COOKVELLE, Tenn. -- It will be a banner day for the Golden Eagle
football program and a first for the women's track and cross
country programs when Tennessee Tech Athletics inducts five new
members into the TTU Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 30, during
Homecoming festivities.
Four of the five -- Jim Bishop, John Moorhead, Tony Stone and
Branon Vaughn -- played football for the Golden Eagles, while Dena
Adams Fairley becomes the first member of the women's track and
cross country program to be inducted.
The five will be honored during the annual Hall of Fame Dinner on
Friday night, Oct. 30, and also recognized at the Homecoming
football game on Saturday, Oct. 31. They will lift the total of
people in the Hall of Fame to 146 since it was established in 1975.
* Dena Adams was one of the school's most
honored student-athletes during her career as a distance runner for
the Golden Eagles from 1994 to 1997, winning Academic All-America
and all-OVC honors while setting school records.
* Jim Bishop was a team captain and
all-conference selection on the football team from 1968 to 1971,
and also played one season on the Tech baseball team, before the
NFL draft sent him toward a brief pro football career with the San
Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Oilers.
* John Moorhead was a four-year letterman in both
football and track & field for the Golden Eagles from 1955 to
1959. He set school and conference records on the track in the high
jump and mile relay, and was a two-time all-OVC selection in
football.
* Tony Stone was also on the Golden Eagle
football team during the second half of the 1950s, helping win an
Ohio Valley Conference championships, but his greatest
contributions to the program began eight years after his graduation
when he returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach and
headed up Tech's dominant defensive secondary from 1967 to
1973.
* Branon Vaughn was an OVC Defensive Player of
the Year during his record-setting career as a defensive end from
1995 to 1999. A three-time all-OVC pick, he set several school
records for quarterback sacks and was a national finalist for the
prestigious Buck Buchanan Award.
In-depth biographies of each of the five inductees will be
published as the Hall of Fame Dinner approaches. Tickets for the
Hall of Fame dinner will go on sale soon at the Athletics Ticket
Office in Eblen Center.
