Coweta Sports Hall of Fame

In February of 2008, the Coweta Sports Hall of Fame will induct six new members. Harley Bowers, Ted Denney, William Parks, John "Bubba" Shell, Molly Shepard, and Clyde Zachery were approved by the Board of Directors at its recent meeting.

Chairman of the selection committee Otis Jones said, "We had the largest number of nominees this year we've had in quite some time."

The 2008 "class" will bring the number of individuals honored to 60.

The '08 inductees:

Harley Bowers--A Newnan High School graduate in 1938, Bower was the sports editor of the Macon Telegraph from 1959 - 1987. He was also inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.

Ted Denney--From 1951 - 1955, Denney was an outstanding basketball, baseball, and tennis player for Newnan High School. Denney set the all-time career basketball scoring record that wasn't broken until the early 1980's. After high school, he attended University of Georgia, where he played freshman basketball and baseball, but he signed with the Baltimore Orioles after his freshman season. He played in the Orioles minor league system for eight years.

William Parks--Graduate of Newnan High School and the United States Naval Academy, Parks lettered in basketball and track for three years. He also served in the Navy from 1970 - 1995, retiring with the rank of captain.

John "Bubba" Shell--Played football and baseball at Newnan High School, Shell also played in the Georgia High School Football All-Star game, then the following season, signed with Georgia Tech where he started at tackle for the freshman team. A car accident cut his career at Tech short.

Mary Shepard--Graduate of Newnan High School in 1966, she was a star tennis player, playing number 1 singles all four years of high school and winning state doubles title in '66. She also played tennis at West Georgia College. After schooling, she spent 40 years teaching tennis in Coweta County.

Clyde Zachery--Graduate of Central High School and Fort Valley State College, Zachery excelled in baseball and basketball. He played in the New York Yankees farm system for four years before going into coaching at Crawford County. His basketball team won the state championship in 1981. He also sent 16 of his team players to college.

--Chelcie Murphy, Sports Editor