SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2012
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A look at Middle Georgia’s all-time greats Athletes without numbers Not all of Middle Georgia’s greatest athletes had numbers. Here are just a few of the greats who didn’t have jersey numbers: Arnold Blum, Lanier, golf: Blum won five Georgia Amateur Championships, three SEC championships and played on two Walker Cup teams. Nate Carr, Jones County, wrestling: Carr won three state titles at Jones County, won a national junior college championship and competed at Iowa State. Brenda Cliette, Northeast, track: Cliette won four NCAA championships at Florida State and also won gold medals at the Goodwill Games, World University Games and the Pan-American Games. She was a four-time AllAmerican and was an alternate in the 1984 Olympics. Watts Gunn, Lanier, golf: Gunn played against Georgia Tech teammate Bobby Jones in a legendary match at the 1925 U.S. Amateur and later played in two Walker Cups. Russell Henley, Stratford, golf: Henley won two Georgia Amateur Championships, the Haskins Award as the nation’s top collegiate golfer and a professional event on the Nationwide Tour as an amateur. He played in two U.S. Opens and one Walker Cup. Kelley Hester, Stratford, golf: Hester was a four-year letterwinner for Georgia from 1993-96 and earned All-SEC recognition in 1993, 1994 and 1995 as the former Kelley Richardson and later became Georgia’s head coach. Sarah Howard, Trinity Christian, track and field: Howard has continuously broken her own state records in the shot put, and she leaves Trinity Christian as the best thrower in Georgia, GISA or GHSA. She’s headed to North Carolina and, if she stays healthy and progresses, could be in the mix for the 2016 or 2020 Olympics. Martha Hudson, Twin City, track: Hudson starred at Tennessee State before winning a gold medal in the 4x100 relay at the 1960 Olympics. Jaime Kaplan, Stratford, tennis: Kaplan won three individual state titles and went 156-0 in high school. She played in 14 Grand Slam tennis events. Roger Kingdom, Vienna, track: As a standout football player, Kingdom won gold medals in the 110 hurdles at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.
Trelle Kite, Central, golf: Kite starred at Central and then at Georgia State. She later became the golf coach at Augusta State, Tulsa and then Texas A&M. Angel Martino, Americus, swimming: Martino won three gold medals and three bronze medals during her Olympics career. Pookie Middlebrooks, Mount de Sales, track: Middlebrooks sped to the 1983 GISA 100 meters championship, breaking the state record that still stands 30 years later. Chip Minton, Southwest, bobsledding: Minton competed in two Winter Olympics, finishing fifth in 1998. He was part of the bronze-medal winning team at the 1997 World Championships. Laura Nelson, Mount de Sales, tennis: Nelson was the top-ranked tennis player in the South in 1983 while at Mount de Sales before heading to Mississippi. Peter Persons, Stratford, golf: Persons was the SEC Golfer of the Year in 1986 and later won the PGA Tour’s Chattanooga Classic in 1990. Antonio Pettigrew, Southwest, track: Pettigrew won five U.S. 400-meter championships and took home the gold medal in the 400 at the 1991 World Championships. Young Stribling, Lanier, boxing: A great high school basketball player, Stribling went 256-16-14 as a professional boxer before he died in a motorcycle crash as a 28-year-old. Duck Swann, Lanier, golf: Swann was a standout at Lanier before heading to Georgia Tech, and he later became a standout senior amateur, becoming the first American to win the British Senior Open. Grace Tinkey, FPD, cross country: The greatest cross country runner in Middle Georgia history already, Tinkey hasn’t lost a high school race on her way to four straight state titles. She is the Gatorade Cross Country Runner of the Year for Georgia, and she still has another year to go. Sonny Wilcher, Lanier, track: Wilcher went undefeated in the 440-yard dash his first two years at South Carolina. He previously led Lanier to a state championship and won state titles in the 440-yard dash twice in high school.
GRANT BLANKENSHIP/gblankenship@macon.com
Stratford and Georgia product Russell Henley has played in two U.S. Opens and won a Nationwide Tour event as an amateur player.
WOODY MARSHALL/wmarshall@macon.com
FPD’s Grace Tinkey has won four straight high school cross country titles and also has won the Macon Labor Day Road Race 5K.