New class runs gamut from football to NASCAR

The quarterback who led Arkansas to the 1964 national championship, one of the state's most successful high school football coaches and a North Little Rock native who played baseball 17 years in the major leagues will be among 11 inductees in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame's class of 2016.

The class will be welcomed during the hall's 58th induction ceremony March 4 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

The 2016 class will consist of five inductees from the regular category, three inductees from the senior category and three inductees from the posthumous category.

Honorees will include recently retired pitcher A.J. Burnett, former high school football coach Barry Lunney, professional golfer Bryce Molder, four-time high school tennis champion Paula Juels Jones and former All-Southwest Conference lineman Greg Koch.

Senior category inductees include former University of Arkansas quarterback Fred Marshall, former Arkansas State offensive lineman Bill Phillips and auto racing car owner Bill Davis.

Posthumous inductees are UA middle- and long-distance runner Niall O'Shaughnessy, UA basketball player Almer Lee and boxer Pete Mead.

Burnett was a standout pitcher at Central Arkansas Christian before he was drafted in the eighth round by the New York Mets in 1995. He played professional baseball for the Florida Marlins, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies in a career lasting more than 17 years. He compiled a 163-155 record and a 3.99 earned run average.

Davis, of Batesville, was a NASCAR owner whose teams competed in 722 races in 1993-2008 in what is now the Sprint Cup Series, claiming five victories, including the 2002 Daytona 500 with driver Ward Burton. He also placed cars in 332 races in the Xfinity Series (11 victories) and 360 in the Camping World Truck Series (24 victories, 1 championship). Davis fielded the first NASCAR team for Jeff Gordon, who went on to win four Cup championships.

Jones won four consecutive individual high school state tennis championships, while leading North Little Rock Northeast to three state team championships before heading to the University of Tennessee. At Tennessee, she compiled a 97-71 singles record and a 45-34 doubles record. She was selected as the team's most valuable player in 1994.

Lunney won eight state championships and 17 conference championships in a coaching career that spanned 28 years. His career won-loss record was 248-90-1, which included a 97-25 run at Bentonville, his last coaching stop. Bentonville won four of its five state championships with Lunney at the helm. Lunney also led Fort Smith Southside to four state championships. He is ninth on the state's all-time list of winningesthigh school football coaches.

Molder, of Conway, is one of only four NCAA Division I college golfers to be named as an All-American four consecutive years. He was twice named an Academic All-American. He won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the top college golfer in the nation twice, was chosen as the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year in 1998 and was the All-ACC Conference Player of the Year three times.

Koch played both guard and tackle for the Razorbacks. In 1975, he was named first-team All-Southwest Conference, as the Razorbacks set a record for rushing with more than 3,500 yards. While Koch was with the Razorbacks, they compiled a 26-16-3 record and were Southwest Conference champions and won the Cotton Bowl in 1976. Koch was named to the 1970s Razorback All-Decade Team. He was a second-round draft pick and played 11 seasons in the NFL -- nine with the Green Bay Packers.

Lee's Fort Smith Northside career included two all-state honors, a Class AAA championship and being voted as a Scholastic magazine high school All-American. He attended Phillips County Community College in 1968 and was voted the Outstanding Player in the regional junior college tournament. He transferred to Arkansas for the 1969-1970 season and led the team in scoring. As a junior, he again led the Razorbacks in scoring and was named second team All-SWC by The Associated Press. Lee played two years of professional basketball in Europe.

Marshall quarterbacked Arkansas to a national championship in 1964. That year, Marshall was third in the Southwest Conference in completions with 61, fifth in passing attempts with 113 and second in total yards with 1,225. He was the co-MVP, along with linebacker Ronnie Caveness, in the 1965 Cotton Bowl, in which Arkansas defeated Nebraska 10-7.

Mead, a Trumann native, won the Western Michigan Golden Gloves event in 1942, fighting a grueling nine matches in five days. He eventually became a professional contender for the world middleweight title when Sugar Ray Robinson was the champion. Mead fought at Madison Square Garden five times, and as a professional, he posted a record of 39-16-1.

O'Shaughnessy was an outstanding track and field star for the Razorbacks, placing second in the indoor mile at the 1977-1978 NCAA Championships and seventh at the NCAA Cross Country championships. He became John McDonnell's first SWC individual champion, winning the 880 yards in the 1974 NCAA Indoor Championships. He represented his native Ireland in the 1976 Olympics.

Phillips, a Harrison native, was a four-year letterman at Arkansas State. He was selected as an AP first team All-American in 1970, a first team All-Southland Conference player twice, voted to ASU's All-Time Team, voted into the All-Southland Conference All First Decade Team and played in the 1972 All American Game. He was a third-round draft pick of the Denver Broncos in 1972.

Sports on 11/22/2015