(Note: Just a reminder as to why it is so much fun to cover sports here on the Peninsula in Hampton Roads, Virginia. This article is from 2017. (Photo) L- Former Bethel HS Track Coach Eddie Williams, R - Francena McCorory
The Athletic Hall of Fame of the Lower Virginia Peninsula will hold its triennial inductions Aug. 13 at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton.
The hall, which is operated through the City of Hampton, inducts a maximum of six individuals each cycle, as well as two others who are recognized as contributors.
This year's slate will be full. The athlete inductees are Allen Iverson, Francena McCorory, Bev Vaughan, Lisa Dillard, Yvette Lewis, and Keith Witherspoon.
The contributor awards go to Linwood D. "Butch" Harper and Bob Hintz. Harper is a longtime youth athletic figure in Hampton, while Hintz coached basketball at Bethel before moving on to become a longtime broadcaster with Hampton's Local Sports Channel, where he has served for many years.
Four of the inductees are best known for their exploits in track and field. McCorory (Bethel High, Hampton University) won three NCAA championships for the Pirates before striking Olympic gold twice, in 2012 and 2016, as a member of the 4x400 relay. She is also a former American record-holder in the indoor 400 meters, and she won the world outdoor 400-meter crown in 2014.
Lisa Dillard was a six-time outdoor state champion for Tabb (100, 200, long jump), then ran for one season with Christopher Newport (1986-87), where she won five individual Division III national championships, while setting national D-III records for the indoor 55 meters and long jump and outdoor 200 meters and long jump. From there, Dillard transferred to Clemson and won six individual ACC titles while earning All-American status four times. She was named to the ACC's 50th-anniversary team.
Lewis (Denbigh and Menchville High, HU) scored 48 points to win an outdoor state title for Menchville by herself in 2003 before competing for Coach Maurice Pierce at HU, winning an indoor and outdoor NCAA title in the triple jump. Lewis later moved on to compete as a professional in the 100-meter hurdles. She won the 2011 Pan-American Games title for the U.S. team and finished her career competing for the Panama team at the 2016 Olympics.
Lewis, now an assistant coach at Norfolk State, may be the first woman ever to run under 12.7 in the 100-meter hurdles (12.67) and triple-jump over 45 feet.
Witherspoon won the 1971 AAA triple jump for Huntington at 49 feet, 4.5 inches, which tied the existing state record. Moving on to the University of Virginia, Witherspoon was a three-time All-American in the triple jump and set Cavalier records in the long and triple jumps. His indoor and outdoor triple-jump records stood for 36 years. His success has continued well into adulthood, as Witherspoon has set the masters' (40 years and over) world indoor triple-jump mark of 49-11.
Bev Vaughan is originally from Portsmouth but is best-known on the Peninsula for establishing the women's athletic program at Christopher Newport, where he served as athletic director from 1967 to 1987. Under his guidance, the Lady Captains transitioned from independent status into the Dixie Conference, from junior-college club teams to Division III national champs. Vaughan doubled as the school's first men's basketball coach and won 204 games in 14 seasons.
The best known of the inductees is Iverson, who led Bethel to state championships in both football and basketball in the school year of 1992-93. Both his 948 single-season points in basketball and five interceptions in one football game are Virginia records.
Iverson played two years for John Thompson with Georgetown, where he was a consensus All-American, before being drafted No. 1 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996. Iverson was named the league's MVP in 2001 and led the 76ers to the NBA Finals.
At 6-1, he is arguably the best "small man" in NBA history, and last year, the 11-time All-Star was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
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