Lee County Athletic Hall of Fame inductees announced

The School District of Lee County haas announced the Lee County Athletic Conference Hall of Fame inductees for 2023 Five athletes, three coaches and one contributor are being recognized for their outstanding athletic accomplishments for their school or their students

The Lee County Athletic Conference Hall of Fame Class of 2023 features: A thletes

■ Kevin Brown, North Fort Myers High

■ Keri Jewett-Giles, Dunbar High

■ Shane McClanahan, Cape Coral High

■ Kyle Miller, Estero High

■ Josh Sheridan, Fort Myers High Coaches

■ Larry Gary, Cape Coral & Lehigh Senior High

■ Loretta Purish, North Fort Myers High

■ James (Jim) Reed, Cypress Lake High Contributor

■ David LaRosa, Fort Myers High School

Kevin Brown: Kevin was a three time all-conference, three time all-area and second team all-state player in baseball at North During his four-year career as a starter for the Miami Hurricanes, he helped lead the team to national championships 1999 and 2001 Kevin still holds the record for highest overall slugging percentage in College World Series history and is a two-time All College World Series Team member He will also be inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame this spring

Keri Jewett-Giles: Keri was named the News-Press player of the year her sophomore, junior and senior seasons of high school at Dunbar She was also selected first team all-state her junior and senior seasons. Keri played at FGCU where she was named to the ASUN Conference’s All-Decade team and set FGCU’s Division I era career scoring average record She was also selected as ASUN Player of the Year Keri later went overseas to play professional basketball

Shane McClanahan: Drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 1st round (31st) of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of South Florida, Shane was a News-Press Player of the Year finalist and News-Press 1st Team All-Area He represented the area in the FHSAA Senior State All-Star Game The Tampa Bay Rays named Shane their opening day starter in 2022 and later that season he was named the American League starting pitcher at the All-Star game

Kyle Miller: Kyle was named to the New-Press All Decade High School Baseball Team May 2020 He was the 2012 News-Press Player of the Year after strong senior campaign where he went 9-0 with 0 58 ERA and 98 strikeouts to lead Estero High School on a 25-game winning streak that ended in a regional final Miller played at Florida Atlantic University and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs

Josh Sheridan: Josh was a two-time state wrestling champion in 1999 and 2000, a two-time AAU national wrestling champion and a two-time state runner-up 1997 and 1998 He was the Florida 2A Wrestler of the Year in 2000, a three-time USA Wrestling Magazine AllAmerican and Rotary Scholar/Athlete of the Year in 2000. Josh also excelled in the classroom as a National Merit Scholarship Finalist with a high school grade point average of 4 69

Larry Gary: Coach Gary was hired as Lee County’s first Black head football coach in 1994 In his more than 36 seasons, Gary has helped hundreds of students play in college He has also coached and mentored 13 NFL players Prior to returning to coaching at Cape Coral High School this year, Gary amassed a record of 64-59 while at Lehigh Senior High School and previously at Cape Coral High

Loretta Purish: Loretta coached cross country for 28 years and track for 27 years at North Fort Myers High School She established the first Girls Relay Meet in Lee County in 1990 In 2015, Loretta was named the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year Her teams were Cross Country district champions in 1997 and 1998 and regional champions in 1997 She led the girls cross country team to multiple top 10 finishes in the state competition

James “Jim” Reed: If there was a volleyball pioneer in Southwest Florida it would certainly be Coach Reed Arriving at Cypress Lake in the late '70s, Reed quickly established Cypress Lake as a local and state powerhouse