Starmount inducts Hall of Fame members

Starmount High School recently inducted new members into the Starmount High School Hall of Fame.

Making up the Hall of Fame’s 2023 class, the members inducted were Todd Wallace, Becky Bryant, Scott Johnson, Mark Royall, Stu Holt, David Baker, JP Vanhoy, Joe and Phyllis Stroud, and the 1998 Football Team — all of whom have had a prolific impact on the Starmount community.

From revamping Starmount’s band and choral programs, to coaching NFL players, to providing scholarship opportunities to students, here’s a little bit about the inductees.

Todd Wallace

As a student at Starmount, Todd Wallace competed in multiple sports, lettering in football, basketball, and baseball. He was all-conference in football and baseball, and the Elkin Tribune named him the 1986 All Tri-County Defensive Player of the year in football, as well as the All Tri-County player of the week multiple times in football and baseball. In his senior year, he was named Ram of the Year.

Wallace’s athletic career was cut short entering his senior year due to an automobile accident. But he went on to graduate in 1988 and has remained an avid supporter of the school and community.

Wallace has mentored and coached hundreds of Starmount ram student-athletes, having coached youth football for 25 years. He began coaching at West Yadkin Elementary School in 1994. Then in 2010, he started coaching at Starmount Middle School.

Apart from coaching, Wallace is also an active participant behind the scenes. He is a supporter of the Starmount Athletics Booster Club and was a charter member and vice president of the GATA Gridiron Club, which raises funds to support the Starmount football program. Wallace was also part of the group that led the renaming of Starmount Football Stadium to the BW Holt Jr. Stadium.

Becky Bryant

Becky Bryant didn’t just attend and later teach at Starmount — she practically grew up there. Bryant’s parents, William and Mary Parker, both taught and coached at Starmount for 25 years.

During Bryant’s time as a student, she played tennis, ran track, graduated with high honors, and was awarded the Scholastic Athlete of the Year. She graduated in 1983.

Bryant earned a biology degree from UNC-Asheville and a master’s degree in Education from Wake Forest University. Mrs. Bryant worked for the state of N.C. and taught middle school for five years before returning to Starmount to teach all levels of biology for 22 years. In addition to teaching, Mrs. Bryant was the National Honor Society sponsor and enjoyed mentoring new teachers. She was named Starmount’s Teacher of the Year three times and the Yadkin County Teacher of the Year twice — in 1998 and 2013.

Mrs. Bryant, who retired in 2018, was always passionate about helping her students understand and love biology. She is proud that many of her students went on to pursue careers in biology, and she was honored to have the 2018 yearbook dedicated to her. Even in retirement, she and her siblings continue to support Starmount students by awarding the William and Mary H. Parker scholarship each year — a scholarship that honors the legacy of their parents.

Mrs. Bryant said she’s a loyal Ram for life.

Scott Johnson

It’s only fitting that Scott Johnson be inducted into the Starmount High School Hall of Fame, given that he was the one who wrote the program’s bylaws and collected donations to get it started. Even though he attended a different high school, Johnson has been an instrumental member of the Starmount community since 1997.

Johnson graduated from Alleghany High School in 1985 and taught math at Starmount from 1997-2020, always challenging his students to understand the “why” of math. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics named him Math Teacher of the Year for Yadkin County multiple times, he has been named Starmount’s Teacher of the Year, and he has been Nationally Board Certified in Math since 2002. He even had the yearbook dedicated to him in 2008.

Johnson’s family and faith is extremely important to him. While at Starmount, he was the sponsor of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for 23 years, and he also started the Coaches Outreach Bible Study for staff members and coaches.

Johnson also excelled as a coach for many years while at Starmount. He was named the Coach of the Year four times.

He coached football at Starmount for 20 years — as an assistant coach from 1997-2004, then as head coach from 2005-2017. During his time as the head coach, his teams won the conference championship six times, won 10 or more games seven seasons in a row, had a streak of 38 consecutive conference wins, and made two final fours — 2A in 2008 and 1A in 2014. Johnson also initiated Character Education Lessons for his players.

In addition to football, he was baseball’s assistant coach from 1997-2004 and head coach in 2005, he was assistant softball coach for three years, and he was assistant coach and bus driver for volleyball for one season. Johnson was the assistant athletic director at Starmount from 2005-2016 and the athletic director from 2016 until his retirement in 2020. He served on the N.C. Athletic Directors Association Board for three years. He was also instrumental in getting facility and equipment updates for the school.

Outside of Starmount, Johnson served on the N.C. Football Coaches Association Board for two years, and he was the East-West All-Star Game assistant in 2013.

Mark Royall

Mark Royall was a student-athlete at Starmount, graduating in 1987. He competed in football and earned multiple varsity letters in track and field, but where he most stood out was on the wrestling team.

Royall was a four-year varsity starter on the wrestling team, and during his senior season, he won the state championship at 155 lbs., finishing with an undefeated record of 41-0. Throughout his high school wrestling career, he finished with an overall career record of 111 wins, 10 losses, and two ties. He was a two-time State Qualifier, a three-time Western Regional Champion, a two-time Northwestern Sectional Champion, and a three-time Northwest Conference Champion. He was awarded 10 Most Outstanding Wrestler (MOW) awards and was recognized as the Tri-County Wrestler of the Year in 1986 and 1987.

Royall was a two-time North Carolina Junior Olympic Wrestling team member, qualifying by winning multiple State Freestyle Wrestling titles and competing in freestyle wrestling tournaments throughout the United States. He was recruited by numerous collegiate wrestling programs, but he decided to continue his academic and wrestling career on wrestling scholarships at Wilkes Community College and Carson Newman University, where he was an Academic All-American and a two-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National qualifier.

Mark graduated from Carson Newman University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and eventually received a Master of Business Administration.

Stu Holt

Stu Holt graduated from Starmount High School in 1991. While there, Holt was named all-conference twice in both football and baseball, as well as MVP in the 1990 baseball conference tournament. In his senior year, he was named Ram of the Year.

After high school, Holt attended The University of North Carolina where he participated in football and lettered in 1994 and 1995. While there, he earned his B.A. in English, then in 2000, he received his MAEd. in Administration from Western Carolina.

Holt started coaching in 1996 at Norwich University. Since then, he’s coached at Mainland High School, Western Carolina University, Cumberland University, Bethune-Cookman University, New Smyrna Beach High School, Western Kentucky University, Tennessee State University, University of South Florida, Appalachian State University, University of Louisville, and Virginia Tech University.

Holt has been a part of 11 bowl games as both a player and a coach. He’s coached ten NFL players in addition to numerous all-conference and all-American performers. He has been a stand out Special Teams Coordinator for 16 years, producing 12 nationally ranked units in those seasons. Holt also received the game ball presented by the ACC Network in a victory over Wake Forest in 2019.

David Baker

Back before Starmount High School was founded 1967, David Baker attended Boonville High School where he played football and baseball. Later, Baker coached pee-wee football and little league baseball.

Baker became the medical trainer for Starmount’s football program in 1988 and later retired from Yadkin County Emergency Services with 33 years of service. In 1998, he started Boonville Driving School, and he carried that skillset over to his service at Starmount — he drove the activity bus for all sports teams.

Baker is a dedicated supporter of all sports at Starmount High School, but especially enjoys football and wrestling. Baker is still currently at Starmount, and he’s had three sons and a granddaughter graduate from the school.

JP Vanhoy

JP Vanhoy was just a junior in college when he was hired to be the choral director at Starmount High School in 1971 due to an extreme shortage of music teachers. He went on to work in Yadkin County Schools for 32 years.

The North Iredell High School graduate was studying music at Lenoir-Rhyne College at the time of his initial employment. As the choral director at Starmount, he co-founded the Yadkin County Choral Society — the forerunner of the current Yadkin County Arts Council.

Vanhoy became the band director in 1976, a few years after finishing his music degree, and served in that position for 23 years until 1999. The band, under Vanhoy’s watch, saw yearly improvements in props and costumes and consistently received superior ratings and 1st place awards at regional competitions. He said the highlight of those years was playing for Coach Hutchens’ state championship football team in Chapel Hill.

In the mid 1990s, Vanhoy became the golf coach at Starmount. Once, he was even selected as conference coach of the year. He retired in 2003 as principal of Yadkinville Elementary School.

“My 28 years at my beloved Starmount High School will always be the highlight of my life,” Vanhoy said.

Joe Stroud and Phyllis Fleming Stroud

Joe Stroud and Phyllis Fleming Stroud served Starmount High School for eighteen years.

Joe joined Starmount in its inaugural year as assistant principal, and along with Reid Lowder, led the successful high school consolidation. Then 13 years later, Joe became principal in 1980. Joe had high expectations for his students and staff and provided strong support to ensure their success, earning great respect and admiration from all whose lives he touched.

Before his time at Starmount, Joe graduated from East Carolina University and received his master’s degree from Appalachian State University. He taught for one year at Jonesville, then went on to serve in the Army — performing important classified work while stationed in Japan. He returned home to teach high school algebra and other higher math topics at Jonesville High School, eventually rising to serve as Jonesville’s assistant principal before his transition to Starmount.

Phyllis served as school secretary during Joe’s tenure as Starmount’s assistant principal. Phyllis’ warm personality and smiling face could always be found at the front desk — assisting students and teachers with issues and easing any nerves about having to come to the principal’s office. During this time, Joe and Phyllis got married in 1973.

Phyllis retired from Starmount in 1980 — the year Joe became principal — and Joe retired five years later in 1985. After Phyllis’ retirement from Starmount, she helped found and manage Yadkin County’s Share-A-Home, which continues to successfully serve elders in our community. The pair enjoyed traveling, serving their church, and serving the community until their deaths in 2002 and 2003.

The 1998 Starmount Football Team

Twenty-six years ago, head coach Joe Hutchens led the 1998 Starmount High School football team through not only an undefeated run in the Northwest 1A conference, but a NCHSAA 1A State Championship. The team finished 6-0 in conference play and 15-1 overall.

Here’s a more in-depth look at that triumphant season.

FINAL SCORES:

Starmount 14, North Surry 20

Starmount 34, Forbush 0

Starmount 24, South Iredell 13

Starmount 25, Watauga 7

Starmount 49, Alleghany 7

Starmount 26, Elkin 9

Starmount 31, East Surry 30

Starmount 56, East Wilkes 33

Starmount 38, Mount Airy 8

Starmount won by forfeit over North Stokes

Starmount 37, Bartlett-Yancey 8

Starmount 38, Robbinsville 0 — 1st Round

Starmount 24, Albemarle 21 — 2nd Round

Starmount 21, Hendersonville 14 — 3rd Round

Starmount 17, Maiden 14 — 1A Western Finals

Starmount 22, North Edgecombe 20 — 1A State Final

PLAYERS:

Shanlyn Martin, Davis Howell, Luke Coe, Richard Tulbert, Ricky Tomko, Josh Parker, Sandy Grinton, Justin Henderson, Daniel Wright Underwood, Anthony Adams, Jason Shore, Jeff Shoemaker, Bryan Lashley, Dusty Abbott, Josh Oaks, Clarence Gray, Brandon Nichols, Josh Pardue, Ryan Porter, BJ Holbrook, Neil Love, Andy Swaim, Sid Trivette, Brandon Bryant, Chris Mayes, Alex Brown, Kelly Brown, Chris Bailey, Chase Orange, Justin King, Josh Foster, Seth Williams, John Baldwin, Gary Glenn, Luke Storie, Justin Willard, Ben Gentry, Trendon King, Jeremy Kramer, Joseph Caudill, Patrick Gove

COACHES:

Russell Jones, Chris Brown, Scott Johnson, Tim Pruitt, Doug Chappell, Scott Carter, Mike McCann, Jason Phelps

CHAPLAIN:

Max Hill

MANAGERS:

Angela Chappell, Melinda Hill

STATISTICIAN:

Deana King

TRAINERS:

Michelle Groce, David Baker

VIDEOGRAPHER:

Jeff Blackburn