Winston County Sports Hall of Fame announces its newest inductees

WINSTON COUNTY - The Winston County Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce its newest group of stellar former high school athletes who will comprise its Class of 2026.
The Winston County Sports Hall of Fame will hold its annual banquet and induction ceremony Saturday, July 18, at 5:30 p.m. at the Haleyville Middle School cafetorium. Tickets for the Winston County Sports Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony will be available only at the door the night of the event and will be $25.  A catered meal will be served. 
This year’s inductees are:

Addison High School

Kaitlin Parker Bilbo
Alex Scott Nix
Heath Crider
Bobby Everett
James Head 
(special category)

Haleyville High School

Heath Batchelor
Leigh Burleson Rhodes
Josh Jackson
Callie Pendley Porter

Lynn High School

Brooklyn Beck Matthews
Molly Pendley Rawls
Jason McDaniel

Meek High School

Morgan Hudson
Jordan Evans
Justin Lane
Jacob Price

Winston County High School

Georgia Gray Wilson
Tracie Garrison Sutton
Jared Courington
Nick Burns

Each year, the Winston County Sports Hall of Fame rotates the academic athlete award between the high schools in the county, presenting it to a male and a female current student-athlete or recent graduate who has demonstrated excellence.  This year’s academic athletes are from Winston County High School.  They are Austin Shubert and Lynleigh Cobb.

This year’s guest speaker for the banquet will be Phillip Davenport.  Davenport graduated from Walker High School and was working as a physical therapist when someone mentioned to him about officiating high school football.  He started out officiating in Alabama high school games in 1997 and stayed until 2005.
In 2003, he officiated in the 5A State Championship game between Russellville and Briarwood.  In 2004, he officiated in the 6A championship game between Hoover and Prattville.  
He moved into the college ranks and since then has called numerous games and playoff games.  In 2010, he officiated in the FCS championship game between Eastern Washington and Delaware.
Over the course of his career, he has officiated in 12 bowl games, three SEC Championship games and officiated in the 2024-2025 NCAA championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Phillip is married to Wendy Davenport.  They have three sons.
The Alabamian will begin running profiles on each of this year’s inductees in the coming weeks.