CRESTVIEW — High school legends returned home to Crestview on Friday as the 2014 Crestview High School Sports Hall of Fame inductees were honored with a luncheon at Woodlawn Baptist Church.
The eight-member spans six decades of Bulldog athletics. Honored were Rodney Bolton, Courtney Peaden Ellis, Earl Hooks, Willie Larkins, Willie B. Livingston, Ed Newman, Zac Perkins and Billy Teel.
Crestview High School Sports Hall of Fame photos>>
Hooks and Teel were honored posthumously and were represented by their families. Newman, a physician now living in North Carolina, was unable to attend due to a prior commitment.
This year’s class of inductees is full of record setters and trail blazers.
Teel a member of the Class of 1949, scored what is a still a school record six touchdowns in an 84-6 win over Frink High School.
Perkins, a 1972 graduate, was among the first black students to attend CHS before going on to play basketball at Florida State and on the military team.
Perkins looks back across the last 40 years with fond memories.
“I think the time I was at Crestview – with all the athletic achievements – the most important thing was the friendships I made with my fellow classmates and the time I had with my teachers,” he said. “It was a fun time for me working on the student council.
“My first year I didn’t know what to expect, but I soon realized that people are people. If you are a genuine person and you care for other people, they will care for you.”
Ellis, the lone female in this year’s class, is also the youngest member of the youngest member of the class having graduated in 2003. While at Crestview she was a multi sport star excelling in softball, volleyball and soccer. She earned first team all-state honors in softball and volleyball and was a second team all-state selection in soccer.
Ellis went on to play softball and volleyball at Pensacola Junior College before an injury cut her athletic career short.
“I feel very honored, very humbled and very blessed,” she said. I absolutely love this town and love this school. There is no place I would have rather graduated and gone to high school so it’s very humbling.”
Ellis is married to B.J. Ellis, an assistant basketball coach at Morehead State University and is the mother of three daughters. She said playing sports prepared her for life as a wife and mother.
“Having a team is like having a family,” she said. “Now that I’m older and I’m a wife and I have three girls of my own, I look back on those experiences and use them in everyday life with my own family.”
Larkins, who graduated in 1984, went on to play football at Liberty University and led the Flames in rushing in 1984, 1986 and 1987.
Larkins played for Coach David Morgan and helped lead the Bulldogs to wins over Niceville in 1981 and 1982.
The soft-spoken Larkins found it hard to believe he had been elected to the hall of fame.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “I never thought I would be here, but I’m blessed to be here. I had a great coach.
“Coach Morgan did a great job with me. He told me, ‘You do things right you don’t have to worry about life it will take care of itself.’ That’s how I try to live, doing things right.”
EmailNews Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview High School welcomes Class of 2014 into Hall of Fame (PHOTOS, VIDEO)