Published: November 08, 2009 10:27 pm      

CONARD: Full house watches HOF’s 7th induction

It was the perfect portrait, an epic recollection of six very special people and the dignity, dedication, devotion and respect that made them so unique. Just how great and genuine can recognition be when confirmed by your peers?

The Howard County Sports Hall of Fame conducted its seventh induction ceremony Saturday night at the Kokomo Event Center, and it was more than obvious to the capacity crowd — class and character go hand in hand with esteem, honor and achievement.

Athletic success, touching players and coaches from every field, has been second nature if not habit to Howard County athletes for more than a century. And the class of 2009 — Tim Miller, Bobby Pettigrew, Basil Mawbey, Kathie Wise-Layden, Keith Slaughter and the late Emerson Applegate — was a perfect fit for a Hall of Fame cast that now encompasses 42 outstanding performers.

Miller, thanks to his father Robert Miller, began toying with golf clubs at age 9 and his dedication to the game is still unceasing at 62. His resume is startling — eight Howard County titles, the 2001 Indiana Golf Association Senior Open championship, three qualifications for the USGA Senior Amateur, a Florida State Senior Championship, Golfweek Magazine’s National Player of the Year honors, numerous other tourney titles and a stint at Augusta National. Best-ever rounds of 59 and 60 at the Kokomo Country Club are landmarks.

“I thought I might make the Hall of Fame one day,” he said Saturday. “But I’m just proud of being able to compete at a high level for a number of years, having the opportunity to play great courses like Augusta and meeting some wonderful people.”

Pettigrew has been the epitome of total effort having won back-to-back shot put state championships with throws of 62-2 and 1/4 and 63-6 and 1/4. He credits longtime friend, teammate and fellow Hall member Frankie Young and coaches Craig Bennett and Benji Prifogle for inspiration.

He was also a two-way, three-year starter and MVP for the Kokomo Wildkat football team and at 6-foot-1, 240 pounds, a solid offensive and defensive performer. Today he carries his skills to coaching KHS football, girls track and seven-grade girls basketball.

“I just loved competing. You have to show up and seize the moment when it’s showtime ” he said. “That’s why you’re in sports.”

Applegate may be one of the most prolific Kokomo athletes ever as a three-sport KHS star from 1910-12 — a center on the basketball team, a running back in football and a speedster in track.

He was the county’s first IHSAA state champion ever, winning five titles in 1910 and 1911. He swept the 100, 220 and 440 sprints in ‘12, something no other male athlete has ever done at the state meet. He lettered three years in track at Purdue before graduating in 1915; served in World War I where he was commissioned a second lieutenant and was superintendent of Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. when he died in 1945.

His daughter, Nanci Andrew of Casper, Wyo., made the journey to accept Applegate’s award, saying: “Dad was very humble and never talked about his success. We didn’t realize how great an athlete he was. But we thank the Hall for his honor and for finding us. You’ve been incredible and wonderful.”

Alongside her was sister, Mary Applegate, grandson Dave Wilhelm of Wabash and great grandsons Matt and Mike Wilhelm.

Mawbey, an Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in 2002 with a career mark of 645-246 and now the coach at Broad Ripple, has won more state titles than any other Howard County coach in his 38 varsity years. He won the state championship at Connersville in 1983 and the Class 2A state title at Lewis Cass (28-0) in 2003. He had a 248-80 in 14 Kokomo seasons, taking the Kats to the Final Four twice.

“My idea has always been to play as a team,” said Mawbey whose first coach at tiny Deedsville was Kokomo educator John Ellers. “I’m honored to have the most victories of any Indiana coach who has won a state championship and feel good about 32 consecutive winning seasons. My disappointment was not winning state at Kokomo. But I’ve idolized those in the Howard County Sports Hall of Fame, and I’m proud to be here.”

Layden is one of very few who likely could have been inducted as a player or coach. She was a three-sport athlete at Taylor, leading the Titan cagers to a 66-15 mark in four seasons while scoring 1,007 points and she played four seasons of basketball at the University of Evansville.

But perhaps her greatest satisfaction has been her ongoing coaching success at Tri-Central, a 10-season record of 156-82, a 63-17 mark in 2004-06 when the Trojans won three straight Class A state titles.

“I was shocked to be selected to the Hall,” she said. “But it’s also very humbling. I can’t imagine not being involved in sports. But I have to thank all the coaches who have worked with me.

“I was very fortunate to be at Tri-Central during those championship years, and it was special because my dad [Dave] and brother [Mike] were on my staff and also because of how the community embraced us,” she said. “Those fans were so special and proud of what we accomplished.”

Slaughter, who began his teaching career at Sharpsville, was head baseball coach at Kokomo’s Haworth High School for 11 seasons (1969-79), and his record was extraordinary — 202-111 overall. In eight seasons of Olympic Conference play, the Huskies were champion or runner-up six times. They captured seven sectionals, four regionals, two semistates and were in the single class IHSAA state finals twice.

He moved from Greentown to Kokomo in 1953 and was a southpaw hurler for KHS, starting in eight of 11 games before becoming a relief pitcher at Indiana Central (now University of Indianapolis). Ever humble, he credited assistants Bill Shive and Bill Bostwick and a host of talented players for the Huskies’ success, and he credited the late Bob Bushong for his landing the Haworth job.

“I had a couple former players say I belonged in the Hall,” he said, “but it wasn’t on my radar screen. In my book sports is all about ‘we,’ not ‘me.’ My theory has always been to play the game the right way.

“But I’m ever mindful that the greatest coach of all is the Man Upstairs. He makes no mistakes.”

The seventh Hall of Fame was its usual superb occasion — a perfect match for the six inductees.