WHITE HALL - A state championship relay team, two professional football players, a collegiate hurdler and a state championship football team that ended the nation’s longest winning streak were inducted into the Rison Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday in White Hall.The Rison Booster Club officially inducted its second class into the new Hall of Fame with a banquet and awards ceremony inside the White Hall Community Center.About 300 people were on hand to see the record-setting 1980 Rison Lady Wildcat one-mile relay team, former professional football players Tyrell Johnson and the late William Miller, collegiate hurdler Ira Moore, and the 1990 State Champion Rison Wildcat football team inducted into the Hall.Dustin Prescott, president of the Rison Booster Club, and Brian Phillips, coordinator of the Rison Sports Hall of Fame, emceed the event. Prescott explained that the inductees were voted on by members of the Rison Booster Club. Each paid booster club member was given a ballot with 10 nominees selected by an executive committee. Those receiving the most points from the voting system were included in the class, while those who were not selected will automatically be among the 10 nominees for next year’s class.Hall of Fame bylaws say that six individuals, or one team and four individuals can be selected into each class.Here is a look at the inductees and a summary of the remarks made during Saturday’s ceremony:1980 Rison Lady Wildcat Mile Relay Team - Rison’s very first girls track team didn’t need long to make their mark on the state record books. Willie B. Williams, Stephanie Barnett, Patricia Johnson and Sheila Smith still hold the state’s one-mile relay record after becoming the first girls’ relay team to break the 4-minute mark while competing at the Arkansas Meet of Champions in 1980. Theior record-setting time of 3:56.5 still stands as the best in the state, along with Conway High School (whi...
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