This article appeared in the Register-Herald on Feb. 17, 2001.By Gary Fauber
Growing up in Beckley, Steve Lickliter was one of those guys you either admired or hated.
No matter which sport he tried, he was good at it.
Very good.
Throw him a baseball and he'd turn two. Give him a basketball and he'd nail a long-range jumper.
As many locals can attest, don't even give Lickliter a bowling ball
Lickliter never met a sport he couldn't conquer. He will be honored for that reason at 10 a.m. today when he is inducted into the University of Charleston's Hall of Fame during a ceremony in the school's Geary Student Union Ballroom.
"I guess, for an individual, it's (hall induction) the highest honor you can give, no matter if it's high school or college or whatever," Lickliter said. "As a team, it's your goal to win. As an individual, it doesn't get higher than this."
It's an honor well deserved. The 1968 Woodrow Wilson graduate - and subsequent Woodrow Hall of Famer - was a four-sport letterman at UC in the early '70s.
Lickliter, who was a roommate of current University of Chattanooga basketball coach and Woodrow Wilson alumnus Henry Dickerson, earned four letters in baseball and basketball, and one each in cross country and bowling.
"It seemed like my hand-eye coordination was always good in most (sports)," he said. "I seemed to love to play most sports."
As good as Lickliter was at other sports, he's known more for his success as a bowler.
A Beaver resident, Lickliter turned professional in 1975. Since then, he has bowled 30 perfect games - three last year - and has won six pro tournaments and 81 amateur tournaments.
He's competed in six state tournaments and won four of them, including the last two. He added another pro victory at the PBA Southern Regional Open in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Lickliter bowled 32 games to qualify fifth for the finals, then had to climb the stepladder finals to earn the victory.
"It was a long day," he said with a laugh.
Lickliter recently joined the Professional Bowlers Association Senior Tour. He qualified for the tour by advancing to the finals of a tournament last year.
The honors don't stop for Lickliter with today's induction. In June, he will be inducted into the West Virginia Bowling Hall of Fame.
"When people feel like you belong in (the hall) for something you've worked hard for," Lickliter says, "it means a lot."