Saturday in Beaumont the Southeast Texas Coaches Association held its Annual Hall of Honor Banquet. The banquet recognizes coaches of the year from each sport and this year four coaches were inducted into the Hall of Honor.
Steve McCarty, the first football coach and athletic director at West Orange-Stark (1977-81) was the first inductee. McCarty was the head coach of the South Park Greenies from 1967-76 before spending two years at Lamar. He left WOS for Nacogdoches High School and later Athletic Director at his alma mater Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches for 15 years. McCarty and his wife of 54 years Sara Lee, still live there.
Angela Cruse graduated from Kountze High School in 1974 before leading the Lionettes to seven appearances in the state volleyball tournament, bringing home four state titles, two undefeated seasons, and a record of 537-154 in 23 seasons. Her sister Rosetta Aarons also coached at Bridge City.
Randy Theriot was introduced by his son and Chris, who grew up in Orangefield when his dad was coaching the Bobcats. Theriot began his coaching career as an assistant under Ronnie Thompson at Thomas Jefferson. His first head coaching job was in Sabine Pass and then he took over the Orangefield program from 1996-2000 where he put the Bobcats back in the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. He would take over at Kelly and lead the Bulldogs to the postseason twice in his three years. He spent four years as an assistant at LCM before retiring from Nederland in 2008. Son Chris is an assistant at Nederland.
Elected posthumously was Dr. Belle Mead Holm. She was a longtime Women’s Athletic Director at Lamar University beginning in 1964. She would go on to support women’s athletics as a member of many state and national boards.
2016 Coaches of the Year
Football: Cornel Thompson – West Orange-Stark
Volleyball: Debbie Hollyfield – Evadale
Boys Cross Country: Jabo Leonard – Barbers Hill
Boys Cross Country: Dena Adkins – Little Cypress-Mauriceville
Girls Cross Country: Deann Fudge – Barbers Hill
Boys Basketball: Todd Sutherland – East Chambers
Girls Basketball: Michelle Trotter – Crosby
Girls Basketball: Robert Hollyfield – Evadale
Baseball: Steve Griffith – Little Cypress-Mauriceville
Softball: Shaun Mixon – Woodville
Boys Golf: Joey Butcha – Huffman
Boys Golf: Rickey Keys – Port Neches-Groves
Girls Golf: Lindsay Miller – Hardin-Jefferson
Girls Golf: Bart Williams – Little Cypress-Mauriceville
Boys Tennis: Tom Bruce – Tarkington
Boys Tennis: Steve Fletcher – Silsbee
Boys Powerlifting: John Davis – Orangefield
Boys Powerlifting: Matt DeYoung – East Chambers
Girls Powerlifting: Terry Joe Ramsey – West Orange-Stark
Boys Soccer: Chad Luttrull – Port Neches-Groves
Girls Soccer: Gabriella Carter – Jasper
Boys Track: Darrell Granger – Port Arthur Memorial
Girls Track: Brittany Granger – Hardin-Jefferson
Referee of the Year: Greg Peveto
Van Thomas “Media Person of the Year”: Gabriel Pruitt
Trainer of the Year: Josh Yonker – Lamar University
Assistant Coach of the Year: T.J. Reed – Orangefield
Steve McCarty
Randy Theriot
Angie Cruse
Cornel Thompson
TJ Reed
John Davis
Greg Peveto
Bart Williams
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