Fairless Falcon Award to welcome new members
Allyson Simmons-Szerszen
The Class of 2023 Distinguished Fairless Falcon Award selected the following to become members of the Hall of Honor: Allyson Simmons-Szerszen and Mike Popovich.
They will be honored on Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. at the high school. On Nov. 4 at 6 p.m., the annual Night of Hope will be celebrated at St. Clement’s Hall in Navarre. The keynote speaker will be Renee Powell, and music will be provided by the group La Flavour.
Simmons-Szerszen is a 2014 graduate of Fairless High and graduated from Ohio State University earning a bachelor’s degree in special education while competing as a Division I college athlete. She was the first female athlete in the history of Fairless to earn a state championship. She is a two-time OHSAA state champion pole vaulter and a two-time OATCCC indoor state champion pole vaulter.
The pole-vaulting competition in 2014 ranked her sixth in the nation and earned an Ohio all-state, all-division record. In 2014 she was named the Ohio Female Track and Field Athlete of the Year by Gatorade. Academically, she was an All-Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and a three-time Ohio State Scholar Athlete. As of 2023 she is ranked as the third highest vaulter in the OSU program’s history.
Popovich graduated from Fairless High in 1985 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media Communications at the University of Akron. While attending Fairless, he excelled academically and was a member of the National Honor Society. He served as the editor of the Fairless newspaper his senior year. He has covered sports as a reporter for the Canton Repository since 1990. He covered the Cleveland Cavaliers during LeBron James’ first four seasons in the National Basketball Association and helped write about the Cleveland Guardians and Ohio State Buckeyes.
He has written about several Mt. Union football national championships and the men’s basketball team’s trip to the national championship game last season. He is most known in Stark County for covering local high school athletics. Popovich has a passion for storytelling that started at Fairless High.
The purpose of the Hall of Honor is to recognize and honor alumni, faculty, staff, nongraduates and community members who have brought honor to the Fairless Local Schools and to establish in the hearts of the youth a motivating influence to excel.