Paris-Henry County Sports Hall of Fame ~ Student Inductees ~ 2007

Harrelson, Henry students earn Hall of Fame honors
By TOMMY PRIDDY
P-I Sports Editor

Each year the Paris-Henry County Sports Hall of Fame honors a female and male studentfrom each of Henry County’s schools that sponsor athletic teams.

The students are chosen by their schools for not only being outstanding athletes but for having displayed qualities of leadership, good citizenship and dedication to their schools.

The two students chosen at Harrelson School were eighth-graders Carolina Covington and Chance Robinson. At Henry School, Jessica St. John and Adrian Ford were chosen. The Hall of Fame students from the other schools will be announced later this week.

The students chosen for this award will be honored during Saturday’s P-HC Sports Hall of Fame Banquet scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Paris Convention Center, 1510 E. Wood St.

Five new inductees will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame Saturday. They are Doug Barner, Jerry Brannon, Virgil Wall, the late Earl Mann and the late Vayden Waddy. Post-Intelligencer sports editor Tommy Priddy will receive the Distinguished Service Award.

Tickets for the banquet are $25 each and can purchased at Paris Insurance Agency, 203 W. Wood St.; William T. Looney’s law office, 127 N. Poplar St.; and Medical Center Pharmacy, 234 Tyson Ave.

The following is a look at the students from Harrelson and Henry.

Carolina Covington

Covington is the daughter of Max and Lisa Covington of Puryear. She is the oldest of four children in the family.

She has played soccer and softball at Harrelson School. She also plays on the Henry County Nightmare 14-years-old and under travel softball team and has played on travel teams the past three summers.

She has received many academic achievement awards in school, two band awards and is the Harrelson gifted program. She was voted Most Likely to Succeed at Harrelson.

Covington is a member of the Henry County 4-H Honor Club, the National Junior Beta Club and Leo Club.

A member of First United Methodist Church of Paris, she is involved with the church youth group.

When not playing sports, Covington works on the family farm. She has shown lambs at the Henry County Fair for the past nine years and last year her animal was honored with the Reserve Grand Champion award.

Her interests include reading, listening to music, drawing and working with animals. She plans to attend college and pursue a career in animal conservation or marine biology.

Chance Robinson

Robinson is the son of Mark Robinson and Leslie Ann Parrish.

He has been a member of the Harrelson football and basketball teams for three years. He also plays soccer for the Hawks. He has been active in the Paris-Henry County Basketball League and in the Paris-Henry County Little League.

Off the field, Robinson is a member of the Harrelson academic team, the Beta Club and president of the Leo Club. He has served as president for two years in 4-H and one year as vice president.

He is a member of Puryear First Baptist Church where he has been active in the Awana program and the youth program.

Robinson enjoys horseback riding and going to the lake.

Jessica St. John

At Henry, St. John has played basketball for four years including earning All-River Conference honors for the regular season and tournament this year.

She is the daughter of Brad and Tommie St. John of Paris. She is a three-year honor student at Henry and had the highest grade-point average in the sixth and seventh grades.

St. John is in the Beta Club, on the Henry academic team and is in the Ambassador Club. She attends Tennessee Valley Community Church where she is a member of the Youth Advisory Team.

Adrian Ford

Ford is the son of Henry girls’ basketball coach Acacia Ford. He has been involved in sports since he was 5 years old when he started playing basketball in the Bolivar Parks and Recreation Department league.

He began playing baseball in Bolivar at age 7 and at 8 years old played for his first travel basketball team.

He has also played soccer and football after moving to Henry. He broke his ankle at the end of the 2005 football season but returned to play the second half of the basketball season for the Pirates. He helped the Pirates win the River Conference Tournament title. He was named to the All-River Conference team this season.

He carries a 96.4 grade-point average at Henry and is a member of the school’s academic team. He is also in the Beta Club and 4-H.

He has a 9-year-old brother Antonio who also attends Henry School. The family lives in Paris and attends Sparks Street Church of Christ.

Hall of Fame set to honor Inman, Lakewood students
By TOMMY PRIDDY

Inman Middle and Lakewood schools will both send two students to receive Student Hall of Fame Awards at Saturday’s Paris-Henry County Sports Hall of Fame Banquet.

The banquet is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Paris Convention Center at 1510 E. Wood St.

At the banquet, Henry County athletic greats Doug Barner, Jerry Brannon, Virgil Wall, the late Earl Mann and the late Vayden Waddy, Jr. will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Post-Intelligencer sports editor Tommy Priddy will receive the Distinguished Service Award at the banquet.

Tickets are on sale for $25 each. They can be purchased at Paris Insurance Agency, 203 W. Wood St.; William T. Looney’s law office, 127 N. Poplar St.; and Medical Center Pharmacy, 234 Tyson Ave., all in Paris.

Each year the Hall of Fame honors a female and male student from each of the schools in Henry County that sponsor athletic teams. The students are chosen not only for being outstanding athletes but for having displayed the qualities of leadership, good citizenship and dedication to their schools.

Inman students chosen to receive the awards are eighth-graders Grace Burden and Wesley Cox. Lakewood eighth-graders earning the award are Katie Williams and Evan Smith.

They join a list that includes Harrelson’s Carolina Covington and Chance Robinson along with Henry’s Jessica St. John and Adrian Ford who were announced Monday. Grove School’s freshmen and Henry County High School’s student Hall of Famers will be announced in Wednesday’s Post-Intelligencer.

The following is a look at the students from Inman and Lakewood.

Grace Burden

Burden is the daughter of Leslie and David Burden of Paris. In athletics, Burden is a cheerleader and a member of the Lady Bulldogs’ soccer team. She was a captain for the football cheerleading squad last fall.

Inman soccer coach Debbie Elliott said, “Grace is an exemplary student and a great envoy for our school.”

She is a member of the Beta Club and the Inman Watchdogs. She has attended the Inman Honors Banquet each year and consistently ranks on the honor roll with A’s in each class.

Burden is a past science fair winner and is job shadowing at Henry County Medical Center.

Wesley Cox

Cox is the son of Kim and Sammy Cox of Paris. He has played both basketball and football while at Inman. He played on the Bulldogs’ offensive line in football. The entire line received the Most Valuable Offensive Player Award in the Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association West Tennessee championship game against Memphis Academy for Health Sciences played last October at Barton Field.

“Wesley Cox brings both academic and athletic scholarship with him,” said Inman football coach Bob Markum. “He is simply an outstanding young man. We are proud to have him represent our school at this event.”

He as been on the A’s honor roll every six weeks while at Inman and attended the Inman Honors Banquet each year. He is a member of the Beta Club, a former science fair winner and is job shadowing at HCMC.

Katie Williams

Williams is the daughter of country music superstar Hank Williams Jr. and Mary Jane Williams. She plays basketball, soccer and runs in track meets at Lakewood.

She has been part of Lakewood basketball teams that won the River Conference Tournament in 2006 and placed second earlier this year. This season, Williams was chosen for the All-River Conference and the All-River Conference Tournament teams.

Williams has run in the countywide track meet each year and won the eighth-grade mile run with a time of 6.56. She also has played soccer in the former American Youth Soccer Organization.

She is a consistent honor roll student at Lakewood and a member of the Beta Club. She is treasurer of the Leo Club and a 4-H member. She was chosen as Most Athletic by her classmates this year at Lakewood.

Her goals are to play basketball at HCHS and later attend the University of Alabama to study interior design.

Evan Smith

Smith is the son of Kim and Mike Smith of Paris. He plays basketball at Lakewood but also enjoys baseball.

At Lakewood, he led the Eagles in scoring with a 21-point average this season. He helped the Eagles win the River Conference Tournament championship while being named All-River Conference and to the All-River Conference Tournament team.

He has played on the Paris Patriots basketball travel team and in baseball has been an All-Star selection for four straight years. He has a two-home run game to his credit and helped his All-Star team place second in the state as a 10-year-old.

Off the field, Smith is active as the president of the Lakewood Leo Club and is in the Beta Club. The high honor roll student was also chosen as Mr. Lakewood by his classmates.

Smith wants to continue playing basketball in high school and college. He plans to pursue a career in law and criminal justice.

Hall of Fame will honor
By TOMMY PRIDDY

A female and male student from both Grove School and Henry County High School will be honored at Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. Paris-Henry County Sports Hall of Fame banquet set for the Paris Convention Center, 1510 E. Wood St.

Freshmen at Grove School receiving the Student Hall of Fame honor are Katy Beth Glover and Skylar Lawson-Haley. Henry County High School seniors being honored are Katelyn Wilson and Calvin McNairl.

They join Harrelson’s Carolina Covington and Chance Robinson; Henry’s Jessica St. John and Adrian Ford; Inman’s Grace Burden and Wesley Cox; and Lakewood’s Katie Williams and Evan Smith in receiving the student awards.

Five new inductees will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame at Saturday’s banquet. The new inductees are Doug Barner, Jerry Brannon, Virgil Wall, the late Earl Mann and the late Vayden Waddy, Jr. Post-Intelligencer sports editor Tommy Priddy will receive the Distinguished Service Award.

Tickets are on sale for $25 each. They can be purchased at Paris Insurance Agency, 203 W. Wood St.; William T. Looney’s law office, 127 N. Polar St.; and Medical Center Pharmacy, 234 Tyson Ave., all in Paris.

Each year the Hall of Fame honors a female and male athlete from each of the Henry County schools that sponsors athletic teams. The students are chosen not only for being outstanding athletes but also for having displayed the qualities of leadership, good citizenship and dedication to their schools.

Katy Beth Glover

Glover is the 14-year-old daughter of Kathy and Wyatt Glover of Paris. She played basketball at Grove this season and also was a member of the Henry County High School golf team last fall. She was picked for the All-District 14 Tournament in February as Grove’s basketball team came in second.

She has long been involved in travel basketball programs and played basketball at Inman Middle School. She picked up golf from her brother Ben, who is a member of the golf team at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville.

She is a member of the Beta Club and is an Effort (Education for Future Opportunities Realized Today) Scholar at Grove.

Skylar Lawson-Haley

Lawson-Haley is the son of Ron and Teresa Haley of Paris. He has been active in sports his entire life.

He plays both basketball and football at Grove while also being a member of the HCHS baseball team. In basketball, he was named the Most Valuable Player in February of the District 14 Tournament at Waverly.

Lawson-Haley received academic awards at Grove’s athletic banquet for the football and basketball teams. He played basketball and football while attending Inman Middle School.

He has played on All-Star teams in the Paris-Henry County Little League and for travel baseball teams since he was 9 years old. He also has competed for the Paris Patriots travel basketball team.

A member of the student council at Grove, He is in the Beta Club and an Effort Scholar. His older sister Cortney is an HCHS senior cheerleader and softball player.

Katelyn Wilson

Wilson is the daughter of Kathy and Steve Looney of Henry and Chuck Wilson of Cottage Grove. She grew up playing softball and basketball on various youth teams before joining the basketball team at Henry School. She was an All-River Conference performer while at Henry.

As a freshman at Grove, Wilson made the All-District 14 Team in basketball and was a team captain. She was honored for having the highest grade-point average on the team and was in Grove’s Top Ten.

She moved on to HCHS as a sophomore and made the All-District 10-AAA team, a status she would also achieve as a junior and senior at HCHS. She led the Lady Patriots in rebounding as sophomore.

In her junior year, Wilson also made the All-District 10-AA Tournament team, won The P-I Academic Award for girls’ basketball and was named the Lady Patriots’ Most Valuable Player. She also was a team captain and received the Best Free Throw Percentage Award. She was a Top Ten student at HCHS.

This year as a senior, Wilson again made the All-District 10 and All-District Tournament teams. She passed the 1,000 points scored barrier and finished her career as one of the top five scorers in the Lady Patriots’ history. She again was a team captain.

Wilson is a Patriot Pal and a member of the National Honor Society.

Calvin McNairl

McNairl is the son of Johnnie McNairl of Paris. He has been active in sports such as baseball, basketball and football.

He played football and basketball at both Inman Middle School and as a freshman at Grove. He is the all-time leading rusher and scorer at Inman.

At Grove, McNairl played quarterback in football and guard in basketball where he was named the District 14 Most Valuable Player in basketball. He also played baseball at HCHS as a freshman.

He became the HCHS starting quarterback in football as a sophomore and earned All-Region honors along with a honorable mention All-State pick. He was named the Patriots’ Offensive Player of the Year.

As a junior at HCHS, McNairl was chosen as the football team’s Most Outstanding Player. He earned All-Region and All-West Tennessee honors and was a first-team All-State selection. McNairl was chosen as an All-District 10-AAA performer in basketball.

This year as a senior McNairl led the Patriot football team to the final four of the state playoffs. He was again All-Region, All West-Tennessee and All-State selection. He was a team captain and received the Paris Lions Club’s Most Outstanding Player Award.

McNairl received the ESPN radio Player of the Year Award for Middle Tennessee and was on the All-Region Academic team. He signed scholarship papers earlier this year to attend and play football at Tennessee State University in Nashville.

He will leave HCHS as the school’s all-time passing leader and holds all the school records for total offense. He finished third on the school’s all-time rushing list.