The 1996 Hickory High football team, 16-0 and state 3A champions, is this year’s Team of Distinction as selected by the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame committee./HICKORY METRO SPORTS PHOTO
READ MORE ON EACH INDIVIDUAL SELECTED: 2019 CCSHOF announcement
HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – The next class of the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame will be inducted on Monday night at Highland Recreation Center in Hickory.
The Hickory Metro Sports Commission (HMSC) will recognize these individuals in the Class of 2019, and they will bring membership to 94:
- Catawba College all-time interceptions leader, three-sport Maiden High athlete and current Western Carolina University coach Keith Henry
- Two-time NASCAR Cup Champion Crew Chief, auto racing broadcaster and Richard Childress Racing Vice President of Competition Andy Petree.
- Lenoir-Rhyne University Hall of Fame linebacker and college football coach for 35 years, Georgia State coach Brad Lawing.
- Baseball and softball champion, motorsports public relations mainstay and local athletics supporter Dennis Punch.
- All-American running back, NFL player and athletic director John Mackorell (1912-1980).
PETREE
PUNCH
The committee also selected the undefeated state 3A football championship team from Hickory High (16-0) as the 2019 Team of Distinction.
The featured speaker will be Sparky Woods, a former head football coach at Appalachian State and South Carolina who is now on the coaching staff at North Carolina.
The Hall of Fame was established in 2000 and recognizes the extraordinary efforts and achievements of athletes, coaches, teams and contributors, while also reinforcing a sense of history and tradition in Catawba County.
LAWING
MACKORELL