By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Western Alamance is inducting the first class into its Athletic Hall of Fame in nearly a decade this weekend.
A championship team and four individuals have been selected. Athletics director Sean Quinn said it’s the first induction class since 2014. The school’s Athletic Hall of Fame began in 2011.
The 1994 boys’ tennis state championship team will be joined by Wes Gilliam (Class of 1965), Neal Musser (Class of 1976), Connie Beckom (Class of 1984), and B.J. Evans (Class of 1989).
Inductees will be honored at halftime of Friday night’s homecoming football game against Williams. The induction banquet comes at 5:00 p.m. Saturday at Union Ridge Church, with tickets costing $25.
Members of coach Eric Ratchford’s 1994 tennis team were Jason Smith, Kevin Gobble, Darren Alfano, Chris Gowin, Jeremy Madrazo, Sander Pol, Jan-Jelle van Herksen, David Slade, Scott Meyer, Jeff Meyer, Brady Plummer, Thomas Sahadi, Perry Bullard, Nathan Raycroft, Alex Fitzgerald and Jason Casiday.
Gilliam was a standout in football, basketball, and track and field.
Musser excelled in football, wrestling, track and field, and baseball at Western.
Beckom played on Western’s volleyball, basketball, and softball teams.
Evans participated on cross country, track and field, and basketball teams. He’s the son of long-time coach Erma Evans, who’ll present Beckom at the induction.
B.J. Evans, who’s vice president of basketball communications for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, has had a long professional career in collegiate athletics administration, including time as sports information director at North Carolina A&T and a similar role for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Prior to the Cavaliers, he had previous stops in communications and media relations departments with NBA teams Miami Heat and Charlotte Bobcats (who are now the Charlotte Hornets).
