Name | Kevin LINGEFELT | |
Gender | Male | |
HIST | Sumter Item to reveal Top 125 Sports Figures with anniversary celebration Posted Saturday, October 12, 2019 6:00 am BY DENNIS BRUNSON In celebration of its 125th anniversary, The Sumter Item is going to select the Top 125 Sports Figures during that period in Sumter, Clarendon and Lee counties. The list will be revealed in reverse order starting on Wednesday with Nos. 125-111. The remaining lists will be contain 10 figures beginning on Friday. Those lists will appear every Wednesday and Friday until it reaches the top 10 in December. At that point, one story will be released in each edition until the top figure is revealed. The list will include people who affected sports in our area both in competition and in other ways as well. Coinciding with the list reveal, we'll be asking readers to reveal their Top 10 sports figures in Item history, and we'll be hosing Autograph Giveaway contests featuring our famous local sports figures. The Sumter Item's Top 125 Sports Figures 111-125 Posted Friday, October 18, 2019 11:01 am In celebration of its 125th anniversary, The Sumter Item has selected the Top 125 Sports Figures during that period in Sumter, Clarendon and Lee counties. The list will be revealed in reverse order, appearing every Wednesday and Friday until it reaches the top 10 in December. At that point, one story will be released in each edition until the top figure is revealed. The list will include people who affected sports in our area both in competition and in other ways as well. 125) Doll Eadon - Doll Eadon was a standout basketball player at Christian Academy in Manning and went on to start on two junior college championship teams at Anderson Junior College. She became the first woman ever to receive an athletic scholarship at Clemson University, playing her final two years there. She won a state title as the girls head coach at Laurence Manning Academy. 124) Greg Walker - Greg Walker was a standout offensive lineman for Sumter High School. Walker was a second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer at offensive tackle during his senior season at Clemson in 2003. He went on to play on season with the New York Giants in the NFL. 123) Anthony Rose - Anthony Rose was a standout football player at Mayewood High School, but his claim to fame came at Clemson. Rose was a starting cornerback for the Tigers during their 1981 national championship season. He had four interceptions during his Clemson career. 122) Brent Elmore - Brent Elmore won consecutive S.C. Golden Gloves Championships in 1978 and 1979 as a member of the Sumter Optimist Club boxing team. He fought in three national tournaments and was the first Sumterite to win a bout in an international competition as well. 121) Robert Rohner - Robert Rohner was a standout athlete in several sports at Wilson Hall, but he took it to a different level in college. During his sophomore season at Duke University in 2014, Rohner won the decathlon title in the Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. 120) Austin Francis - Austin Francis was one of the first promoters of both the swimming and the basketball programs with the Sumter Family YMCA, serving from 1930 to 1943. The YMCA's swimming facility is named the Austin Francis Aquatics Center. 119) Jerell Adams - Jerell Adams played tight end for the University of South Carolina from 2012-2015. He had 47 catches in his career for 977 yards and seven touchdowns. He was a sixth-round pick of the New York Giants in 2016 and is currentlly playing with the Houston Texans. He led Scott's Branch High School to a pair of 1A Division II state titles as well at quarterback. 118) Lee Glaze - Lee Glaze has been a part of the radio broadcasting crew for both Sumter High School football and Sumter P-15's baseball for the past several years. Also, he has helped the Sumter Touchdown Club develop into an organization that provides several scholarships each year. 117) Derrick Witherspoon - Derrick Witherspoon was a star running back at Sumter High School and went on to become a starter at Clemson as well, rushing for 971 yards in his career. He played three years in the National Football League with Philadelphia, returning 80 kickoffs for 1,901 yards and three touchdowns. 116) Connie Ballard - Connie Ballard was one of the top women golfers in the state of South Carolina in the 1980s. She won consectuive South Carolina Women's Open Golf Championships in 1986 and 1987. She also won several titles as a senior golfer. 115) Skeet James - W.B. "Skeet" James was a member of the first Sumter American Legion Post 15 baseball team formed in 1929. He was captain of both the baseball and basketball teams at USC, was the chairman of the Sumter Kids in Baseball program and the P-15's program. 114) Kevin Lingefelt - Kevin Lingefelt was a prolific scorer for the Sumter High School boys soccer team in helping lead it to state titles in both 1976 and 1977. Lingefelt scored 87 goals in his three season on the varsity. 113) David McInnis - David McInnis attended the University of North Carolina and was a member of its swimming and diving team. McInnis was good enough to be named the Most Valuable Diver in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the 1956-57 season and has an annual award at the school named after him. 112) Gary Nelson - Gary Nelson came to Sumter High School in 1984 as its first athletic trainer. Thirty-five years later, he's still the school's first athletic trainer. Because of his service, Nelson was recently inducted in the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association and is a member of the Sumter Sports Hall of Fame. 111) Helen Carroll - Though she spent the final 57 years of her 99-year life in the Gamecock City, Helen Carroll's athletic claim to fame happened when she was 17 years and old and had probably never heard of Sumter, South Carolina. However, when it involves winning a gold medal in the Olympics, it makes her more than worthy to be on the list. Carroll traveled from her home in Massachusetts to Los Angeles for the 1982 Summer Olympics. She swam a leg on the gold-medal winning 400-meter freestyle relay team. The team won in what was then a world record time of 4 minutes, 38 seconds, breakingthe record set in 1928 by 9.6 seconds. The team did not practice together one time. Carroll said she was recruited because she was one of the best swimmers and felt the team consisted of the four fastest individuals in the United States. "I thought we were the best," Caroll said in a 2012 interview with The Sumter Item. "We never practiced as a team, but as individuals, and when it was time to compete we just all did our best." [1, 2] | |
_UID | 8C3D0C6B2E7F4A4EB7E05BD711CBD98285AF | |
Person ID | I321858 | Singleton and other families |
Last Modified | 22 Oct 2019 |
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