FAYETTEVILLE -- The inaugural Fayetteville High School Athletic Hall of Greats class will be inducted during a banquet and ceremony to be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Chancellor Hotel.
The Hall of Greats was created to honor past players and coaches whose outstanding dedication, leadership and ability caused them to stand out from numerous others who contributed to the success of the Purple'Dogs throughout the years.
At A Glance
Fayetteville Hall of Greats
WHEN golf scramble, Friday, 8:30 a.m and 1:30 p.m (Fayetteville Country Club); Saturday, reception/silent auction, 6 p.m., banquet, 7 p.m. (Chancellor Hotel)
NOTABLE The inaugural Fayetteville Hall of Greats class is Becky Broyles Arnold, Joe Kretschmar, Louis Bryant, Delano Cotton and Lisa Cornwell. .. Proceeds from the golf scramble, silent auction and banquet will go toward a scholarship for a Fayetteville High school student.
"Our athletic director Steve Janski came to me in the summer of 2014 and asked if I would work on a Hall of Fame, which is what we called it at first," Hall of Greats Board Director Mary Frances Kretschmar said. "And I agreed, as long as I could put together a board who could work with me. And since then our board has met every month and worked tirelessly on this.
"We've taken nominations from the public, and then we had a vote and came up with the inaugural class. We had great nominations and everyone was deserving, but what I really love is how this inaugural class is not picked from one generation."
The five members of the inaugural Fayetteville Hall of Greats are Betsy Broyles Arnold, Louis Bryant, Delano Cotton, Lisa Cornwell and Joe Kretschmar.
Broyles Arnold was an all-state basketball player for Fayetteville during the six-on-six era and won state titles in both basketball and track. The daughter of Frank and Barbara Broyles, she was the first Fayetteville female athlete to receive a basketball scholarship to the University of Arkansas.
Bryant was a four-sport letterman at Fayetteville and was one of the first African American athletes to play in an Arkansas state basketball tournament in 1964. Bryant was tragically killed while on duty as a state trooper in 1984.
Cornwell, who now works for The Golf Channel, was a three-year letterman in basketball -- earning all-state honors -- while also playing golf for the boys' team during high school. A top amateur golfer, Cornwell was a four-time Arkansas state amateur champion who was instrumental in getting the women's golf program established at the University of Arkansas.
A three-sport all-state athlete, Cotton was the school's first football All-American, earning the distinction in 1958. Cotton was a member of the 1957 undefeated Fayetteville team and would later sign a pro baseball contract with the Kansas City Athletics.
The late Joe Kretschmar coached in the Fayetteville district from 1962-92 and served as Bulldogs' head boys basketball coach from 1966 to 1992. Kretschmar won 535 games, 10 conference titles and three state championships, while also serving as athletic director.
"When we put this together I didn't know what to expect," Janski said. "But the board has gone miles and miles above and beyond what I expected."
A four-person Fayetteville Hall of Greats golf scramble will be held Friday at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Fayetteville Country Club. To sign up for the golf scramble or to purchase tickets to the Hall of Greats silent auction and banquet, visit fhshallofgreats.com. Tickets for the banquet can also be purchased at the door.
Sports on 04/21/2016