2012 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees

UMS-Wright Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony October 19, 2012

2012 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees Lonnie Paul Cleveland ’56 John Dobbin Williams ’89 Donald Alexander Urquhart, III ’98 Le’Von Demetrius Pears ’00 Hallie Simone Blunck ‘02 Harry Adams Luscher – Honorary

Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees Biographies

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onnie Paul Cleveland graduated from University Military School in 1956. He was an all-around athlete who played football, basketball, and baseball. He was a recipient of the “Thoss Athletic Award” which was given to the senior who contributed the most to athletics. He was named AllCity in Baseball and Basketball and was named honorable mention in football.

Cleveland continued his education at the University of Southern Mississippi where he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega and the “M” Club. He graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration. After graduation in 1960, he pursued a professional golf career. He was Assistant Pro at Belle Meade Country Club in Nashville, TN; Head Pro at Sky Park Golf Club in Florence, AL; and Head Pro at Athens Country Club in Athens, GA. In 1968, he began selling golf equipment and accessories with Sabayvac Inc. and was a representative in Miami, FL for Footjoy Shoes, Izod Men’s Wear, and others.

In 1971, Cleveland was called to ministry. Three years later, he was licensed to preach at Dauphin Way Baptist Church. Through New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he served churches in Louisiana, Texas, Montana, and Florida for 40 years. Presently, he lives in Breaux Bridge, LA with his wife, Norma, and works with the Louisiana Baptist Convention as a Mission/Evangelism Strategist in Lafayette, LA. He is a member of Rotary Club and volunteers for missions, locally, nationally, and abroad.

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ohn Dobbin Williams graduated from UMS-Wright in 1989 where he lettered in golf and soccer. Williams began playing varsity golf as a 7th grader and played through his senior year earning six varsity letters. He was a four-time recipient of the Dzwonkowski Brothers Golf Award during his tenure at UMS and UMS-Wright. He helped the 1988 team capture the Brother James trophy after their undefeated season, and he also lead the 1989 golf team to a second place finish at the State Golf Tournament. Some other notable accomplishments include being a member of the Golf Magazine 14-15 year old AllAmerican Team as a 14 year old; five Top 10 finishes in the Future Masters, including a first place finish as a 14 year old; and advancing to the final rounds of the National Insurance Youth Golf Classic all four years played, including a ninth place finish as a 16 year old.

After graduation, Williams continued his golf career at the University of South Alabama where he played on the Men’s Golf Team as a freshman and sophomore. He was a member of the All-Sun Belt Tournament Team which helped lead South Alabama to its first ever Sun Belt Conference Golf Championship. He graduated in 1994 with a B.S. in Marketing.

Williams shares that his years at UMS and UMS-Wright taught him to adapt to change, as he started school when it was military, and he was in the first class to graduate after the merger of UMS and JTW. He and his wife, Kay, reside in Mobile, and he owns Williams Appraisal, a residential appraisal company serving Mobile and Baldwin Counties. He has two daughters, Ellen and Martha, both who attend UMS-Wright.

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onald “Don” Alexander Urquhart, III, graduated from UMS-Wright in 1998. During his high school career, Urquhart was a three-year letterman in football and track and was a four-year letterman in soccer. In football, Urquhart started as kicker for three years and on defense for two years. He connected 81 of 92 PAT’s and hit 19 of 27 field goal attempts. He made six game-winning kicks, three of which were made in final seconds.

He still holds the school record for the longest field goal of 47 yards. His defensive stats include 165 career tackles, 21 sacks, and 4 blocked punts. He won numerous awards for his accomplishments including First Team All-State Kicker, Most Valuable Defensive Player, Mobile Press Register Super 22, and Crichton Optimist Club Defensive Back of the Week, twice. He was also selected to play in the Alabama North-South All-Star game. Urquhart’s kicking abilities continued on the soccer field. He led his team in scoring for three consecutive years with a career total of 63 goals. His senior year, he was named All-State and was selected to play in the Alabama North-South All-Star Game. He was also named a recipient of the Jeffrey Neville Friend MVP Award. During the spring, Urquhart raced from the soccer field to the track to run a leg in the 4x100 relay. He was a member of the outdoor track state champion team in 1997 and 1998 and the indoor track state champion team in 1997 as well.

After graduation from UMS-Wright, Urquhart accepted a football scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi, where he was a three-year letter winner as a kicker and special teams player. He played in four bowl games and one Conference USA championship.

He was selected as Special Teams Player of the Week his freshman year, received the Strength and Conditioning Most Improved Award, and was elected to the Team Leadership Council.

Urquhart graduated from Southern Miss with a degree in business administration. He then returned home to work for the family business, U-J Chevrolet, and currently serves as the sales manager. Urquhart has continued to give his time and resources back to UMS-Wright.

He volunteered as an assistant coach from 2003 to 2009 and helped the Bulldogs and Coach Curtis bring home state championships in 2005 and 2008. When he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his son, Bud.

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e’Von Demetrius Pears graduated from UMS-Wright in 2000 where he was a member of the varsity football and indoor and outdoor track teams. Pears began playing on the varsity football team as an eighth grader and started his entire high school career. He played a number of different positions, including running back, offensive lineman, and defensive lineman. He was a main force on defense and helped the team advance to the Super 6 in 1996 as a freshman. He was named All-State twice and was a recipient of the John H. Mosteller Memorial Award, the RE Hanks Athletic Award, and the Iron Man Award. He was also Defensive Player of the Year, Top Running Back, Optimist Club Player of the Week, and 1st and 10 Club Player of the Week. His senior year, he was voted Mr. Hero by the lower school as their favorite football player. Pears was also a valuable member to the track and field teams. In indoor track, he was individual state champion in the shot, a fifth place state finisher in the 60, and all-state in the 4x 200 relay team as a senior. In the outdoor state track meet his senior year, he was an individual state champion in shot put and ran a leg on the 4x 100 and the 100 meters. Over his four-year track career, Pears was a member of four indoor and outdoor state championship teams and was All-State three times.

Upon graduation from UMS-Wright, Pears continued his education at the University of Southern Mississippi where he walked onto the football team and was a four-year letter winner. He played in 11 games in 2001, seeing time in 164 plays; played in 13 games in 2002, seeing time in 224 plays; and registered 35 tackles, two sacks, and two pass breakups over the two years. Due to his accomplishments, Head Coach Jeff Bower awarded him the Kristen Bower Endowed Scholarship in 2003. At the end of the 2003 season, he earned a degree from Southern Miss in coaching and sport administration.

Pears shares, “UMS taught me that I can adjust to any situation and deal with people no matter what their background may be.� His teammates looked up to him because he had a positive attitude and always led by example. He was willing to help everyone on and off the field. He now lives in Tuscaloosa with his wife, Rocheal, and is a Position-Team Leader for Inteva Products, a supplier for Mercedes Benz.

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allie Simone Blunck graduated from UMS-Wright in 2002. In middle school, she joined the varsity diving, track and cross country teams. She was also a member of four UMS-Wright championship teams. Her individual athletic accomplishments at UMS-Wright include winning the state 3200m and 1600m twice; holding the 4x8 team record for eight years; holding the pole vault record for 7 years; being named Super 7 from the PressRegister; and being named All-State five years in both track and cross country. She won a total of13 individual state track and field titles and one individual cross country championship. Blunck had many accomplishments off the field as well. She was honored as the Class of 2002 Valedictorian, and she was a member of the National Honor Society, Cum Laude Society, and Mu Alpha Theta.

Blunck continued her education and her athletic career at the University of the South where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and competed in three interscholastic sports. She was a record setting performer in the pole vault and diving. She received prestigious awards as a student-athlete for swimming and diving as well as cross country including All-SCAC in diving and pole vault and All-Region in cross country. This multi-sport athlete was also a 2005 Rhodes Scholar Finalist and a Wilkins Scholar while at Sewanee and a recipient of a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

Blunck, who graduated from the UAB Medical School in May, embraced the ideal sport for her varied athletic talents when she became a triathlete upon entering medical school. Not surprisingly, she has become a nationally ranked competitor in this sport and has finished second in the USA Triathlon Group Nationals as well as finishing 8th in an international triathlon in Budapest, Hungary. She has been ranked as the top female triathlete in the Southeast Region and has won three triathlons in 2012.

Outside of academics and athletics, Blunck has a strong passion for Camp Rap-A-Hope.

She deferred a year of medical school to intern with Camp Rap-A-Hope at Camp Grace and continues to volunteer there every summer. She also volunteered for the Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, AL and Girls on the Run. She is currently a research assistant in the UAB Department of Emergency Medicine and is a member of the Professional Development Team for Fast Forward Triathlon LLC. She would ultimately like to pursue primary care sports medicine.

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arry “Happy” Adams Luscher graduated from Murphy High School and then the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and was Vice President of Arts & Sciences. He attended Tulane University School of Medicine where he received a medical degree in 1976. He completed his general surgery residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans and Doctors Memorial Hospital, ER in Baton Rouge and his orthopedic surgery residency at Campbell Clinic in Memphis. Dr. Luscher was a surgeon with The Orthopaedic Group for 25 years.

Dr. Luscher became the team doctor for the UMS-Wright football team when his son, Hayes ‘97, began playing football for the Bulldogs. He also had the opportunity to share the field with his daughter, Hill ‘01, who was a student trainer. Dr. Luscher possessed many positive qualities which one would want in a team doctor, especially in football. Most obviously, he was a skilled physician whose patients knew that they would always receive the very best of care from such a dedicated and empathetic professional. Even so his most valuable asset was his calm, reassuring demeanor during tense situations. This quality had an amazing impact on the team both during and after a game. Not only would Dr. Luscher put an injured player at ease immediately, but he could also restore calm to parents who were understandably upset whenever their child was hurt during a game. Many former players, coaches, and parents have witnessed the amazing effect that his presence alone would have on an uneasy coach or even an agitated fan who was caught up in the intensity of the competition. Being on a sideline or in a dressing room with Dr. Luscher was truly a privilege. After his last child graduated in 2001, he passed the reigns to his partner, Jeff McGowin, but it was hard for him to let go. His family shares, “The experience of volunteering with the UMS-Wright Athletics Program gave Happy a great respect for the coaches, the trainers, and the players of all sports at UMS-Wright. Being the team doctor brought together all aspects of Happy’s life that he loved best. Happy was allowed to be with his children and friends doing professionally what he loved to do, usually on a Friday night at a place that he loved.”

Dr. Luscher was involved with many civic organizations in the community. He was a member of the Board of Orthopedic Surgeons, the Medical Society of Mobile County, Willis C. Campbell Club, Young Life Board, Mobile Carnival Association Committee, The Senior Bowl Committee, YMCA Board, Victory Heal, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. His wife, Camille, son, Hayes, and daughters, Hebard and Hill, accept this award in his memory.

Athletic Hall of Fame Members 1980 Oscar N. Barney ‘08 B. R. Wilson, Jr. ‘28 William C. Martin ‘40 Thomas P. Martin ‘47 Roy F. Shoemaker ‘58 Joel B. Bullard, Jr. ‘68 B. Greer Radcliff ‘71 Brazil Simon - Honorary 1981 James McPhillips ‘19 William B. Lott ‘24 John C. Davis ‘38 Richard Flowers ‘42 W. Earle Smith, Jr. ’52 Christopher G. Hume, III ‘66 Matthew W. Mosteller ‘71 1982 Mastin Cleveland ‘14 Bert W. Milling ‘38 William B. Yost ‘42 Charles A. Graddick ‘63 Robert H. Rouse ‘73 B. R. Wilson, III ‘61 - Honorary 1983 Edgar C. Fonde ‘21 J. Burruss Semple ‘30 Joe Crabtree ‘37 Roy N. Newell ‘41 Clifton C. Inge ‘54 W. Allen Cox ‘69 Joseph W. Galloway ‘75 Thomas C. Huckabee - Honorary 1984 G. Woodrow Scott ‘39 Ray C. “Buddy” Lauten ‘46 Perry V. Lowery ‘50 John G. Walton ‘67 Paul W. Brock, Jr. ‘72 Marvin “Bull” Smith - Honorary 1985 Ben Hastie ‘21 Charles A. Chambers ‘38 Howard V. Adair ‘43 Robert P. Hall ‘50 Russell H. Anderson ‘64 Braxton C. Counts, III ‘76 R. E. Hanks - Honorary

1986 Joseph K. Roe ‘20 Andrew Edington ‘30 Charles F. Grove ‘39 Alex C. Hancock ‘44 Thomas G. Andreades ‘74 Thomas E. Powell ‘81 William Earle Smith - Honorary 1987 C. L. Burton ‘40 Gerald V. Rodgers ‘65 Robert M. Weinacker ‘73 Gregg T. Hope ‘81 Andrew M. Hinson - Honorary 1988 Gordon Smith, Jr. ‘20 Charles W. Weinacker ‘40 John H. Graddick ‘47 Dean I. Gillespie ‘52 Donald F. Pierce ‘78 John H. Hartwell ‘83 Ben H. Harris, Sr. ’27 - Honorary 1989 J. T. “Sammy” Francis ‘40 Joseph Steiner ‘46 Sidney E. Phillips ‘55 Edward E. Holmes ‘61 Eugenia Cameron Foster ‘62 T. Forress Rayford ‘70 Mary Weinacker Hale ‘78 Lisa Savell Drew ‘83 Arlene Jones Sevy ‘84 Susie Pager Parry ’84 W. Sherwood Pape ‘30 - Honorary Lois B. Lewis - Honorary 1990 Beauregard R. Ward ‘41 Nathaniel P. Harris ‘59 Serena Edgar Willcox ‘63 Louis N. DeAngelo ‘63 Kerry McKinney Ellis ‘79 Pfilip G. Hunt ‘79 Lisa Eubanks Hollingsworth ‘81 Mark F. Gottfried ‘82 Bruce Filippini - Honorary

Athletic Hall of Fame Members 1991 O. R. “Randy” Tanner, Jr. ‘61 Stephen C. Olen ‘68 Amy St. John Hamilton ‘74 Douglas L. Anderson ‘75 Mary F. Riddell ‘76 Frances St. John Rouse ‘76 Leah Yelverton Stimpson ‘76 Marion H. Lyons, III ‘81 W. Patrick Galle - Honorary 1993 William H. Lyons ‘58 O. M. Otts, III ‘63 Rea Schuessler, III ‘78 Doria D. Gibbons ‘78 Irene Hickox Holbrook ‘80 Bradley K. Hildreth ‘85 Don P. Kelly, Jr. - Honorary 1994 Oliver B. Alvarez ‘41 George V. Ward, Jr. ‘55 Joseph Jerome Masters ‘64 Linda Wert Olen ‘71 Mark C. Carmichael ‘78 Joseph H. L. Dzwonkowski, Jr. ‘80 Leslie McInvale Addison ‘83 O. M. Otts, Jr. ‘37 - Honorary 1995 Harold C. Miller ‘34 C. William Bodie ‘61 W. Lindsey Walker ‘67 Tammy Taylor Padilla ‘81 Meg Walsh Finkbohner ‘83 Douglas R. McLeod ‘83 1996 Thomas L. Comer ‘48 Robert E. Whigham, Jr. ‘56 Roy V. Elliot, Jr. ‘63 William B. Taylor, III ‘72 Richard C. Hogan ‘80 Sara Jane Wood ‘84 Douglas N. Barfield - Honorary 1997 Frederick S. Crown ‘32 Early T. Eastburn ‘57 John A. Lamey, III ‘60 Joel B. Davis ‘75 Scott N. Smith ‘81 Laura Bellew Hamby ‘85 Janey P. Miller - Honorary

1998 Walter C. Ernest, III ‘55 Fred A. Coats ‘67 W. Britton Cooper ‘83 Catharine Peebles Dukes ‘87 Steven B. Hancock ‘88 Gerald Reid - Honorary 1999 C. Ernest Edgar, Jr. ‘24 Ervin S. Cooper ‘28 Ollie H. Byrd ‘55 Kenneth L. McLaughlin ‘64 Donald A. Urquhart, Jr. ‘68 Ben L. Martin, III ‘76 Rebecca Montgomery Beall ‘89 P. Colburn Maher ‘89 2000 Donald R. Hansen ‘55 Robert M. Montiel ‘69 Jean A. Lankford ‘75 Christopher F. Hayden ‘89 Corey Galle Steele ‘90 Kenneth Skipper ‘47 - Honorary 2001 John C. Carrington ‘57 James E. Little ‘62 Allan R. Cameron ‘76 Victoria Coffer Fong ‘79 Peggy Weinacker Piggott ‘82 John E. Witherington, Jr. ‘88 Chad E. Applin ‘90 Jimmie Lee Anderson - Honorary 2002 Shirley H. Cochran, Jr. ‘53 Angus R. Cooper, II ‘60 Gary H. Dunn ‘76 Laura Yelverton Adams ‘82 Alvin K. Hope, II ‘88 Marc D. Hayden ‘92 Robert H. Radcliff, Jr. - Honorary 2003 Lee B. Graddick ‘50 Randolph S. Weaver ‘63 R. Maurice Crowe, Jr. ‘73 Bryan D. Adams ‘89 Lori Leacy Roberts ‘89 Christopher J. Walton ‘91 Walter C. Haffner, Jr. ‘62 - Honorary

Athletic Hall of Fame Members 2004 Charles J. Smith ‘58 Frank A. Alardo ‘66 J. Noel Turner ‘78 Robert V. Dzwonkowski ‘82 Travis E. Havens ‘93 Allison R. Beebe ‘94 E. Gordon Doody, Jr. - Honorary 2005 Francis S. Wold ‘49 Bert W. Milling, Jr. ‘64 Robert Bruce King ‘78 Mimi Jardine ‘81 Roderick B. Slater ‘83 M. Bancroft McMurphy, III ‘92 Aimee Holmes Stone ‘94 Ken McWilliams - Honorary 2006 Robert L. Comer ‘45 J. Gary Willard ‘77 Ralph W. Mitchell, Jr. ‘86 Helen Sullivan Britnell ‘90 Edmund G. Doody, III ‘95 2007 R. Owen Blackwell, III ‘56 Jimmy D. Shoulders ‘78 C. Hamilton McGuire ‘80 Elizabeth Damson Freeman ‘94 Matthew Phillip Brennan ‘96 Ethel Gholston - Honorary

2008 William M. Sims ‘52 O. Lee Wilson, III ‘78 Charlotte Powell Andrews ‘84 B. Drake Ibsen ‘87 Shane J. Mills ‘91 Carolyn Meador Marston ‘97 Laura E. Hancock ‘98 Sam S. Haginas ‘98 Kemper Todd - Honorary 2009 J. Ferrell Grimes ‘65 Charlotte C. Windham ‘77 Kevin K. Hays ‘83 J. McDavid Miller ‘97 Hilton Billingsley Mostellar ‘97 Steve Kittrell - Honorary 2010 Herbert S. Solberg ‘52 Robert M. Hope, Jr. ‘79 Kenneth W. Wear, Jr ‘83 Phillip S. Willingham, Jr. ‘97 Brooke Jarrell Bayne ‘99 Michael Allen Jacobs - Honorary 2011 Brad R. Thompson ‘90 M. Cullen Thompson, Jr. ‘95 Branden O. Phillips ‘98 Brooke Beard Dodson ‘01 Molly Crown Nordmann ’76 - Honorary