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By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

Two administrators, eight athletes, and one volunteer highlight the West Forsyth’s Athletic Hall of Fame class announced Wednesday morning by Athletic Director Mike Pennington.

The class will formally be announced on Sept. 12 during the football game against Mount Tabor, and on Sept. 13, there will be a banquet at noon in Simpson Gym.

The first administrator to be inducted is Kurt Telford. Telford was the principal at West Forsyth from 2000-12. While at West Forsyth, the school had the highest graduation rate in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, and he was named WS/FCS Principal of the Year in 2010.

Telford oversaw many athletic facility projects at West Forsyth, including adding practice fields, adding a soccer field and upgrading the baseball and softball fields. In addition, tennis courts were built as well as concession stands at the baseball field.  

Telford oversaw an addition of a courtyard at West Forsyth, the expansion of a library, added the Fine Arts Center, renovated the gym to include performance studios and helped with the addition of administrative-building upgrades and an expanded parking area.

He was also inducted into the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Sports Hall of Fame. Telford was the principal at Charlotte Catholic High School for 10 years, and now he is the president of Charlotte Catholic. 

The other administrator is T.R. Richards, who served as teacher, coach and athletic director at West Forsyth from 1983-2014. Richards served many roles at West Forsyth, including assistant football coach from 1984-1998, girls basketball coach from 1997-2004, assistant athletic director under Durwood Pack from 1999-2006 and athletic director from 2007-14. In 2016 Richards was inducted into the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Sports Hall of Fame.

Richards was involved in facility upgrades in football, basketball, softball, track and field and boys and girls lacrosse. He also helped get the soccer field named after Pack and the training room named after Jim Coghill. From 2012 until today, Richards has been the commissioner of the Northwest 1-A and Foothills 2-A conferences. 

Adrian Snow, who was the head football coach at West Forsyth from 2008-22, will also be inducted. With a record of 122-54, Snow is the winningest football coach in school history. Snow, who was named Central Piedmont 4-A Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2017, coached in the 2011 East-West All-Star Game, was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in the 2012 Shrine Bowls and coached in the 2018 Under Armour All-American game.

Snow coached 88 players who played college football, including two Under Armour All-Americans, eight Shrine Bowl players, and two current NFL players – KJ Henry and Ja’Quan McMillian. In addition, Snow helped raise over $250,000 for improvements to the school’s weight room and Jerry Peoples Stadium.

Henry, who played football and basketball at West Forsyth, will also be inducted into the West Forsyth Sports Hall of Fame. In football, he was a three-time all-conference selection, including the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2017. Ranked as a five-star recruit, he was labeled the nation’s fifth-best prospect in 2017 by ESPN. In his senior season, he played in both the Under Armour All-America Game and the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas.  

Henry signed to play football at Clemson and was second-team All-ACC in 2022 and was an Academic All-American there. He was drafted in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders. He has also played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.

In basketball, Henry helped lead the Titans to a 27-3 record his junior season.  

In football, 1990 graduate Haywood Cloud will also be inducted. During his senior season in 1989 he rushed for 1,826 yards, which was the school record until 2019. That season, Cloud also rushed for 27 touchdowns and was named the conference Player of the Year.  

In the summer of 1990 Cloud played in the East-West All-Star Game. Cloud went on to play football at Winston-Salem State, where he was inducted into the hall of fame in 2007.

Norton Barnhill, who played basketball at West Forsyth in 1971-72, is also part of the inductees. He played in the East-West All-Star Game his senior season, and he was named to Street & Smith’s 50 blue chip players in the county in 1972.

Barnhill, who was also inducted in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, signed to play at Washington State and was drafted in the eighth round of the NBA Draft in 1976 by the Seattle SuperSonics.  

Another member who will be going into the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Sports Hall of Fame and the West Forsyth Sports Hall of Fame is Kevin Besecker. Besecker, who graduated from the school in 1986, was a three-sport athlete in boys soccer, basketball and track and field.

In his senior season, Besecker was named the school’s Male Athlete of the Year after being named all-conference in soccer, basketball and track and field. He signed to play basketball at Greensboro College and played four seasons there.

Cammy Pereira, who graduated in 2016, helped guide the West Forsyth softball team to the conference state championship that June. That season, she hit .595 and was named the state player of the year. Pereira had a career batting average of .516. 

While at West Forsyth, Pereira was named all-Central Piedmont 4-A three times, including twice winning the conference Player of the Year. In addition, she was a two-time all-region selection and was named all-state.  

Pereira signed to play in college at Furman and hit .308 as a freshman. In 2019 she was named all-Southern Conference.  

Pereira transferred to Clemson and started 45 games there in two seasons. While there she was named to the ACC’s all-tournament and all-academic team. Pereira is currently in her third year of residency to become a doctor.  

Madeline Para starred in swimming at West Forsyth. She held records from 2001-05 in the 100-yard butterfly, 200 free, 200-free relay, 400-free relay and the 200-medley relay. In the state championship in her junior season in 2004, Para finished third in the 200 free, fourth in the 400 free relay, sixth in the 200 free and eighth in the 100 fly. In her senior season in 2005, Para finished eighth in the state championship in the 100 fly, 200 free and 200-free relay.  

Para swam collegiately at Davidson College and competed there for four seasons.

Another swimmer going into the West Forsyth Sports Hall of Fame is Ashley Sullivan. A 2005 graduate, she won the conference championship in the 100 back and was named all-conference and all-state in that stroke. In her junior season, she was the conference champion in the 200 Individual Medley, and was named all-conference and all-state. As a junior in 2004, Sullivan was the conference champion in the 100 back and 100 breast, receiving all-conference honors. In her senior season, she was the school record holder in the 100 back, 200 IM, 50 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay and 200 medley relay. 

Sullivan was a top-10 ACC finisher at Clemson, and she was the school’s swimming and diving captain in both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. 

The volunteer going into the West Forsyth Sports Hall of Fame is Norman Denny. Denny has volunteered at West Forsyth since 1990. He runs the concessions and also spends a great deal of time around the school cleaning, stocking and working the concession stands. 

Denny also spent his own money to buy a flagpole and flag for Jerry Peoples Stadium, as well as buying paint for the football goal posts and baseball field foul poles. He also bought an air conditioner for the concession stands. Denny is often seen doing maintenance in the concession stands, fields and gyms at West Forsyth.