By Staff
April 17, 2002
JACKSON The 40th Anniversary Class of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted in special ceremonies to be held at the Vicksburg Convention Center on Friday, at 6:30 p.m. The largest class in the history of the MSHOF will be enshrined.
In addition to the induction ceremonies, the Jackson Touchdown Club will present the Mississippi Amateur Athlete of the Year Award to Maggie Bowen, the world champion and All-American Auburn swimmer from Jackson. The Club will also honor as the Mississippi Professional Athlete of the Year, for an unprecedented third time, Brett Favre, the Kiln native who is the MVP All-Pro quarterback from Southern Miss and the Green Bay Packers.
The Central Mississippi Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame will present the Distinguished American Award to Monticello native and current United States Secretary of Education Dr. Roderick Paige, who was a former head coach of the Jackson State Tigers. The Chapter will also honor Elbert Lum Wright, a Vicksburg native and the winningest high school coach in Mississippi, with the Contribution to Amateur Football Award.
The MSHOF 40th Anniversary Class of 2001 includes, the late Verlon Biggs, the late T.B Ellis Jr., Glynn Griffing, Carolyn Henry, Samye Johnson, Earl Leggett, George Sekul and Ralph "Catfish" Smith.
Scholar athletes will be honored by the Central Mississippi Chapter and the Jackson Touchdown Club will present the Gene May Scholarship Award to two metro area student athletes.
Tickets for the banquet are $65 per ticket. To place a ticket order, the public should contact Ralph Sowell, the Chairman of the 2002 MSHOF Awards Banquet who is the President of the Jackson Touchdown Club, at 982-9383.
special reports
MSU honors basketball team
STARKVILLE Mississippi State's winningest basketball team in school history was honored Monday night on the MSU campus, as coach Rick Stansbury's 2001-02 Bulldog team held its 24th annual Babe McCarthy Tip-Off Club Awards Banquet.
All SEC-sophomore Mario Austin of York, Ala. collected a team-high three awards Monday night in claiming the Bulldog's Best Offensive Player and Bailey Howell Rebounding Awards, as well as sharing the club's Most Improved Player Award.
Austin shared this year's Most Improved Player honor with junior guard and fellow all-SEC standout Derrick Zimmerman. A third-team SEC selection (Associated Press) and a member of the 2002 SEC All-Tournament Team, Zimmerman also garnered State's Most Assists Award after leading the league in assists (6.0 apg) and ranking 20th nationally.
Also collecting a pair of awards this year were Bulldog seniors Marckell Patterson, Michael Gholar and Guy Gardner. Patterson claimed the club's Best Free Throw Percentage Award for the second straight season by ranking fourth among SEC leaders (77.9%) from the line this past year. Gholar, who is currently trying out for coach Jackie Sherrill's 2002 Bulldog football squad after helping lead the State hoopsters to 79 wins in four season, earned the team's Best Defensive Player Award for the second time in his roundball career.
school reports
MCC ends season with wins
Meridian Community College closed out its regular season in tennis on Saturday by taking two matches from Pearl River CC.
The Eagles romped to the 9-0 win while the Lady Eagles took a 5-4 decision.
The MCC men are now 13-4 on the season while the Lady Eagles improve to 10-6-1.
The MCC women will host the MACJCC and Region 23 Tournament later this month.
For the MCC men, the Eagles won all five singles matches in straight sets. Will Wiggins, Matt McElhaney, Bobby Barton, Brad Dearman, Kevin McDonald and Dustin Davidson all took two-set wins. Dearman had the toughest match beating Jonathan Barlow 7-5, 6-2.
On the girls side, Charlotte Heidelberg won the match of the day beating Leigh McCombs 6-2, 4-6, 10-6. Leslie Miller fell in No. 3 singles 6-1, 3-6, 10-5. Megan Chivas also took a 6-1, 7-6 win over Tannia McAtee in No. 2 action. Chivas and Heidelberg won their double match 8-3. PRCC took the other two doubles matches.
Jeff Byrd