Evansville Harrison inducting its athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2024

EVANSVILLE — State champions and professional athletes highlight the fifth Harrison High School Athletic Hall of Fame class.

Started in 2012, the Harrison Hall of Fame induction is held every three years with the Class of 2024 being honored Friday at halftime of the Harrison vs. Castle football game at Romain Stadium. Tickets for individuals, couples or families (up to eight) for a ceremony at the Crescent Room – doors open at 4 pm – are available through the Harrison athletic department. The package also includes a football game ticket.

“It is an honor to celebrate the Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2024,” Harrison athletics director Andre Thomas said in a press release. “Their contribution to the legacy of Harrison High School Athletics, both on and off the field, is astonishing. We are really looking forward to celebrating them.”

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Here are the members of the incoming HOF class with their graduating year:

Pete Helmbock (1966) – boys basketball
Byron Wilkerson (1973) – baseball
Doran Perdue (1976) – football, baseball
Dr. Kim Haywood-Pfender (1989) – girls golf
Tracey Pace (1989) – girls golf
Billy Strother (2000) – football
Melvin Hall (2003) – boys basketball
Joey Elliott (2005) – soccer
Kiara Butler (2008) – girls basketball
Kendal Brown (2009) – boys basketball, track & field
Sean Stone (2012) – boys golf
Eric Blackman (2013) – track & field
Billie Boltinghouse (coach) – gymnastics

Among their notable accomplishments:

Helmbock played college basketball at Missouri.
Perdue and Wilkerson were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft.
Haywood-Pfender and Pace were members of the 1988 girls golf state championship team.
Hall is one of the all-time leading three-point shooters at Southern Indiana and played overseas.
Elliott was the starting quarterback at Purdue.
Strother was an All-American at New Mexico and played one season in the NFL.
Butler ranks second in program history for career points.
Brown played college basketball at Southern Illinois.
Stone and Blackman were individual IHSAA state champions.
Boltinghouse coached multiple state champion gymnasts.

The other finalists who will be automatically on the ballot in 2027: Reece Newman (1969), Bill Studwell (1971), Tony Moretto (1975), Kevin Speer (1977), Chuck Mathis (1983), Travis Johnson (1985), Amy (Roll) Wallis (1990), Sarah (Nordhorn) Ericksen (1993), Jim Lynch (1994), Candice King (1996), Matt Redd (1998), Ryan Merriweather (1999) and David Ragland (1999).