Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame Inducts 2024 Class

HUNTINGDON (May 4) — The Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors inducted its twenty-second class of members during a celebration on Saturday, May 4 at the Carroll County Civic Center. Nine members were inducted and 10 high school seniors were recognized for their athletic and academic accomplishments.

Russell Bush, chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee said that two seniors from each of the five high schools are honored each year. The selection committee selects students who have excellent sports statistics plus also excel in the classroom. Schools chose their own recipients and are generally one female and one male from each school.

Bush said the honorees remember their players, coaches, and those who supported their playing careers. They don’t always remember the score, but they do remember the important things about sports.

High school honorees included: Clarksburg — Chloe Rae Crum and Jacob Derryberry; Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central — Addison Hampton and MyKenzie Burton; Huntingdon — Lilly Kee and C. J. Pelonero; McKenzie — Savannah Davis and Stafford Roditis; and West Carroll — Nyonna Parker and Nat Wycliffe.

The permanent inductees include:

Ellen Argo — Ellen is a 1986 graduate of McKenzie High School and played three different sports and excelled in three different sports during her time at McKenzie and for Bethel University. Ellen was a four-year starter for the McKenzie Lady Rebel basketball and softball teams.

Ellen was named All-District 11-A in basketball in 1986 and was one of the leading scorers on the team her senior season. Ellen then earned a scholarship to Bethel, where she became the first Lady Wildcat to score over 1,000 points during her career and finished her career with 1,157 points. She remains in the top 15 for career points, rebounds, and three-point goal percentage. She also was on the Bethel coaching staff for three seasons and served as head coach in 1996-97.

During her freshman year of college, she tried her hand at tennis and became the number one singles and doubles player by her senior season.

In 2020, she was inducted into the Bethel University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Mark Dillahunty — Mark was a 1974 graduate of Huntingdon High School and lettered in three sports. In basketball, he played four years and started at point guard his junior and senior year. Mark was named the most improved basketball player his junior year.

Mark also played baseball for four years and batted .367 his senior year. Mark was also a standout pitcher for the Mustangs and pitched one no-hitter his senior year.

Mark was a standout football player for the Mustangs. He played QB for the Mustangs. His senior year, Mark was named to the All-Volunteer Conference team, All-West Tennessee team, and Honorable Mention All-State. Mark was also named Co-Captain his senior year and was named the QB Club Player of the year. He was also named Best Tackler his senior season.

Debbie Cathy — Debbie is a 1979 graduate of Hollow Rock - Bruceton Central High School. She played two sports for Central, basketball and softball. Her senior year, she played shortstop for Central’s first softball team. That team went on to finish the season undefeated and won the county tournament. For basketball, she was a four-year starter. She led the team in free throw percentage her sophomore, junior and senior years. Her junior year she averaged 18 points per game and was named the team MVP for the season.

Her senior year she averaged 32.1 points per game, which put her over 1,000 points for her career. Her senior year, she was named team MVP, All-District, and WFWL SuperSport awards. During this time, she ranked as high as 8th in leading scorers for the state of Tennessee. She was named that year to the Jackson Sun All-West TN 2nd team. After graduating, she received a basketball scholarship to Jackson State.

Pamela (Hall) Joyner — Pamela Hall Joyner is a 1974 graduate of Trezevant High School. She was an outstanding basketball player for the Lady Blue Devils and was a member of the 1974 state championship team. She played for the legendary coach Richard Welch and was an outstanding defensive player. Pamela played at the time when Girls High School basketball in the state of Tennessee was three on three and along with her two teammates were known for shutting opposing offenses completely down.

Her tenacity on defense earned her a starting position for her junior and senior years. Along with being a great defensive player and played buzzer to buzzer, she was also an outstanding rebounder for the Blue Devils. She was a leader in the locker room and will be the first to tell you that she put team accomplishments above her own.

Pamela later would become a teacher and would spend 37 years molding and shaping young lives. She still serves her community as an alder person for the town of Trezevant. She is married to Ronnie Joyner.

Jenny (Webb) Miller — Jenny (Webb) Miller graduated from Clarksburg High School in 1990. Jenny played basketball and softball her four years in school.

In 1990, Jenny attended Bethel College where she played basketball for the Lady Wildcats under coach Buddy Wiggleton.

After graduating Bethel, Jenny returned to Clarksburg and coached girls’ softball and basketball for the middle school and high school. Jenny played a key role in starting the middle school softball program at Clarksburg.

In 2021, Jenny took the reins of the school and became principal and athletic director at Clarksburg.

Jerry Atkins — The late Dr. Jerry Atkins is the first inductee into the Carroll County Sports Hall Fame in the new category of Contributor.

Jerry was a graduate of Lambuth University in 1959 and went on to study medicine at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He began his medical service in Carroll County at Wilson Hospital in 1964.

Jerry would soon become what was basically the team physician for all athletes in Carroll County. He gave medical exams and treated Carroll County athletes for 35 years, and often it was no charge to the athlete or school. He also served Carroll County as physician for 50 years and died in 2019. He was represented at the banquet by his son, Kyle.

Sevelte Gilbert — Sevelte Gilbert is a 1993 graduate of McKenzie High School. Sevelte was a standout basketball player for the Lady Rebels and became the first player to be named to the Associated Press Class 1A First team All-State in 1993. She was also named to the All-West Tennessee team that season. During her career, she was three-time All-District and two-time All-Region. She finished her career with 1,735 points and 1,007 rebounds, and went on to a successful collegiate career at UT Martin.

Sevelte was also a big part of the McKenzie Lady Rebels softball team that made state tournament appearances in 1991 and 1993. She helped McKenzie’s softball program to record the school’s first two state tournament wins in 1993.

Sevelte currently serves as the school counselor at Whitney Elementary School in Memphis and has three children, Sasha, Mya, and Serena.

Chuck R. Wallace — Chuck was an outstanding football player from 1966-68. He was named “Best Tackler” in 1967, “Best Blocker” in 1968. Chuck was also named best “Lineman” in the Hendersonville Lake Bowl in 1967. In 1967 and 1968 he was named as an “All-Volunteer Conference tackle.” Chuck was named to the All-West Tennessee team in 1967 and 1968, Honorable mention All-State in 1967, and was named to the All-State team for the state of Tennessee in 1968.

In 1968, Chuck was named as Co-Captain of the team and selected to the TSSAA Allstar football game. In 1968, Chuck was named as the first ever QB Club MVP in 1968. Chuck received a four-year scholarship to Memphis State University after his senior year. Chuck was considered by legendary Coach Paul Ward as one of the best players he ever coached.

Linda Wicker — Linda is a 1970 graduate of Hollow Rock- Bruceton Central High School. She played basketball for four years in high school but her love for the game began in the fourth grade. Her principal Mr. D.S. Clark was the first to encourage her to take up the game and her first coach A A Tolbert was the first coach to begin working on her game.

In the eighth grade, coach Jimmy Grooms helped her refine her game and moving to high school she became a prolific scorer and led her teams in scoring throughout her career. She became known for her “high arch” shots prior to the three-point line.

In high school she credits coaches Buddy McMackins, Larry Robinson, and Ronnie Prichard and Tommy Crews for her success. She was chosen Most Athletic her senior season and the Girls Athletic honor at graduation.