Mark Hannay
William “Mark” Hannay is the 2026 posthumous inductee to the Mercer County Hall of Fame. Mark was a graduate of Salem High School in Ohio, but it was for his coaching success in Mercer County that earned him the Hall accolades.
He served as track and field coach at Mercer High School from 1977-88 and at Slippery Rock University from 1989-2008. He was also an independent coach from 2007 to 2010.
At Mercer, he was Tri-County Coach of the Year for seven consecutive seasons from 1982-88, as well as Mercer County Coach of the Year for six of those. His teams won District 10 titles in 1986, ’87 and ’88. Several of his athletes earned numerous individual honors.
While living in Mercer County, at Slippery Rock U. he excelled in coaching javelin, pole vault and high jump. From 1989-98, he produced four of the All-Time Top Twenty javelin throwers in NCAA Division II and coached two national champions. He also coached several All-Americans and one USA Olympic Team Trials Qualifier.
Mark also coached athletes at Westminster and Thiel colleges and produced All-Americans and a national champion in pole vault. He developed an NCAA Division II Open women’s national champ in javelin. Independently, he coached one athlete who set 7 javelin individual meet records and a two-time state champ and All-American.
Mark served as a presenter or clinician at many national events for pole vault and was appointed chairman for the National Pole Vault Education Initiatives for several years. He received National Pole Vault Coach of the Year Hall of Fame recognition in 2007 as a major contributor to reestablishment of the United State pole vault program as a major international and Olympic force.