The Kentucky Track & Cross-Country Coaches Association is proud to announce the 2025 inductees for the KTCCCA Hall of Fame to be held 2:00 PM on Sunday, February 2, at the KHSAA offices at 2280 Executive Drive, Lexington. The inductees include two life-long coaches and six of the finest athletes to compete in track and field in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Hall of Fame ceremonies will be held in conjunction with the USA Track & Field Annual Awards. Tickets to the event are $12.00 which can be purchased online at the following link: Banquet Ticket Link
Coach Kenny Stottman has been the head track & cross-country coach at St. Edwards Elementary School for 34 years and the coach of Derby City Athletic Club for 21 years. He has coached more than 30 team championship in cross country in the Catholic School Athletic Association and more than sixteen track & field team championships in the CSAA. He has had five KTCCCA state championship cross country teams and three track & field state championships. As coach of Derby City Athletic Club, he has won four AAU national championships and three national runners-up. Numerous athletes who have attended schools without a track or cross-country team have been coached and mentored by Coach Stottman, benefiting from his knowledge, expertise and guidance.
Coach Gary Wade, a state meet competitor for Valley High School, and four-year walk-on at Western Kentucky University, began his coaching career at his alma mater, Valley High School from 1974 to 1981, then became a volunteer coach at Holy Rosary High School for four years before returning to Valley as the head cross country coach from 1988 to 2000. From 2001-2013, he coached at Butler High School before returning again to Valley to the present time. Gary coached seven regional track championship teams, one regional cross-country championship team, three individual regional champions in cross-country, one state champion in cross-country, and fifty-four individual or relay state champions in track & field. He has coached athletes in Jefferson County for 46 years.
Jackie Beach of Frankfort High School began her state meet career in the 6th grade running on sprint relay team in the KHSAA state meet. Her freshman year saw her move up to placing 3rd in the 400 meter dash state meet. Sophomore year she won the state meet 400 meter dash, while placing 3rd n the 200. During her junior and senior years, she dominated all three sprinting events with the state meet in the 100, 200, and 400 meter dashes while also anchoring the 4x400 meter relay team to two consecutive state titles including a Class A state record of 4:03.5. During the indoor season, coming off basketball practice, Jackie won the Invitational 400 Meter Dash at the Mason-Dixon Games in Louisville. At Eastern Kentucky University, she competed for two years including running on a school record 4x400 meter relay team in 3:43.62. Following graduation, Jackie joined the U.S. Army Reserves where she rose to the rank of Command Sergeant Major which included deployment to Kuwait 2013-2014. She retired in 2024 after 32 years of military service. She has a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Public Administration from Kentucky State University and currently works for the Social Security Administration as a disabilities specialist.
Charlene Peyton Smith of Anderson County High School was a pioneer in girls track & field. Prior to the first KHSAA girls' state meet in 1966, Hall of Fame coach Jean Wright of Franklin County among other coaches organized a state meet for girls at Campbellsville in 1963 and at Western Kentucky University in 1964. At these state championships, Charlene was the star of stars winning the 75 yard dash in 1963 state meet, and winning the long jump, 50 yard hurdles and 100 yard dash as she led her Anderson County High School team to the state team title in 1964. Coach Jean Wright said there was nobody to compare to her in those first years of girls track and field. Her school long jump record of 16-11 still stands sixty years later. She was said to have jumped over 17 feet several times as well as running the 60 yard dash in the Mason-Dixon Games against two-time Olympic 100 meter champion Wyomia Tyus of the Tennessee State Tigerbelles. Charlene was invited to compete in the 1964 AAU Olympic Trials preliminaries at Welcome Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
Adam Smith of Daviess County High School was a multi-event athlete competing in the triple jump, hurdles and pole vault. Adam was one of the top pole vaulters in KHSAA history, placing state runner-up his sophomore year, and state champion his junior year. His best jumps of 16-06.5 his junior year and 16-08 his senior year had him ranked in the top four high school vaulters in the country. Adam attended the University of Tennessee and vaulted 17-4 to place 6th in the NCAA Indoor National Championships and won the SEC championship that spring, then clearing 18-04.5 to finish runner-up in the NCAA outdoors.
James "Rice" Mountjoy of Anderson County High School and Centre College was a pioneer in boys track and field in its infancy in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. In 1917 Rice Mountjoy won the state championship in the pole vault. Due to World War I, the state meet was not held in 1918 or 1919. Rice returned his senior year in 1920 to win the pole vault, broad jump and high jump state championships and score all 15 of Anderson County's team points. His school broad(long) jump record of 19-09.5 stood for 69 years. At Centre College he was a one-man track & field team, setting conference records and state collegiate records in the high jump, pole vault, and long jump. He coached football, basketball, and started the track & field program at Danville for thirteen years and has the Danville High School stadium named after him. His love of athletics carried on through as coach and athletic director at Paducah Tilghman High School, Dixie Heights High School and Boone County High School.
Marie Perry Gregory of Western Hills High School and Wake Forest University was one of Kentucky's finest middle-distance runners during the 1990's. After finishing 2nd in the state meet in the 800 meter run, she proceeded to win an unprecedented five straight 800 meter state championships, culminating with a PR of 2:18.56 her senior year. In 1996, besides her state 800 title, Marie won the 1600 meter run and placed 3rd in the 3200, helping lead her team to the 1996 state championship. In the 4x800 relay, over a span of five years, Marie anchored the team to three relay state championships and two runners-up including state records of 9:47.83 in 1995 and 9:47.20 in 1998 when the team won its second girls team championship in three years. In cross country from 1994 to 1998, Western Hills won five straight cross-country titles with Marie spearheading the team with four top eight finishes in the state cross country meet. Marie has had a nineteen year career as a physical therapist, currently working with day care centers in Louisville with adults with mental and physical disabilities.
Michele Marshall Van Laningham of Boone County High School and University of Tennessee Chattanooga was a two-time state champion in cross country and seven-time state champion on the track in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs. She won three regional cross-country championships and ten regional track championships in the distance races. Moving on to her collegiate career, Michele was the Southern Conference 3000 meter indoor champion, Southern Conference runner-up twice in the 10,000 meter run and once in the 5000. She was All-Southern Conference in cross country three times and twice in track along with being named Southern Conference Indoor Track Freshman of the Year. Following graduation, she returned to Northern Kentucky to coach the Notre Dame Academy girls track and cross country including four straight regional championships from 2001-2004. Michele was named to the Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors Hall of Fame.