Additional inductees in the High School Hall of Fame

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NFHS ()
03/23/2004


RAY GUY  Ray Guy was a quarterback, defensive back, punter and kicker at Thomson (Georgia) High School from 1965 to 1969 and led his football teams to two state championships. He was an all-state selection twice and received honorable mention as a sophomore. Guy was runner-up as Georgia high school player of the year and played in the Georgia all-star game. He averaged 52 yards per punt and had a longest punt of 88 yards as a high school player.    In baseball, Guy was a pitcher and outfielder at Thomson High School and played in two state playoff games. He received all-state honors, played in the Georgia high school all-star game and was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds.    At the University of Southern Mississippi, he recorded a 77-yard punt in his first collegiate game and led the NCAA in punting in 1972 with a 46.2 average. He was a unanimous all-America choice as a senior, the first in school history. During his three seasons at Southern Mississippi, Guy averaged 44.7 yards per punt and had three punts in excess of 70 yards, including a 93-yarder. He also was an exceptional defensive back, recording 18 career interceptions, and place kicker, registering a 61-yard field goal in a snowstorm in Utah, which set an NCAA record at the time. His jersey was the first to be retired in school history, and he was chosen for the Southern Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1978.    Guy also excelled in baseball at Southern Mississippi and is recognized as one of the school's all-time top pitchers. He recorded one no-hitter, averaged 1_ strikeouts per innings pitched and had a 16-strikeout performance in one game. He was drafted by three major league teams, including the Cincinnati Reds for a second time.      Guy is generally regarded as the greatest punter in NFL history during his 14-year career with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, which ended in 1987. He was chosen in the first round of the 1973 draft (23rd overall pick), the first punter ever chosen in the first round of the NFL draft. Guy played in 207 consecutive games, had seven Pro Bowl appearances (six straight) and had a lifetime punting average of 42.4. He punted for 44,541 yards, or about 25 miles. He played in and won three Super Bowls and was selected to the 25th Silver Anniversary Super Bowl team. Guy also served as the third-string quarterback during several seasons with the Raiders.    Among his many honors, Guy was selected to the NFL's 75th anniversary all-time team and the Walter Camp All-Century team. He was selected to John Madden's all-time team, and he was nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994, the first punter ever to be nominated.    GERRY FAUST  Gerry Faust compiled an amazing 174-17-2 record in 21 years (1960-1980) as football coach at Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, after two years as an assistant coach at Chaminade High School in Dayton, his alma mater. Faust started the Moeller program in 1960 with all freshmen and guided this team to a 9-1 record in its first varsity season in 1963.    During the next 18 years, Faust's teams won 12 Greater Catholic League championships, 10 city championships, eight regional titles and five state championships. Under Faust, Moeller recorded nine undefeated seasons and had a 53-game regular-season winning streak from 1972 to 1978. Faust won 72 of his final 73 games as a high school coach. His teams also were named mythical national champions four times by the news media.    Faust coached 22 high school all-Americans and 39 all-Ohio players, and 265 of his players continued their careers at the college level. He was chosen Ohio coach of the year six times, league coach of the year 12 times and national high school coach of the year twice. He has been inducted into the Chaminade High School Hall of Fame, the Moeller Hall of Fame (which is named in his honor), the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the LaRosa's Hall of Fame.  In 1980, Faust moved to the collegiate ranks and became the 24th head football coach in the storied history of the University of Notre Dame. In five years at Notre Dame, Faust compiled a 30-26-1 record and led the Fighting Irish to two Bowl appearances. He became head coach at the University of Akron in December 1985 and was instrumental in moving the Akron program from Division I-AA to I-A and eventually into the Mid-American Conference in 1992. In nine years at Akron, Faust teams were 43-53-3 against many top Division I-A programs in an effort to establish the school as a top-flight Division I program.     After leaving the coaching ranks in 1995, Faust addressed more than 120,000 high school students in four states on values, family, teamwork and school spirit. He authored two books: Notre Dame's Man in Motion, which is out of circulation, and The Golden Dream, now in its fifth printing. He also became a much-sought motivational speaker by large corporations throughout the United States.    DEBBIE MEYER  Debbie Meyer is considered one of the top female swimmers in U.S. history as a result of her incredible performances as a high school student at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. At the age of 16, Meyer was the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals in Olympic history, winning the 200-meter, 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle races.   Perhaps even more incredibly, Meyer won two gold medals in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle races as a 14-year-old at the 1967 Pan American Games.    From 1967 to 1971, Meyer broke 20 world records and 24 American records, and she won 19 national championships. At one point, she held five world freestyle records simultaneously - 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, 880 yards and 1,500 meters.    In addition to being the first to win three individual gold medals, Meyer earned several other "firsts." She was the first female to swim 1500 meters under 18 minutes, the first to swim 400 meters under 4:30, the first to swim 500 yards under five minutes and the first to swim 1650 yards under 17 minutes. In seven years prior to winning Olympic gold in Mexico City, Meyer swam approximately 30,000 miles in training.  Meyer's honors are numerous, topped by being named winner of the Sullivan Award by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in 1968. She was swimmer of the year by Swimming World three times, the 1969 Associated Press athlete of the year, and the 1967 TASS News Agency Award and Cuba News Agency Award, both for being the world's best athlete. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977 and is also a member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, College Swimming Hall of Fame and the Women's International Sports Hall of Fame.    Though no organized athletics existed for women at that time, Meyer was chosen the top female athlete at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, California, in 1970. She retired from competitive swimming in 1972 and attended American River Junior College and UCLA after high school. She has held a number of coaching positions, including assistant swim coach at Stanford University (1976-77), assistant swim coach at the University of California, Berkeley (1980-81) and men's and women's swim coach at California State University, Sacramento (1987-92). She currently owns and operates the Debbie Meyer Swim School in Sacramento.    JOYCE WALKER  Joyce Walker is one of the best basketball players, male or female, ever to don a uniform in the state of Washington. As a senior at Garfield High School in 1980, Walker averaged 35.5 points per game on 60 percent field-goal shooting in the regular season, and then led her team to the AAA state championship with a phenomenal tournament performance.  In three tournament games, Walker scored 114 points, a 38.0 average, and set a single-game state championship record of 40 points, which still stands today. Among the eight state championship records she still holds 24 years after graduation are most field goals in a game (17), most field-goal attempts in a game (33), best scoring average (38.0), most field goals made in a tournament (49) and most field goals attempted in a tournament (96). She was named the tournament's most valuable play