Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame: Meet the Class of 2024

The Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame will induct five members into its fifth class on April 25, 2024.

The induction ceremony will be held at the Laurens County Museum on the historic square in Laurens at 6:30pm.

The process of selecting the fifth class of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame began in the summer of 2023. Nominations were taken from Sept. 15 until Dec. 31.

Once nominations were complete, the nominating committee, made up of seven individuals from Laurens County, narrowed the field of 61 nominations down to 12 finalists. The 12 finalists were then taken to the three-person selection committee that picked the five finalists that will make up the class of 2024.

To be eligible for the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame, nominees must have lived in Laurens County for five years and must be 10 years out of high school.

Current members of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame include Keith Richardson, Chrissy Floyd, J.D. Fuller, Kevin Long, King Dixon, Barry Atkinson, Cally Gault, Chick Galloway, Sam Owens, Kinard Littleton, Rickey Foggie, Truman Owens, Bobby Ivey, Clovis Simmons, William Hill, Bill Hogan, Phil Rogers, Lonnie Pulley, Anne Parks, Ed Pitts, Roy Walker, Shell Dula and Buddy Jennings.

“After four great classes of inductees, we are excited about the group that we have assembled to induct in 2024,” said Billy Dunlap, president of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame. “It is once again a who’s who of individuals that have been involved in the sports landscape of Laurens County for the past century. I think the committees did a great job of selecting this class and it is something that we can all be proud of.”

Members of the class of 2024 of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame are:

Robert Wilder – Wilder was a resident of Clinton from 1935-1993. He was a football All-American in 1930 at Furman University and is a member of their Athletic Hall of Fame. Wilder coached Clinton High School’s first upperstate championship team in 1938 and their first state championship team in 1939. He was later the principal at Clinton High School and the football stadium is named in his honor.  

Anthony Downs – Downs was a member of the Laurens Raiders football state championship team in 1983 and played in the Shrine Bowl that year. At Appalachian State University, Downs was a consensus first-team All-American as a senior in 1987. He was named 1987 Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year after amassing 138 tackles. Downs was a three-time first-team all-Southern Conference performer and was inducted into Appalachian’s Hall of Fame in 2012. 

Charles Peterson – Peterson led the Laurens Raiders to a baseball state championship in 1990 and a football state championship in 1991. During his high school career, Peterson was named state player of the year in baseball and football and played in the Shrine Bowl. Peterson was drafted in 1993 by the Pittsburgh Pirates as the 22nd overall pick in the first round of MLB’s amateur draft. He played six years in the minor leagues, making it to AAA in 1998.   

Walter Todd – A graduate of LDHS and Presbyterian College, Todd was inducted into the SC Golf Hall of Fame in 2024. Todd has competed at the local, state, national and international levels for nearly four decades. In SC, he won the SCGA Mid-Amateur Champion title in 2005, CGA Mid-Amateur title in 2007, seven SCGA Four-Ball titles, three SCGA Father-Son titles with both of his sons and nine Musgrove Mill Club Champion titles. He is three-time SCGA Senior Player of the Year and 2019 Senior Azalea Champion. Todd won the 2017 Senior Jones Cup Champion title, competed in the 2012 US Mid-Amateur, 2016, ’19 & ‘22 British Senior Amateurs and the 2018, ’19, ’21 & ‘23 US Senior Amateurs advancing to the quarterfinals in 2019.

Jean Hammond Whitfield – A graduate of Hickory Tavern High School and a current resident of Laurens, Whitfield was inducted into the SC Women’s Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1984. She won four international titles, including overall champion and doubles champion in the Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela in 1983. She was a member of the US Team in 1982 and 1983. Whitfield was also the top amateur in the WIBC championship in 1982.   

Tickets for the induction banquet will go on sale online on Monday, March 11. Individual tickets are $30 and includes a catered meal.

For more information on the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame, visit www.laurenscountysportshalloffame.com or email [email protected].