Alanda Danner Johnson
A talented athlete, Alanda was named “Female Athlete of the Year” at Fred T. Foard High School in 1992. As team captain during her senior season, she led the Tigers to the NCHSAA 3A state basketball championship. She scored over 1,000 points for her career and was selected to the Big Six All-Conference team. In outdoor track and field, Alanda holds school records in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter distances. She was selected as the Most Valuable Runner in 1989 and was named to the All-Big Six Conference team in 1989 and 1991. She was a four-year letter recipient in basketball at Lenoir-Rhyne University, where she scored 1,047 points for the Bears. As a defensive wizard, Alanda set a school record with 11 steals in a game. She is currently third in LRU history for steals in a career (336) and in a season (111). She coached both girls’ basketball and cross country at Fred T. Foard High School and Grandview Middle school and was named Hickory High School Teacher of the Year for 2022-2023.
Bobby M. Lutz
Bobby played baseball and basketball at Bandys through 1976 and was team captain for both teams during his senior season. As the starting point guard, he helped lead Bandys to the Elite Eight in 1975 and a third-place finish in 1976. He was an All-Conference performer in baseball in 1976. As a head coach, Bobby led Parkwood High’s girls’ team to the NCHSAA 2A state title in 1983 (30-1). He spent 11 seasons (1985-95) as the head coach of the men’s basketball team at Pfeiffer College, posting a 180-89 record. His teams won 11 conference championships, had three NAIA Final Four appearances, and they were the national runner-up in 1995. As the head coach at UNC Charlotte from 1998 to 2010, he led the 49ers to five NCAA tournament appearances. He left as the winningest coach at UNC Charlotte (212-158). Bobby has held assistant coaching jobs at Iowa State, North Carolina State, Nebraska and Ole Miss, in addition to the 2016-17 Windy City Bulls. Bobby has been inducted into both the Pfeiffer Athletics Hall of Fame and the UNCC Alumni Hall of Fame.
Jon Jolley
Jon was an integral part of the swimming community after taking on the role as head coach for the Hickory Foundation YMCA Seahorse Swim Team (YSST) in 1996. He was named Coach of the Year in North Carolina Swimming five times in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2020 and 2021. His 2016 YMCA Women’s team won the national championship. Jon was a recipient of a USA Swimming Club Excellence Medal nine of ten seasons through 2022. He coached nineteen Junior National Qualifiers, five Senior National Qualifiers and nine individual YMCA National Champions in addition to five North Carolina Swimming Age Group record holders and two YMCA National Record holders. Three of his swimmers qualified for the Olympic Trials, including YSST swimmer and CCSHOF member Ross Dant, who represented the US. at the Junior Pan-Pacific Championships in Fiji, winning two golds and a bronze medal in 2018. Jon was elected as an Assistant Coach for USA Swimming National Junior Teams in 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.
Morgan Shepherd
Morgan began a long and distinguished racing career in 1967 at Hickory Motor Speedway. Just one year later, he won 21 of 29 races in the Hobby division at Hickory. Morgan made his Winton Cup debut in 1970. He went on to start 1,027 events in NASCAR over a 44-year career, including 517 Cup Series races and 453 Xfinity Series races. His career included 19 wins, 13 pole positions and 235 top-ten finishes. Morgan was the second oldest person to win a NASCAR Cup Series race at age 51 when he took the checkered flag in Atlanta in 1993. He became the oldest driver to compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race at age 72. His last start came in 2019 at the Indiana 250 when he was 77 years old. Overall, he won four NASCAR Cup Series races and fifteen Xfinity races. From 1990 to 1995, Shepherd was in the top-15 of the Cup Series standings each season with his highest position in the standings, a fifth-place finish, in 1990. He had five top-ten finishes at the Daytona 500, including a runner-up spot in 1992.
Randy Faucette
A two-sport athlete at St. Stephens in the mid-1960s, Randy excelled in both football and baseball. After attending Appalachian State, he returned to Catawba County in various assistant football coaching roles at Bandys and Fred T. Foard. He coached baseball at Bandys in 1976 and 1977 where he led the team to an appearance in the state playoffs in 1977. From 1979-1985, he was the defensive coordinator at Fred T. Foard High, during which time Tigers won three Southern District-7 championships. Upon leaving Fred T. Foard, Randy made his mark at Bunker Hill, leading the Bears to an 88-78 record over 15 seasons from 1986-2001. His teams made the playoffs seven times, highlighted by a district championship in 1987. Going 1-9 the previous season, the Bears turned it around and went 11-2. For his efforts, he was named the Southern District-7 Conference Coach of the Year and the state runner-up coach of the year. Faucette was selected to coach in the East-West football game held by the NCHSAA in 1990.
1974-75 Fred T. Foard Girls’ Basketball Team
In just the fourth NCHSAA playoffs for girls’ basketball, Fred T. Foard won the “Open Classification” in 1975 with a 75-73 win over Ragsdale High. Led by coach Robert Stamey, the Tigers went 28-1, capped by the championship. Foard won both the Southern District-7 regular season and tournament championships. In the state final, Sally Reid led the Tigers with 27 points, while Cathy Copas and Debbie Bollinger each had 22. Reid – the Southern District 7 MVP with 22.4 ppg. – and Susan Copas were selected to the N.C. Coaches Association All-Star Games in 1975 & 1976. Their efforts on the court were recognized with a joint resolution by the North Carolina General Assembly.
Roster
Players: Kathy Barger, Debbie Bollinger, Susan Brooks, Cathy Copas, Karen Fowler, Debbie Lail, Terri Johnson, Sally Reid, Andrea Reinhardt
Co-Captains: Susan Copas, Debbie Johnson
Managers: Robin Brittain, Ann Perrou, Elaine Scronce
Score Keeper: Pauline Tipps
Coach: Robert Stamey
For hotel and area information, 