Marion County Sports Hall of Fame inductees

HAMILTON — Here is an abbreviated list of the 2024 Marion County Sports Hall of Fame inductees from Brilliant, Hackleburg, Hamilton, Marion County, Phillips and Winfield for the class of 2024.

BRILLIANT
Terry Farris
Terry attended Brilliant High School from 1967-1973. He played under the coaching of Doug Walker, David Sexton, Glendon Gibbs and Coach Cox. Terry was a varsity letterman in football for 3 years, and 2 years in basketball and baseball. He is currently retired after a 42 year career at UPS. His favorite hobbies are being a pawpaw to Lena and raising cattle on his family farm.

Chris Gunnels
Chris attended Brilliant High School from 1995-1999. Chris played football, basketball and baseball at BHS. Chris attended Bevill State at  Fayette for two years. He then attended Athens State from 2001-2003. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he received a master’s degree from A&M university and Samford University.

Roy Williams
Roy graduated from Brilliant in 1981. Roy was named all-county two years in basketball, all-county and all conference for two years in football and all county and all-conference for four years in baseball. Roy is currently retired with 26 years in education as both a coach and administrator, retiring in 2020 from Winfield City Schools. He has been married 31 years to Amanda Howell, who was a 1985 Hamilton graduate.

Dewayne Norris
Dewayne is a 1995 graduate of Winfield High School. Dewayne served as the vice-president of the Brilliant High School booster club for two years. In addition, he served as a volunteer coach at Brilliant High School for football and baseball. He currently serves as assistant fire chief at the Winfield fire department. He is married to the love of his life, Stacy Norris, and has three children, Peyton, Luke and Levi.

HACKLEBURG
Buddy Bailey
No info available.

Chris Randolph
Chris attended Hackleburg High School from 2000 to 2006, where he played baseball and football. Chris attended Bevill State Community College for two years, and he currently resides in Hackleburg, with his wife, Brooke, and their two children, Blake and Insley Kate.

Jonathan McGuire
Jonathan attended Hackleburg High School from 1975-1981, where he played football and baseball. After high school, he volunteered with JV football for three years and varsity football for eight years. He and his wife Lisa have been married for 43 years. They have two sons and two granddaughters. His family has a poultry and deer farm they work together.

Karl George
Karl is a 1988 graduate of Hackleburg High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball. Karl attended Northwest Shoals and furthered his career in the car business for almost 30 years. In his spare time, he enjoys being with his granddaughters, cheering on the Auburn Tigers and riding around with his German Shepherd, Moe.

HAMILTON
Thomas Lee Pearce
Thomas attended Hamilton High school from 1989-1993 where he ran cross country and track and field. He also played basketball. He began coaching after graduation, and has been a teacher and coach at Vina High School since 2016.

Bruce Cantrell
Bruce attended Hamilton High School from 1965-1968, playing football and basketball while also running track. “My life now revolves around God and my family,” Cantrell said. “My wife of 51 years, Eleanor Wallace Cantrell, and I are enjoying retirement. We have three children and their spouses who have blessed us with eight grandchildren. I am a born again Christian and speaker.”

Luke Hall
Luke graduated from Hamilton in 2007. While there, he played football, ran track and competed in powerlifting. He would go on to attend Athens State University. Currently, Luke resides in Hamilton with his wife, Jenny Hall, and their two children, Eason (6) and Evelyn (3).

Harold Miller
Harold graduated from Hamilton High School in 1969. During his years there, he played football (1963-69) and ran track (1966-69). He began work at 3M in 1972, starting as an operator, then was trained as an electrician. He was later promoted to plant maintenance supervisor and served in this role until his retirement in 2011 after 37 years of service. He was an avid coon hunter, and now in retirement, Harold works on his 80-acre farm tending to the family’s cattle and horses and attends his grandchildren’s school events and ball games.

MARION COUNTY
Lecil Olen Wesley
Lecil Olen “Bull” Wesley graduated from Marion County High School in 1921. Wesley went on to play for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team, and later the pros. He retired from football after the 1930 season and they moved back to Anniston, Ala., where he worked 17 and a half years for Monsanto Chemical. He then worked the next 10 years as a supervisory engineer for the Gene Olsen Corporation of Adrian, Mich. L.O. then moved back to Cullman and later Tuscaloosa to be near family. He and his wife had one daughter, Mrs. Joyce R. Harkins and a son, William Owen Wesley. They also had four grandchildren.

David LaCardo Reed
David Reed was a 1974 graduate of Marion County High School where he lettered in football, basketball and track. After graduation, David attended Jacksonville State University where he played wide receiver. He later joined the U.S. Army where he was able to continue playing football, basketball and running track for two years before leaving for an overseas tour of duty. David retired after 20 years in the military. He returned to his home in Guin where he passed away in 2016.

Shawn Giddy
Shawn is a 1981 graduate of Marion County High School who played football and ran track, but was most famous for his basketball career. Shawn graduated from JSU with a major in recreation and a minor in law enforcement. Shawn’s love of JSU led him to a 32 year career in law enforcement at JSU. Shawn is now retired and enjoys hunting, fishing and gardening. He lives in Piedmont with his wife Deirdre. They have four children, Amanda, Tony, Liam and Aiden, as well as two grandchildren.

Dorryl Swanigan
Dorryl “Ready” Swanigan was a 2014 graduate of Marion County High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball, while also running track. Ready has felt honored to have had an impact on his school’s history and said everything he accomplished was only possible because of the teammates he had around him.

PHILLIPS
David Hyde
David attended Phillips from 1997-2001, where he played football and ran track, as well as competing on the powerlifting team. After high school, he attended Northwest Shoals for two years and transferred to the University of North Alabama which he attended for one year. He obtained his home builders license and has been building homes full time since 2004. He is married to Allison Humphres, and they have been together since 1999. They live in the Haleyville area.

Trent Williams
Trent attended Philips High School from 2004-2010, where he played football, basketball and baseball. He is currently Hamilton’s head varsity baseball coach. He lives in Hamilton with his wife of nine years, Beth Williams, and their two children Cameron and Callie. His parents, Senn and Shae Williams, are also both members of the Marion County Sports Hall of Fame.

Krista Martin Hulsey
Krista graduated from Phillips High School as valedictorian in 1989. During her time at Phillips, Krista played volleyball, softball and ran track. She is currently serving as director of surgical services at Northwest Regional Health in Winfield. Krista is married to Brad Hulsey of Haleyville and has a daughter, Emma Crawford.

WINFIELD
John Tracy Estes
John Tracy Estes graduated from Winfield City High School in 1985 before earning his bachelor’s degree in news editorial journalism with a minor in history from the University of Alabama in 1989.
Following professional stints with the Tuscaloosa News and the Montgomery Advertiser, Estes returned home to Marion County to serve as news editor at the Journal Record for more than 27 years. In his role with the local newspaper, Estes covered news and sports across Marion County with his primary beat assignments being Winfield and Hackleburg. However, his work would also include extensive work in communities across Marion County throughout his career.
In his journalistic role. Estes walked the sidelines for more than two decades, covering the Winfield Pirates from pre-season jamboree games to multiple deep postseason runs. His roles also included writing and photographic coverage of the school’s basketball, baseball, softball teams and more. His travels included following teams to multiple basketball Final Four appearances as well as coverage of state championship squads in softball, track and field and cheerleading.
He assisted with multiple fundraisers for the athletic and academic programs over the years. During his time, Estes served 15 years on the Winfield Board of Education, Winfield City Schools Alumni board and the Winfield City Schools Foundation, which raised funds to assist graduating seniors with college scholarships.
But today, Estes serves as our state representative for House District 17, where he serves all schools in Marion County and beyond. On Friday nights in the fall, he can be found walking the sidelines for any one of the 10 football teams in his district. He also spends times attending basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball games, as well as track meets and community theater events. He has proven faithful to publicly and privately support of all Marion County schools.
He remains active in assisting with an assortment of financial needs—whether athletic, academic, band, community theater or in the classroom with each of his schools. He takes great pride in “loving on’’ all the students in Marion County and is honored to be included in tonight’s Marion County Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony under the special category division.
Estes and his wife Christina have three children: Kaleb, MaKayla and Samuel and a grandson, Lincoln. He and his wife attend Winfield First Baptist Church.

Allyn Box
Allyn graduated from Winfield in 1997. While there, she played softball, ran track and she was a cheerleader. She was employed as office manager at North Alabama Fabricating.  She is currently employed as a sitter with the elderly since Jan. 2024.

Zack Townley
Zack played football, basketball and baseball until his graduation in 2008. After that, he attended UAH and Mississippi State, where he played safety in football.

Drake Hall
Drake competed in football, basketball, track and baseball. He attended Stillman College then the University of Alabama, where he graduated with a degree in physical education. He currently coaches at Rock Quarry Middle School.