Hall of Fame Class

The Lauderdale County Sports Hall of Fame recently announced its inductees for the 2012 class. The 13th induction ceremony will be held at the Marriott Convention Center on Saturday, March 17th. This year’s inductees include a star-studded cast of some of the best athletes and coaches to ever come out of the Shoals area.

Tim Bowens was an allstate performer at Brooks High School and later played at Alabama, participating in three bowl games and three SEC Championship games… Ikey Fowler was a threesport standout at Central and was a three-year starter on the UNA baseball team. He was an assistant football coach at UNA, where he recruited five All-Americans and three UNA Athletic Hall of Fame members…

Steve Harrison has been the familiar “Voice of Braly Stadium” for 33 years and is the founder and president of the Lauderdale County Sports Hall of Fame… David Kelley was born with Cerebral Palsy and could not hear or speak, but was a mainstay as the girls team manager at Lauderdale County for many years…Ronnie Lewey is one of the county’s most celebrated athletes and coaches, lettering four years in football and baseball at Coffee. His 1999 golf team at Coffee won the 5A state championship.

Grady Liles was the 1947 Southeastern Gold Gloves boxing champion and was one of the military’s most outstanding boxers during his time of service in the Marines. He was the ring leader in bringing the NCAA Division II National Championship game to Florence in 1986… Ronnie Pannell is one of the area’s most outstanding sportscasters. He’s widely known for broadcasting well over 1,000 games as the “Voice of the Mars Hill Panthers.” Pannell also has coached various other sports during his career.

Rickie Putman lettered four years in football and baseball and three years in basketball at Lexington, becoming the Lauderdale County Athlete of the Year in 1979…Beth Ray was a sixyear starter for the Waterloo softball team, leading the Cougars to three consecutive state championships. In basketball, Ray averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds per game in her career.

Dustin Wright was an All-State basketball player at Mars Hill, setting the school record for most points scored in a career with 2,047. He played both basketball and baseball at Itawamba Community College and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox. These ten men and women comprise the 13th class of the Lauderdale County Sports Hall of Fame. Some will be featured individually in this column in the future. Congratulations to all of the inductees.

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