consultant with the Reds until 1990. In 2000, the writers at Baseball America credited Bowen as one of the 10 scouts of the 20th Century due to his signing of Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski and countless other star players in the Major Leagues.

Mike Carey (1976-1980)

The Mike Carey and Salem athletics are deeply connected. After excelling as a basketball student-athlete for the Tigers from 1976-1980, Carey embarked on a career in coaching where he was immensely successful. From 1980 to 1987, he was a head coach at the high school level, where he coached at Flemington High School and Liberty High School in Clarksburg. From there, Carey returned to Salem in 1987 as an assistant coach with the women's basketball team, and just one year later, he took over the head coaching role. Over the next 13 seasons at the helm, Carey would lead his teams to the post-season 7 times and advance to the Elite Eight twice, and even reached the national semifinals in 1997. Carey's teams at Salem won 5 WVIAC championships, and he would end his time at Salem with 288 wins. He also served as athletic director for much of his time at Salem. In 2001, West Virginia University tabbed Carey as the head coach for their women's basketball program. Carey would then serve in that role for the next 21 years, and would bring his total win total to 735. Salem honored Carey by naming the basketball court in T. Edwards Davis Gymnasium after him in 2018. 

Craig M. Keller (1974-1977)

After competing as a student-athlete at Salem, Kellar spent much of his subsequent career as a coach and educator just up the road in Doddridge County High School. He spent 27 years at the helm of the girl's basketball program there, and has just coached his 41st year as the cross country and track and field coach for the Bulldogs. Kellar was honored for all his contributions to Doddridge County athletics when the school district named their gymnasium in his honor in 2014.

Rick Howard (1977-1978)

After competing as a football student-athlete at Salem, Howard got into the coaching ranks in the community of Maryville, Tennessee. He would go on to coach girl's basketball at Heritage High School there in Maryville for 35 years. He would earn his 400th in as a head coach there in 2019, and would even have the court at Heritage named after him in January of 2022.