MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Athletes representing nine different sports and who have etched their names in the history books locally, nationally and internationally comprise the Class of 2023 of the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame.
The 2023 class was honored and officially inducted at a ceremony on Monday night at the Von Braun Center.
Among the honorees are an Olympic medal winner, the first NHL player born in Alabama and the first Black athlete to play in the AHSAA state championship.
The members of the Class of 2023 are:
- Adam Bass (baseball)
- Darrell Blackburn (football)
- David Cain (coaching/track and field)
- Kenyon Hambrick (football)
- Margaret Hoelzer (swimming)
- Turner Jackson (wrestling)
- Holly Richards (volleyball/coaching)
- Jared Ross (ice hockey)
- Marvin Stone (basketball)
- Dr. Warren Strickland (outdoors)
- Jon Sumrall (football)
- Gary Wagner (football)
Being recognized by the Athletic Hall of Fame means a great deal to all of the honorees.
“Very honored to be inducted with this class and this group and part of this organization,” Sumrall said. “I have a lot of respect for what this Hall of fame stands for and just feel very privileged to be a part of it.”
“It’s so great to be recognized by your hometown and just to come home and se everybody, it’s really exciting,” Hoelzer said. “People have just been so supportive throughout my entire career so again it’s such an honor.”
“My father is an alum, he was part of this group and a lot of my family and friends have been as well so I know that it’s a big honor,” Ross said. “We’ve seen the Stones in Huntsville where they put the name of the honorees on it, so I think it’s just a great honor to be able to do something like this and just happy to be part of this community and part of this organization and being able to be represented with this group of people is very exciting.”
The class of 2023 was selected by a vote of the Hall of Fame board of directors after receiving nominations from the public.
