Nominate an athlete

Nominations are now being accepted for the Paris High School Athletic Hall of Fame (HOF) to be inducted during the upcoming Feb. 14 ceremony, according to HOF president Harry Hughes.

“We are proud of the work that has been done to honor our Tiger athletes, coaches and leaders, and to continue the tremendous pride in our school and its programs,” Hughes said.

This will be the fourth class to be inducted, Hughes noted, and interest has been growing each year.

“As soon as we finish one HOF weekend, we have local residents, as well as former alumni, contacting us about nominating someone,” he said.

HOF committee member and inductee Rick Gosnell emphasized that, given the rich tradition of Tiger athletics, it has been a difficult task to select honorees.

“The committee is mindful of the past, but we realize there are others who have excelled that have not yet been selected or nominated,” Gosnell explained. “We want to hear from fans about who they think should be nominated and why.”

To date, all state champion basketball and cross-country teams have been inducted, as well as those who earned individual honors as state champion cross-country runners and state track meet champions.

“We have inducted athletes and teams from basketball, football, girls basketball, cross-country and baseball,” committee member Jim Acklin said.

Last year’s inductees included seven individuals and two teams, including the first girls basketball team to make the Elite 8, as well as former Tiger baseball pitcher Dyke Wilson and former Tiger athlete, coach and athletic director Phil Ludington.

“The process of creating a Paris High School Athletic Hall of Fame took months of work,” Hughes said. “The motto of the committee is ‘Honoring our past, inspiring our future.’ We are honoring not only those who wore the orange and black in the past, but also educating our present students of all ages about the proud athletic tradition of Paris High School.”

Anyone may nominate an athlete, and the committee shared that they “need to hear from fans and people who remember our great student athletes.”

Nomination forms are available at Terry Elston State Farm Insurance. The form is also available online on the committee’s Facebook page.

Committee members include Harry Hughes, Jim Acklin, Dan Smith, Rick Gosnell, Nancy Zeman, Larry Jones, Danette Young, Jack Wilson, Matt Colvin, Otho Tucker, Danielle Colvin, Amy Payne and Tom Tuttle.