HobbsDailyReport.com
RICHARDS
NEWTON – Newton-Conover High will add three inductees to its Athletic Hall of Fame on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the school gym.
No tickets are required to attend a ceremony that will honor the Class of 2019 – LaShawn Coulter, John Rabold and the late Linda Richards.
LaShawn Coulter
A 1990 graduate, he was a three-time all-conference basketball player of the Red Devils (1988-90) who went on to play four years at Winthrop and became the Eagles’ all-time leading scorer.
He played pro basketball in New Zealand and Australia and won Teach of the Year in 2006 and 2009 in Gaston County.
John Rabold
A 2003 graduate, he was a three-sport star – football, basketball and baseball – for the Red Devils.
He was all-conferencde in football in 2001 and 2002, in basketball in 2002 and 2003 and in baseball three straight seasons starting in 2001.
Rabold was voted Newton-Conover’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2003 and play college football for Air Force, where he was a senior year captain and first-team All-Mountain West Conference.
He is a retired major in the Air Force.
Linda Richards
She coached the Red Devils in volleyball from 2003 through 2014 after having coached the sport at Fred T. Foard from 1982 through 2003.
Richards’ teams won more than 500 matches and five state titles, including the 2A title in 2011 at Newton-Conover.
In 2012, she was honored by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) as its Doris Howard Female Coach of the Year.
She was inducted into the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
