The Southmont Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet and recognition night will be held this Saturday at the Southmont High School cafeteria and auditorium.
The class of 2021 includes six athletes, a team, a coach, special contributor, five legends, and the formal induction of two 2019 inductees that were unable to attend the induction two years ago.
The program will include a walking tour of the current facilities at 5 p.m., a catered dinner in the cafeteria at 6 p.m. and introduction of the the inductees at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.
The pair of athletes from 2019 that will be included in Saturday’s ceremony are:
• Mike McCarty, Class of 1985
McCarty lettered two years in basketball, earning all conference and all-county both seasons. As a junior, McCarty averaged 15 points per game and 16.7 points as a senior. He scored 661 points and led the Mounties to a county title and Wabash River Conference title as a senior in the 1984-85 season. He also lettered two years in baseball.
McCarty played basketball for two years at Wabash College, earning team MVP honors as a sophomore. Following graduation, he was a Violent Crime Detective with the Nashville, Tennessee Police Department from 1991-1997, before founding Safe Hiring Solutions a consulting firm in 2004.
He is married to Trish McCarty and they have five kids — Logan (20), Evan (17), Zack (16), Olivia (14), and Delaney (11).
• Samantha (Williams) Adams, Class of 2008
Adams lettered all four years in gymnastics, qualifying for the regional her sophomore, junior and senior seasons and the state meet in the balance beam as a junior. Her teams won county all four years, and qualified for the regional in 2007 as a team. Upon graduation, she held the Southmont school record in the vault (9), bars (8.75), beam (9.4), floor (9.3), all-around (35.45), and team score (97.7).
She competed in college gymnastics at Winona State University, helping her team finish fourth in the 2009 Division III National Championships.
She married Jay Adams and they have one daughter Taesyn (2). Adams is the Senior HR Leader for Kroger Manufacturing.
The six athletes for the class of 2021 are:
• Matthew McGauhey, Class of 2002
McGauhey lettered all four years in football, earning team captain as a junior and senior and outstanding lineman. He also lettered all four years in wrestling, helping the Mounties to sectional, regional, and semi-state titles at a junior in 2001. He also helped the baseball team to a sectional championship his senior season.
Individually, McGauhey was a sectional and regional champion and state qualifier as a senior. He was also the 2002 Journal Review Male Athlete of the Year.
He played baseball at Viterbo University, and played two post-college seasons for the LaCrosse Loggers.
McGauhey is married to Jennifer Sillery McGauhey. He is currently the Facilities Manager for Zimmer Biomet in Warsaw, Indiana.
• Katie (Linn) Swisher, Class of 2001
Swisher lettered all four years in golf, winning the sectional as a senior and was the Montgomery County champion. She was all-conference as a junior and senior, including medalist honors as a junior. She was also an all-state nominee as a senior. She set numerous individual golf records.
In basketball, she was a first-team all conference honoree as a sophomore and junior as well as first-team all-area. She was all-stat honorable mention as a junior. Her basketball teams won the Montgomery County title her sophomore freshman and sophomore seasons and the sectional title her sophomore year.
She went on to play three years of basketball at Marian University, including two years as a starter.
She is married to Scott Swisher, and she has two children — Mia (20) and Reed (18). Swisher is a teacher and golf coach at Western Boone.
• Elliott Vice, Class of 2002
Vice was a two year letter-winner in football, and was named Journal Review Offensive Player of the Year in 2000. He finished seventh in the state in passing yards with an average of 233.2 yards per game.
Vice is married to Margaret Vice and have two children Emilia (2) and Theodore (3). He is currently the Director of Government Affairs for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing in Washington, D.C.
• Denise Harvey, Class of 1988
Harvey lettered all four years in cross country and was a member of the 1985 Southmont cross country team that qualified for the state finals.
In track and field, she qualified all four years for the state finals in the 4X400 relay and the 400 meter dash as a junior and senior. She held the school record in the 4X400 (4:05.8) and the 200 meter dash (26.2) when she graduated.
Harvey is a graduate of Ball State and is the Director of Benefits at University of Chicago Medical Center.
• Heather Jones Thrush, Class
of 1993
Thrush was a three-year letter-winner in basketball and helped the Mounties to three sectional titles.
She played two seasons collegiately at Vincennes, helping the Trailblazers to a seventh-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament in 1995 and was 10th on the scoring list for the women’s basketball program. She finished her career at IU Southeast and was the KIAC Conference player of the year and a second team NAIA All-American.
Thrush coached college basketball for four years following college.
She is married to Cory Thrush. She is the Associate Dean for Student Engagement and Success at Wabash College.
• Chris Sering, Class of 2004
Sering lettered all four years in both track and cross country. He was a state qualifier as a senior in 2003 after placing second at the regional and fourth at the semi-state. He was a two-time Sagamore Conference champion and was the Journal Review cross country runner of the year as a sophomore and senior. His fastest high school time was 16:01, holding the Southmont course record upon graduation.
In track, he was a state qualifier in the mile run, sectional champion in the mile, and Sagamore Conference champion four times in the two-mile run, as well as twice in the mile.
Sering competed for two seasons at Indiana State University, helping the Sycamores to a seventh-place finish in the nation as the seventh man on the team.
Sering is married to Michelle Sering and they have two children — Clay (10) and Taylor (9). Sering is a farmer in Montgomery County.
Team:
• 1993 Girls’ Basketball
Coached by head coach Stephanie Williams Griswold and assistant coach Marvin Walters, the 1993 team of seniors Heidi Clayton, Michelle Dalbey, Holli Hess, Heather Jones, Nichole Long, Sherri Trent, juniors Charity Cassida, Laura Norton, sophomores Kristin Miller, Kathy Sommerville, and freshmen Michelle Byrd and Elizabeth Walters posted a 19-3 record and won its third-straight sectional title.
Coach:
• Roger Fleetwood, Boys’ Basketball Coach
Fleetwood led Southmont to its only boys’ basketball sectional title in 1994.
This past winter, Fleetwood completed his 43rd and final year as a head varsity coach — winning 568 games. His 122 wins at Southmont are the most in school history. He won the Montgomery County title seven times, defeated North Montgomery 10-straight times and Crawfordsville nine-straight times.
Overall, Fleetwood coached nine sectional title teams, four regional, one semi-state, and one state championship.
Fleetwood, who played basketball at Valdosta State University, is married to Carol Fleetwood and they have two daughters — Julie Owens and Christie Mora.
Special Contributor:
• Ron Chadd
Chadd was a 1964 graduate of Greencastle High School, where he set cross country records and helped the 1963-64 Tiger Cubs basketball team to the semi-state. as a senior.
Chadd coached various sports from 1978-2002. He coached flag football, 5th and 6th grade girls’ and boys’ basketball, summer little league baseball and elementary track and field, all at New Market Elementary. He also coached high school girls’ cross country and junior-high girls’ and boys’ basketball.
Chadd, who passed away in 2012, was married to Sheila Chadd. They had two boys, Wes and Dan.
Legends:
• Kenneth Selby, Class of 1946 at Alamo
Selby played three years of varsity basketball and baseball. His senior year, he helped Alamo to the Montgomery County championship with a 20-3 record.
Selby was married to Joan, who passed away in 2018.
They had three children — Jerry and Marsha graduated from Waveland, while Stephen was in the first class at Southmont.
• Mel Todd, Class of 1956 at Ladoga
Todd was the all-time leading scorer at Ladoga with 880 points. His teams won 65 games in four seasons, including a 19-3 record as a senior and sectional runner-up to New Ross.
Todd passed away in 1997. He was married to Christine and they had three daughters — Shelly, Kristi, and Missy. Todd served four years in the U.S. Navy, and worked as a customer service representative in Indianapolis.
• Richard DeWitt, Class of 1964 at New Market
DeWitt competed in track and field, competing int he 880 yard run at the state meet as a senior. He was the sectional champion with a time of 2:02 and won the county meet in the mile with a time of 4:41, the 880 with a then county record of 2:07.6
DeWitt is married to Ruth DeWitt. They have a daughter — Traci S. Kelly. DeWitt, who also played football and basketball at New Market, worked at R.R. Donnelly for 46 years.
• Charlie Frederick, Class of 1963 at New Ross
Frederick competed in basketball, track and field, and baseball.
In basketball he played on two sectional title teams and a regional title team in 1961. He led the team in scoring as a junior and senior and finished ninth on the all-time scoring list at New Ross.
In track and field he set the Montgomery County and New Ross record in the long jump with a best jump of 20’ 10”. He also holds the New Ross records in the 220 yard dash, the 440 yard dash, the 180 yard low hurdles, and anchored the record setting mile relay team.
In baseball, he pitched New Ross to the Summer County Championship in 1962 and was a career .450 hitter. He was the Montgomery County outstanding senior athlete in 1963.
Frederick is married to Martha Frederick. They are the parents of Charles Frederick II and Sarah Frederick Kim. Frederick attended Indiana Business College and now lives in Indianapolis.
• Phil Myers, 1967 Graduate of Waveland
At 5’6”, Myers averaged 21.3 points per game as a senior after averaging 17.6 points per game as a junior. He was all-county and all-sectional as a senior.
In track, Myers won the long jump at the county, setting a county and school record with a jump of 21’ 2 1/2”.
In 1967, he was named Montgomery County Co-Athlete of the Year with Lee Fouts of Coal Creek.
Myers is the father of Darby Myers (deceased), Misty Myers McCarty, and Kiley Myers Brooks. Myers graduated from Purdue University and had a lengthy teaching and coaching career, mostly at North Putnam, where he was the athletic director.
