Local sports history will be made when five Bradwell Institute alumni will be inducted into the 2019 Liberty County Athletic Hall of Fame on Dec. 12.
The 16th annual induction will be held during a banquet at 7 p.m. at the Liberty County Community Complex, 9397 E. Oglethorpe Highway in Midway.
Tickets should be purchased in advance by contacting the Liberty County Recreation Department at 876-5359.
Tickets are $20 and will not be sold at the event.
Here are this year’s five inductees:
A 1970 graduate of Bradwell Institute, Smith was an extremely accomplished pole vaulter for the BI track team. Smith was the Region champion in the pole vault in 1968, 1969 and 1970 as well as the state champion in 1970.
He received an athletic scholarship to West Georgia College where he had numerous honors and awards to include qualifying for the NAIA National Track Championships in 1973 and 1974, winning the GIAC pole vault championship in 1974 and being named an NAIA All-American in 1974.
After his competitive days ended, Smith had a successful career as a representative for a sports manufacturing company and as a volunteer pole vault coach/consultant at the high school and college level as well as international levels.
He is retired and lives in Candler, North Carolina.
A 1972 Bradwell Institute graduate, McCormack was a four-year letterman in football, two-year letterman in track and one year in baseball for the Tigers, culminating his senior football season by being named Honorable Mention All-State running back by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
McCormack played iron-man football seeing time on the offense as a running back and on the defense as a linebacker. He rushed for close to if not more than 1,000 yards in 1971.
McCormack lives in Pearland, Texas.
A 1987 Bradwell Institute graduate, Jones was a pivotal gridiron competitor who played key roles on BI’s 1985 Region Championship team (11-2-1) and 1986 Region Championship Team (13-1), both of which made the South Georgia Championship game, the final four.
Jones was a star wide receiver, defensive back, punt and kick returner his junior and senior years. He was the leading scorer for the Tigers’ basketball team his senior year leading the team to the state playoffs.
Jones received scholarship offers from Valdosta State University, Savannah State, Georgia Southern, West Georgia and Clark College. He accepted a football scholarship at Clark College, now Clark-Atlanta University, where he was named to the All-AUC Freshman team, All-AUC Honorable Mention (as a junior) and helped lead his team as a senior to the SIAC Conference Championship.
Jones lives in Atlanta.
A 1989 Bradwell Institute graduate, Bullard was a standout running back and punter for the Tiger football team as well as the 1988 Georgia state champion in the shot put in his junior year.
Bullard was named All-Region3-AAAA in 1987 and 1988 in football and was Honorable Mention All-State in 1988 per the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Bullard also lettered one year in golf for BI.
Bullard accepted an appointment to the US Naval Academy where he played running back for the Midshipmen.
Bullard has been very involved over the years in the First Tee Organization, helping and teaching youth the game of golf. He is currently an assistant golf pro at Cypress Lake Golf Course in Hope Mills, North Carolina.
A 1997 Bradwell Institute graduate, LeBlanc was an All-Region football player for the gridiron Tigers who was nominated to play in the GACA All-Star game after his senior season at BI.
He was also named to the All-Coastal Empire Team as a senior.
LeBlanc had 8.5 sacks as a senior helping BI to a 10-2 record and was also a goalie for the Tiger soccer team. LeBlanc received a football scholarship at Georgia Southern University where he was a key defensive tackle on two NCAA 1-AA National Championship teams.
He was a Southern Conference All-Team selection his senior season finishing his GSU career with 132 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 8 tackles for loss and 6 deflected passes.
He lives in Pompano Beach, Fla.