Athletes whose successful exploits range from their high school years into their 70s make up the last class of the Macon Sports Hall of Fame.

The eight-member Class of 2022 will be inducted on Tuesday, May 10, in the Monument Room of the Macon Coliseum.

The class covers basketball, football, softball, baseball, track, soccer, tennis, and track, and represents – from competition or coaching – at FPD, Stratford, Willingham, Lanier, Windsor, Southwest, Northeast, Appling, Mount de Sales, as well as Mercer, Georgia College, Fort Valley State, Georgia, and Southern California.

The Hall will also honor the 1973 Mount de Sales football team, which went 14-0 and won the GHSA Class state title that season.

Call 747-8544 or email theron.ussery@hotmail.com for tickets, which cost $30, and may also be purchased at the door.

The Class of 2022
(From the Macon Sports Hall of Fame, edited)
KEVIN BROWN
Baseball, football, FPD, Georgia
          Kevin Brown was a GISA All-State baseball and football player at FPD during the mid-1980s. Although undersized at just 5-9 and 165 pounds, he was named the Macon Touchdown Club Lineman of the Year in 1985 helping lead the Vikings football team to a state title.
          Kevin was a four-year starter in high school as well as a two-year All-State and All-City performer. He remains in the top three at FPD in career solo tackles, assists, and punting average. He pursued his dream of playing college football by walking on at the University of Georgia. Remarkably, Kevin not only made the team, he started as a true freshman on special teams.
          The following spring, legendary coach Vince Dooley halted a team scrimmage to give Kevin a “battlefield promotion” and awarded him a scholarship. Kevin also rushed 18 times for 72 yards during his tenure with the Bulldogs. Fellow UGA teammate and former NFL running back Tim Worley once called Brown “the toughest football player I’ve ever seen.”

SCHOLAR-ATHLETES

ACE ACADEMY
Lizzy Turner, Tate Turner

CENTRAL
Dana Walker, Christian Gray

CENTRAL FELLOWSHIP
Gwyn Andrews, Andrew Albritton

COVENANT
Joy Howell, Miles Brown

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
Claire Harrison, Jason Xian

HOWARD
Imani Goodman, Andrew Garnett

MOUNT DE SALES
Peyton Barfield, Gavin Brahney

NORTHEAST
Jacquelyn Patrick, Lamorian Williams

RUTLAND
Damaris Osorto, Cameron Foreman

SOUTHWEST
Kayla Harden, Altaron Palmer

STRATFORD
Shorter McCook, Gunn Bush

TATTNALL SQUARE
Avery Scott, Noah Johnson

WESTSIDE
Simone Russell, Ricki Patel

WINDSOR
Lily Kilgore, Elijah Heald

RAMSEY EARNHART
Tennis
          Southern California native Ramsey Earnhart was the nation’s top ranked singles tennis player during his prep career at Ventura High School. After signing to play collegiately at Southern California, Earnhart was named first-team All-American in 1961 and 1962. Ramsey teamed with Rafael Osuna to capture the NCAA doubles championship as well as competing on the U.S Davis Cup team in those two years.
          After leaving Southern Cal, Earnhart competed in various professional events and began a long teaching career. He teamed with Walter Johnson to claim the USPTA national doubles title in 1976. Earnhart migrated to the South and was the Director of the Southern Professional Tennis Association from 1976-1978. Ramsey has been a USPTA certified professional teacher since 1970 and was that organization’s Professional of the Year in 1979.
          In Macon, Ramsey has been a professional and teaching instructor at John Drew Smith Tennis Center, Healy Point Tennis Center, Idle Hour Tennis Center and Stratford. He was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame 1991.

WALTER LEWIS JOHNSON
Basketball, Appling, Fort Valley State, Northeast
          Walter Lewis Johnson was a scoring machine at Peter G. Appling High School, averaging 21 points per game while being named MVP and “most athletic” his senior year. Walter carried his basketball skills to Fort Valley State University, where he averaged 24 points a game during his career and was instrumental in helping the Wildcats win their first SIAC Championship in 1969.
          After graduation, Johnson joined the coaching staff at Southwest, working as an assistant to fellow MSHOF member Don Richardson. After helping the Patriots claim state titles in 1973 and 1975, Walter moved across town to take the reins as the head boys coach at Northeast.
          Johnson enjoyed a stellar career with the Raiders. During his 24 years at the helm, Northeast made eight state tournament appearances, with four trips to the Final Four and two state runner-up finishes.
          Ironically, in 1979, Johnson lost to his former boss as Southwest beat Northeast in the title game. The consummate teacher, Walter won several coach of the year honors and hosted several individual and team basketball camps. He is a member of the FVSU Hall of Fame.

CHRISTY JOHNSTON
Stratford, soccer, basketball, Mercer
Christy (Cantrell) Johnston is one of the most decorated athletes in Stratford history. She was a five-year letter winner in softball and a four-year all-state player (1997-2000), helping lead the Eagles to the 1997 GISA state championship.
Christy was also an all-region cross country performer in 1998. She was a four-year letter winner in basketball and a valuable member of the 2001 state championship team. On the soccer field, Johnston was a mainstay on four straight state championship teams (1998-2001) and was named to the All-Middle Georgia Team for three of those seasons. Christy was a two-time all-star, an MVP and all-stater. She continued her soccer career at Mercer and won four letters, as well as being a four-time scholar-athlete winner. Christy was inducted into the Stratford Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.

JOE McDANIEL
Pickleball
          Joe McDaniel was a standout athlete at Willingham High School and played college basketball at Georgia Southern before returning to Macon to embark on a successful coaching career. Joe became head basketball coach at Mount de Sales, in addition to serving as an assistant in both baseball and football. He has mentored fellow MSHOF members Norm Nixon, Walter Daniels, Larry Lawrence, and Ben Zambiasi, among others.
          McDaniel has always been involved in athletics, and when the new sport of pickleball was first introduced, Joe took hold. In 2016, McDaniel became the first ambassador for Macon pickleball and helped the sport grow from about a dozen players to nearly 500 active players in the Macon and Middle Georgia area. Joe has taught hundreds of people how to play pickleball, both at his own home court as well as in group settings at Tattnall Square, FPD, local churches, and country clubs.
          As a tournament player, Joe has captured several gold medals, including the Mid-Atlantic Championship, The Atlantic South, and the Super Senior International Pickleball Association tournament. He also claimed a Bronze Medal at the U.S. Open Pickleball Tournament in Naples, Florida.

HENRY MIDDLEBROOKS
Basketball, Lanier
          Henry Middlebrooks was one of the finest basketball players to come out of Lanier High School. He was a leader of the Poets state tournament teams of the early 1950s. In 1951, Lanier beat Brown 48-45 to claim the GHSA Class AA title. The following season, Brown turned the tables and beat Lanier 54-44 in the title game.
          Henry was recruited to the University of Georgia, where he was the leading scorer on the Bulldogs’ freshman team. But when Henry’s father passed away, he opted to leave school and return to Macon. Middlebrooks started his coaching career as an assistant at Willingham before returning to his alma mater as assistant football and head basketball coach.
          At Lanier, Middlebrooks coached several future MSHOF inductees, including Al Gerhardt, Bruce Gordy, Ken Bonifay, and Rex Putnal, among others. Henry compiled 140 wins at Lanier before retiring from coaching and becoming headmaster at FPD, a job he held for 25 years.

MARK MIMBS
Windsor, Mercer, baseball
          Mark Mimbs was a GISA All-State pitcher for Windsor from 1984 to 1987. In 89 innings for the Knights, he racked up 174 strikeouts with a very impressive 0.94 ERA. He stayed home to play his college ball at Mercer. With the Bears, Mimbs threw eight complete games in 1990 and was selected in the 25th round of the MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
          During his rookie campaign in Great Falls, Mark was 7-4 with a league-leading 94 strikeouts. The following year at Class A Bakersfield, Mark was 12-6 with a sizzling 2.22 ERA. He marched to the top of the Dodgers farm system, posting a 14-13 mark with AAA Albuquerque in 1995-96.
          After quick stints in the Red Sox and Astros organizations, Mimbs landed with the Mets and posted a 9-2 record with a 2.08 ERA for AAA Norfolk in 1998. But arm trouble kept him from reaching the MLB level, and he pitched his final two seasons in Japan after compiling a 51-48 minor league record and a 3.51 ERA.
          Mark is a member of the Mercer Hall of Fame.

AMI LEE POWELL
Windsor, basketball, softball, track, Georgia College
Ami Lee (Martin) Powell was a three-sport standout in basketball, softball and track at Windsor from 1987-1991. Known as a fierce competitor, Ami Lee was a GISA All-State performer in basketball for three straight years when she averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals per game. She left Windsor as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,692 points. She also garnered all-state honors in softball during that same three-year stretch and was a two-year all-state performer in track during her junior and senior years.
She opted to play basketball in college and she was a three-year starter for Georgia College. Powell averaged eight points a game and shot an impressive 40 percent from the 3-point line. She was named team captain during her senior year of 1995, the same year Windsor retired her jersey, No. 30.