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Rick Wilson has accomplished all of it in Polk County, from being a standout soccer lineman at Bartow High School to at the moment serving on the Polk County Board of County Commissioners.
In between, he racked up greater than 205 races underneath his belt as a NASCAR driver. For that, he’s one in all six individuals who can be inducted into the 2024 Polk County Sports Hall of Fame in June.
In soccer, Wilson was an All-County and All-State choice in 1971. In 1976, he earned his first racing win in Auburndale. He’d finally win at Bristol and Dover, was handpicked by Richard Petty to steer his automotive on the Daytona 500, in addition to compete in additional than 200 top-tier inventory automotive races.
He walked away from motorsports in 1998 and returned to Bartow. He was elected to the Polk County Board of County Commissioners in 2018. Since then, he has served as each the chairman and the vice chairman of the board.
All six will be inducted into the Polk County Sports Hall of Fame as a part of the Polk County All-Sports Awards occasion on June 18 on the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. For tickets, name Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing at 863-551-4750.
Here are the opposite 5 Hall of Fame inductees, in alphabetical order.
Chad Barnhardt
Barnhardt was the beginning quarterback on the soccer crew and the beginning catcher on the Lake Wales High School 1993 state championship baseball crew and was drafted within the eighth spherical by the Boston Red Sox. But he walked away from his baseball profession for a possibility to play faculty soccer.
Three years later, he was part of historical past as the primary beginning quarterback for the University of South Florida Bulls. In two seasons with USF, he threw for greater than 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns, whereas main the crew to a 13-0 beginning document.
He’d finally return to Lake Wales as baseball and soccer coach. He left the college in 2005 to work with the Bulls’ soccer crew earlier than coming again to Polk County because the offensive coordinator for Webber International. Today, he’s the regional president for SouthState Bank.
William Bullock
He is without doubt one of the winningest coaches in Polk County baseball historical past with extra 600 profession wins.
William “Bull” Bullock wasn’t a one sport marvel, although. With greater than 10 years of highschool wrestling underneath his belt, and 1 / 4 century of soccer teaching behind him, he has success elsewhere. Still, that 51 years concerned in Florida baseball is a document only a few can match.
He was the unique baseball coach at Lake Region High School. Bullock guided the Eagle Lake Baseball Association, coordinated the state and regional Special Olympics whereas at Lake Region, and helped information the Senior Games.
Hall of Fame 2023:Sikes, Richard, Pearce, McGriff to be enshrined in Polk County Sports Hall of Fame
2022 High School Sports:Polk County All Sports Awards
Mike Cobb
Since 1974, Mike Cobb has seemingly written about something sports-related.
Cobb, who’s from Indianapolis, arrived at Florida Southern College as a baseball participant. Cobb, a pitcher, competed on this system’s first two nationwide championship groups in 1971 and 1972.
Cobb graduated in 1974 and joined The Ledger, and he by no means left. He has 15,000 tales underneath his belt and has earned 30 state and nationwide writing awards, together with the Florida Sports Writers Association’s prestigious Shelby Strother Award in 2002.
A sequence of articles he-authored within the paper turned the ebook, “Spurrier: The No. 1 Gator” in 1996. He also co-authored Bobby Bowden articles.
He still contributes to The Ledger as a freelancer today.
Alvin Pearsall Sr.
Pearsall won more than 300 games as a high school basketball coach at Bartow, including an FHSAA state title with Bartow and a FIAA state title with Roosevelt. In eight seasons with Bartow, his squads took eight district titles, six regional titles and four section titles.
A Lake Wales native, he was the oldest of 11 children. After graduating from high school in 1947, the exceptional athlete earned a scholarship as a walk-on at Florida Normal College, now Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens. He turned down an offer to play in the Cincinnati Reds farm system, and would begin his teaching and coaching career, eventually returning to Polk County.
In 1968, he was Polk County’s first Black head basketball coach following school integration. He also coached nationally ranked AAU teams. Pearsall is also a member of the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches Court of Legends Hall of Fame.
George Tinsley
George Tinsley isn’t a native of Polk County. But his contributions to the community through sports have impacted the path of many Central Florida athletes.
The Louisville, Kentucky, native was a two-time Division II All-American basketball player, a three-time national champion at Kentucky Wesleyan and alternate on the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team. He was drafted and played in the American Basketball League from 1969-72; his last stop was with the Miami Floridians.
Now a profitable businessman who resides in Winter Haven, he has served on many boards within the space, together with at Polk State College, 100 Black Men of America, varied Chambers of Commerce, the Boys & Girls Club of Winter Haven and Amateur Athletic Union. And he dedicates his time to space youth as a mentor, basketball coach and speaker.
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