Huntingdon College to induct five into Athletic Hall of Fame
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon College will induct five new members into its Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend. The ceremony will be held in the Leo J. Drum Theater at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The five inductees represent six sports and four different decades of Huntingdon athletics. This year's inductees are David G. Myrick (basketball and tennis, Class of 1967), Bill Hamilton (baseball, Class of 1982), Kent Hagan (cross country and tennis, Class of 2011), Caitlin McMahon Hagan (cross country, Class of 2012) and John Sadie (golf coach in the 1990s).
Huntingdon College Athletic Hall of Fame
Class of 2017
David G. Myrick ('67) is a native of Montgomery and the son of George and Jean Burt Myrick. At Robert E. Lee High School, he played in an excellent basketball program led by coach Leon Ford. Lee compiled a 44-18 record during David's two seasons, finishing third in the state his junior year. David had a standout senior season as the team's leading scorer and was a 1962 nominee for the Jimmy Hitchcock Award. At Huntingdon, he played both basketball and tennis, even making an appearance on the links in one match when sickness depleted the golf team roster.
Upon graduation, David entered the U.S. Navy and was commissioned ensign, USNR, through AOCS. He served aboard the USS Coral Sea and made two deployments to Southeast Asia in support of military operations in Vietnam. In addition to his primary duties, David took on the collateral duty of serving as player/coach for the ship's basketball team. When released from active duty, Lt. Myrick affiliated with the Naval Reserve and retired in 1994 as a Captain, USNR. Among his awards are the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation with gold star, and the Vietnam Service Medal.
David obtained a master's degree in education from Troy State University in 1973. He taught and coached in the high school ranks, at both Holtville High School and Houston County. In 1978, David went to work for Alabama Farm Bureau Insurance (now ALFA) and retired as a district manager for Mobile/Baldwin County in 2008. During his career, David received numerous industry and company awards and earned the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation from The American College. His district was consistently one of the company leaders in production per agent.
David has been active in the Huntingdon College Alumni Association and served as its National President from 1985-1987. He also served as the alumni member on the Board of Trustees and was a recipient of the College's Loyalty Award in 1994. David was one of the founding members of the Huntingdon Athletic Hall of Fame Council and served as its first Chairman. Under his leadership, the Hall of Fame Council helped the College raise the funds to build the press box/grandstands at the baseball field and name it Neal Posey Field in honor of Huntingdon's first athletic director and head basketball coach. During the dedication ceremony in 1989, Posey was inducted into the Huntingdon College Athletic Hall of Fame as its charter inductee.
David has been active in the United Methodist Church, Optimist Club, and the Boy Scouts of America, receiving the Silver Beaver Award for distinguished service to the Mobile Area Council. He and his wife, Dianne McKinley Myrick, enjoy retirement, splitting their time between Mobile and Lake Martin. They have three sons and seven grandchildren.
Bill Hamilton ('82) is beginning his 34th year in college athletics, and has made a very positive name for Huntingdon athletics since his graduation from the college in 1982. In April 2010, Hamilton announced his retirement from coaching after 26 years, 23 of which were as a head coach. He spent his final 20 years as a head coach at Pensacola Junior/State College. He remains the athletic director at Pensacola State College. His overall coaching record was 703-468.
In 2004, he led Pensacola Junior College to the their first state championship and a sixth place finish in the JUCO World Series, while also capturing the Tomas Howard Sportsmanship Trophy. For his efforts, Hamilton was named the FCCAA Coach of the Year, NJCAA Region VIII Coach of the Year and the ABCA / Diamond Regional Coach of the Year for NJCAA Division I.
In 2008, Hamilton won his 525th game to pass Buddy Kisner as the all-time career leader in wins at Pensacola Junior College. He finished the year with 561 wins as the Pirates rolled to a 43-8 record, a conference championship and a No. 1 ranking in the NJCAA National Poll for the final six weeks of the poll. It was Pensacola's first ever No. 1 ranking in its 60-year history. Hamilton set and broke the school record for wins in a season four times during his career.
Before beginning his head coaching career, Hamilton was an assistant coach at Chipola College in 1984-85, helping the team to a state playoff berth in 1985. He served as an assistant coach at Columbus State University from 1985-1987. He helped the Cougars to two NCAA Division II World Series appearances, finishing runner-up in 1986 and fourth in 1987. He also guided North Florida Junior College from 1987-1990 and served as their Director of Athletics.
On Jan. 20, 2000, Hamilton was named Director of Athletics at Pensacola State College. He oversees men's and women's basketball, softball, volleyball, baseball and intramurals, along with the aquatics and life fitness centers. He has played a prominent role in the renovation of the Life Fitness Center/Weight Room and Aquatic Center. He led a $3.5 million total gym makeover, a $750,000 Baseball Stadium upgrade with an indoor hitting facility and the design and construction of a new $1.2 million softball stadium.
An experienced clinician and speaker with more than 175 appearances to his credit, including the prestigious ABCA, Hamilton added International Coaching to his resume` with trips to Puerto Rico, Australia, Europe and the Bahamas. Hamilton was inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in Grand Junction, Colo., in May of 2010 and the Pensacola Sports Association's Hall of Fame later that same year.
Born in Lake City, Fla., Hamilton grew up in Marianna, Fla. He received a bachelor's degree from Huntingdon College in 1982 and has served on Huntingdon's Board of Trustees and the National Alumni Board of Directors. He received his master's degree in administration and supervision from Columbus State University in 1987. Very active in his church and the community, he has served in a variety of roles which includes being Chair of the Board of Trustees at AMUMC, President of the Board of Directors of Pensacola Sports, Chair of the Council of Athletic Affairs for the State College System and on the Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry for the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the Methodist Church. He is married to the former Cathy Ensley of Asheville, North Carolina, has one daughter, Lindsay (husband Chris Sullivan) and a 3-year-old granddaughter, Bailey Sullivan.
Kent Hagan ('11) was part of four team conference championships at Huntingdon and two individual conference titles as a member of the tennis and cross country teams from 2006-2010. He captured the Great South Athletic Conference individual championship in cross country in 2009 and 2010 and placed third in 2008. He was part of team conference championships in 2008 and 2010. In both 2009 and 2010 he was named the GSAC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Year and received the Huntingdon College Cross Country MVP Award. He was a three-year member of the GSAC men's cross country All-Academic team.
He was part of two men's tennis team championships in 2008 and 2009. He was a four-year member of the GSAC men's tennis All-Academic team and was GSAC All-Conference in 2007, 2009 and 2010. In 2010 he was named the Huntingdon College Male Athlete of the Year.
Kent graduated near the top of his class at Huntingdon with degrees in biochemistry and biology along with minors in religion and English. He matriculated to the University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Medicine where he graduated with a Doctor of Medicine in 2015. Upon completion of his studies at UAB, Kent was awarded the Chi-Tsou Huang Award for Exceptional Performance in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Kent has also published and presented multiple scientific articles in journals and conferences such as Journal four Neurotrauma, Society for Neuroscience, and Academy of Academic Physiatrists.
Kent and his wife, Caitlin McMahon Hagan '12, reside in Philadelphia, Pa. He is a resident in PM&R at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and serves as assistant team physician for the University of Pennsylvania's track and field teams. He is also currently completing a master's degree in business administration from Auburn University.
Kent has continued to compete in races since graduation from Huntingdon. He was invited to a combine with the United States Men's Skeleton Olympic Team in March of 2011. While in medical school, Kent won the 2011 Road Runners of America Alabama 5000 meter state championship.
Caitlin McMahon Hagan ('12) is the most decorated women's cross country runner in Huntingdon history. She was a three-time individual champion of the Great South Athletic Conference in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and helped lead the Hawks to two team championships in 2009 and 2010. She was a four-year member of the team and was the Huntingdon women's cross country team MVP from 2008-2011, as well as a four-year member of the GSAC All-Conference Team and the GSAC All-Academic Team. She was the winner of the LaGrange Invitational in 2008 and 2009 and the Spring Hill College Badger Brawl in 2011. She received national accolades in 2010 as a NCAA / USTFCCCA Women's Cross Country Academic All-American and was a member of the All-Region team for the south/southeast. She was the 2010-2011 Huntingdon College Women's Athlete of the Year.
Upon graduation from Huntingdon in 2012, Caitlin was accepted as an Oiselle brand ambassador, and was teammates with several current and former Olympians. She competed in several road races throughout the United States and Austria. Caitlin most recently completed in the Philadelphia Half-Marathon finishing in the top one-percent of all 12,000 competitors. Professionally, Caitlin has continued her work in the physical therapy industry since graduating from Huntingdon. Caitlin has also been involved in the development of younger runners as an assistant track and field coach at the prestigious William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia. She has remained active in running communities in Montgomery, Birmingham, Huntsville and now Philadelphia where she and her husband, Kent, reside. She is currently pursuing an MBA at Philadelphia University.
John Sadie began coaching at Huntingdon College in 1990, after playing four years at the University of Arkansas, when his professional golf career was put on hold due to a wrist injury. He quickly fell in love with coaching and also Huntingdon College. In his second year leading the Hawks, Huntingdon won the 1992 NAIA National Championship beating top-ranked University of North Florida. The Hawks finished second in the national tournament in 1993, and were crowned national champions again in 1994.
In 1994, Sadie was selected to coach the World University Games in Spain where he selected four of the best players in the nation to represent the United States. He selected four-time All-American Ben Whitlock from Huntingdon to be one of those four. At Huntingdon, Sadie coached 22 All-Americans, and graduated all but one of his student-athletes who left college early to pursue a professional career in which he would go on to play on the PGA Tour.
After coaching at Huntingdon College, Sadie went to Central Alabama Community College where he won national championships in 1999 and 2000, and was runner-up in 2001. In 2006 he began a career in the golfing industry and now works at Wynlakes Golf & Country Club where he serves as the Clubhouse Manager. Since Wynlakes is the home course for the Huntingdon golf team, Sadie still enjoys getting to watch the Hawks play. He is married to his wife of 22 years, Lisa, and they have two children, James, 19, a freshman at Auburn University, and Anna, 16.