SportsWeek
sect, on B Also Religion , Obituaries , Classifieds may 3. 2007
Atkins will
welcome
second hall
of fame class
Ceremony to take place June 2
BY ANTHONY HILL
THE CHRONICLE
William Butler, who's a
graduate of the old
Anderson High School, put
in much of the ground work
to help create the Atkins
High School Hall of Fame
last year His older sisters
graduated from Atkins
High, so he was well aware
of the history the school
possessed.
reunion, as several Atkins
High alumni from years
back tame to honor the first
hall of fame class. More
than 450 people packed the
old gym last year. This
year's ceremony will take
on June 2, in the Benton
Convention Center, at 6
p.m.
The hall of fame will
welcome 17 former Camels
this summer ? six of which
"This
school has a lot
of history in
it," Butler said.
"Our kids need
to know about
some of this
school's histo
ry. We thought
it was very
important to
create a hall of
fame last year.
were a part of the
city's first state
championship
team (1951
hoops). The fol
lowing individu
als will officially
be inducted in
June: Ruth Carter
(Basketball, 1939
43), Willie Carter
(Basketball, 1938
42), Joe Foster
(19 4 8-49),
It was just in
my heart to help come up
with the Atkins Hall of
Fame. We wanted to bring
back the pride of this
school. I had this vision
way back when I was the
athletic director at North.
Like 1 told you before, the
Lord put me in the right spot
to.do this. W-S Prep princi
pal, Dennis Walker, gave me
the OK last year, and we've
been running with it since.
It's getting bigger. The
interest has definitely
grown. This year is going to
be big."
The Atkins High Hall of
Fame is presendy located in
the George Green and
Robert Moore Gymnasium,
on the campus of W-S Prep
at Atkins.
Last year's hall of fame
ceremony turned into a
William Griffin (Basketball,
1951-55), David Harris
(Basketball, 1950-53), Leo
Hughes (Basketball, 1952
53), James Sligh
(Basketball, 1949-53), Lillie
Jackson Yanlandingham
(Basketball, 1949-53).
Also, Booker Williams
(Basketball, 1950-54),
Donald Young (Basketball,
1949-53), Sam Cary
(Coach, 1943-53), Ben
Warren (Coach, 1951-55),
Joe Adams (Football, 1951
55), John Cuthrell (Football,
1949-53), Rueben Gilliam
(Football, 1948-52), Vic
Johnson (Football, 1951-52)
and Nicholas Thompson
(Football,, 1951-55) are
among the newest Camel
hall of famers.
William Griffin, David
Harris, Leo Hughes, James
See Atkins on B5
Photo by Anthony Hill
( Top),\orth sen
ior track and
field performer
M i c h a e I a
hi cG riff has
battled back
from severe
knee injury.
Photo by Cliaiiic Pftfl
(Below) Here,
Mcdriff pre
pares to launch
a discus during
earlier track
Tint/ field meet.
Another 'Shot'
North 's McGriff
returns after
third ACL tear
BY ANTHONY HILL
THE CHRONICLE
Last spring. North senior
track and field performer
Michaela McGriff didn't
know if she'd ever execute the
shot put and discus as effec
tively as she's done through
out her career. Last March
McGriff, who's competed
since 8 years old, tore her
ACL for the third time after
doing a routine drill at prac
tice.
"1 knew exactly what was
w rong," McGriff said. "It felt
the same as it did the last time
I tore my ACL. 1 knew exact
ly what it was."
The feeling of the severe
injury wasn't knew to
McGriff, as she last had ACL
surgery in 2003. She rehabbcd
herself well enough to return
to the championship form
prior to her latest injury Still,
she doubted that she'd make it
back to form after the third
setback.
"Initially, I really didn't
want to come back and do it,"
McGriff said. "I just didn't
feel up to it because I had
already gone through it two
other times."
Her father and coach,
Travis McCiriff, added: "I had
a little doubt at first, but I did
n't want to let her know that. I
knew that she had to believe
she could come back. But 1
honestly didn't know if she
could come back ? to be hon
est with you. 1 mean, she got
injured right as she was peak
ing It couldn't have come at a
worse time. I thought to
myself, 'This is going to be a
long road to get back to where
she was.' But I knew it was
possible. She only had one
more year, and you just never
know."
Apparently, ? McGriff 's
efforts have propelled her
back into form. She began to
See McGriff on B3
Ram
Relay
Photo by Jeff Heiughan
Javonna Brown, Sandy
Harrison , Wykeitha
Harnett, Oerri-Lena White,
who run the 4x200 for
WSSU, ran well at their
first Penn Relay. The
group finished 38th out of
50 at the 113th annual
Penn Relays in
Philadelphia, Pa., last
week.
o I
Former Glenn standout Beatty is top A&T rookie
Rush, Mitchell take home
three awards apiece
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
North Carolina A&T
Athletics honored its own
on Monday night at the
Annual All-Sports Award
Banquet held at the Alumni
Foundation Event Center.
Volleyball senior Arlene
Mitchell and men's basket
ball junior Steven Rush
walked away with three tro
phies apiece. Rush took
honic two of the biggest
awards of the night as he
took home the N.C. A&T
Aggv Club, Inc., Aw ard and
the he was named the N.C.
A&T Depaftment of
Athletics Vlale Athlete of
the Year. Rush was also
named Men's Basketball
Team MVP.
Rush led the Aggies in
scoring and became the first
first-team All-MEAC mem
ber from Aggies men's bas
ketball since the 2000-2001
season. He was one of the
best sixth men in the coun
try as he averaged better
than 17 points per game.
Rush, who is familiar with
the Aggie basketball tradi
tion having grown up
around N.C. A&T Athletics
because his mother played
for the women's team, said
he transferred from I'NC
Asheville for one important
reason.
"I want to help bring
A&T back to the top," said
Rush. "It means a lot to me
to wear an A&T jersey. "My
mother always told me
when you come to play ah^l
work hard, eventually good
things will happen, and a lot
of great things happened for
me and my teammates this
year."
Mitchell's biggest
accomplishment of the night
came when *he N.C. A&T
Sports Hall of Fame award
ed her their prestigious Hall
of Famers Educational
Foundation, Inc., Player of
the Year Award. She also
received the Department of
Athletics' Senior Female of
the Year Award and
Volleyball Team MVP.
The big female pri/.e,
however, went to women's
basketball player Amber
See Aggies on B3
Rey shown s
Stock up
FROM THE
HUDDLE
Anthony Hill
I know the NR. Draft just took over for a weekend. But my
mind has been on this summer's NBA Draft, and some of the
guys that might be drafted.
Everyone knows that either Ohio State's Greg Oden or
Texas' Kevin Durant will go first in the draft. Then, my man
Brandon Wnght (I'NC) '
should gel picked third.
Bur it's kind of up in the
air who will follow.
Earlier this w eek 1 w as on
a few NBA Draft sites,
trying to get familiar with
some of tl\j guys from
overseas that will come
out of nowhere and be
drafted in the first round.
There were names
like Yi Jiarulan (China),
Marc Oasol (Spain),
Tiago Splitter (Brawl),
Rudy lernandes (Spam)
and Marco Bellnell
(Italy). Those guys are
predicted to show up on
some teams draft board in
the first round. I also saw
some familiar names like
Roy Hibbert
Hey shown Terry
(Georgetown), Acie Law (Texas A&M), Josh McRoberts
(Duke), Corey Brew er (Honda) and a few more As I compared
a few different projected draft boards, I began to see a name I
was very familiar with ? Reyshawn Terry
I even heard a couple NBA analyst say Terry might be the
See Hill on B4
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