Two figures with strong south Alabama connections are among the newest inductees into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Stars with local roots
The Hall’s Class of 2022 includes former major league pitcher Jake Peavy, a St. Paul’s standout who later threw for the Mobile BayBears, and Philip Rivers, who just completed his first season as head football coach at St. Michael. Peavy, a unanimous National League Cy Young Award winner in 2007, also won World Series titles with the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox. Rivers, a 17-year NFL veteran, led St. Michael to the young program’s first winning season.
They will be inducted in May alongside fellow honorees Doyle Alexander, Rusty Greer, Patrick Murphy, William Andrews, Justin Tuck and Keith Askins.
Area athletes medal at state swim and dive meet
The Alabama High School Athletic Association held its swimming and diving championships at Auburn University, with several Mobile-Baldwin County schools among the placers. UMS-Wright’s Blakeslee Elliott won the Girls 6A-7A diving crown with a score of 357.60, and teammate Laura Beth Montgomery took second. Fairhope’s Cooper Brechman placed third in Boys 6A-7A diving.
In team competition, Randolph won the Girls 1A-5A swimming title, with Bayshore Christian, Cottage Hill Christian and Guntersville following. Among larger schools, St. Paul’s finished fourth in Girls 6A-7A, with Fairhope seventh and McGill-Toolen 10th; Daphne and Gulf Shores also placed. On the boys’ side, St. Paul’s landed seventh and Gulf Shores 11th, while Spanish Fort, Baker, McGill-Toolen and Foley represented the area in the standings.