Four athletes who have been fixtures in the sports room at the Poplar Bluff Museum will join the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame as the Class of 2018.
PJ Brown, Garland Martin, Stan Revelle and Janice-Lee York Romary will be inducted Thursday, Sept. 20 during the 33rd banquet at Westwood Hills Country Club.
Uniforms worn by the four athletes already grace the Museum, home to memorabilia and the plaques of the 88 individuals and eight teams honored by the Sports Hall of Fame since 1981.
Brown and Martin won state championships for the Poplar Bluff Mules track & field team, Revelle was named the Missouri high school football player of the year and broke every team record for a quarterback while York Romary was a six-time Olympian.
Brown, Martin and Revelle were all teammates and became eligible for the first time this year while York Romary is the 10th female athlete to be honored, 73 years after she graduated from Poplar Bluff High School.
Three years after she graduated, York Romary competed in her first Olympic Games in 1948. The fencer was the first American woman to compete in six Olympics and became the first women to carry the U.S. flag at the Opening Ceremony in 1968.
A 10-time U.S. national champion in the foil, still a record for men or women, York Romary finished fourth in the foil at the 1952 Helsinki Games, losing a four-way tie for the gold medal on touches. She was also fourth at the 1956 Melbourne Games. A commissioner for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, York Romary is a member of the US Fencing Association Hall of Fame.
York Romary, who died in 2007, was a varsity cheerleader at Poplar Bluff. While attending the University of Southern California she developed her fencing skills.
Revelle set 11 records as quarterback for the Mules, helping Poplar Bluff win two district titles. As a senior in 2000, he was named the top football player in the state by USA Today, along with all-state honors and winning the Carr Trophy as the top player in the SEMO Conference.
He was the first Poplar Bluff player to throw for 2,000 yards in a season, threw for 300-plus yards in a game four times and set passing records for a game (415 yards), season (2,505) and career (5,923).
Revelle, who was also a four-year letterman in basketball and a three-year letterman in baseball, was a walk-on at the University of Notre Dame where he played on the scout team all four years.
Martin was an All-American hurdler in high school for the Mules and in college. He won the state championship in the 300-meter hurdles in 1999 with a time of 36.22 seconds that still stands as a record.
In earning three individual all-state medals, finishing second in the 110 hurdles in 1999, Martin helped the Mules place second at state as a team. Running for Middle Tennessee State University, Martin earned All-American honors in the 2004 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in the 60-meter hurdles. He was also competed in the IAAF World Junior Championships and was a US Junior Champion in the 110 hurdles.
Brown and Martin were teammates on the Mules track team that placed second in 1999.
Brown was an All-American pole vaulter as a senior in 2000 when he won his second state title, setting a meet record by clearing 16-feet, 4.25-inches. It lasted nine years while he still holds the Mules record at 16-9. A four-time all-state medalist in track, Brown was also a two-time All-SEMO Conference selection in football and earned eight veracity letters.
At the University of Arkansas, Brown helped the Razorbacks win five NCAA Division I national championships and was a five-time All-Southeastern Conference pole vaulter and a Division I National Championship qualifier. He also was a two-time Academic All-American at Arkansas.
The four-person class is the largest since 1998 when four people and the 1979 Raiders championship team were inducted. It's also the first induction ceremony since 2015 when Tenisha Britton Miller, Kenny Rowland and the 1988 Mules golf team were honored.
To be inducted a person must be at least 35 years old and earn enough votes from a group of selectors and also the Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors.
Tickets for the banquet, which will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at Westwood Hills Country Club, are $20 and may be purchased at the Black River Coliseum box office or the Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation office.
The day will also feature a golf tournament that afternoon at Ozark Ridge Golf Course with two-person teams playing nine holes of scramble and nine holes of best ball. Proceeds will benefit the Sports Hall of Fame. Contact the Ozark Ridge for more information at 573-686-8634.