Twenty new members will be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame on March 7 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
The banquet will begin at 6:30 p.m. Individual tickets are $50 and tables for eight cost $400, with all available only through eventbrite.com with a Feb. 21 deadline to purchase.
The inductees will include former Brainerd High School standouts Greg Bowles, Dewayne Garner and Jay Price. Garner and Chattanooga State coach Price were selected for men’s basketball and Bowles for baseball. Also, longtime Brainerd coaches Mary Sparn and LaMonte Vaughn Jr. will be inducted for track and field.
Other inductees are Chris Johnson for baseball, Marjorie Ann Gillespie Jackson for women’s basketball, Bill Butler and Bobby Majors for football, Dan Tribble Jr. for golf, Kelli Howard Smith for softball, Will Hunt for swimming and diving, Candy Reynolds for tennis, Andrea Hudson for volleyball, Don Elsea and Alan Morris for wrestling and Eddie Baker for sports media. Bill Elliott will be the organization’s first inductee for soccer, and Johnny Grimes and Jeff Flanagan are going in as officials/administrators.
Ryder Cup participant Harris English and basketball star Madison Hayes will be honored as the area’s athletes of the year for 2021. Lee University chancellor Paul Conn will receive the hall’s highest honor, the Presidents Award, and Linda Benefield and Mike Royster will be recognized for lifetime achievement. Andrew Smith will receive the award for overcoming adversity.