GAINESVILLE, Ga. — A Bulldog and two Yellow Jackets, two coaches with six state championships combined, and the first female to score a point in a Georgia high school football game are among this year’s inductees into the Gainesville Athletics Hall of Fame.
Preston Ridlehuber, Jerry Davis, Manson Hill, Shelly (Garner) Black, Lea Miller-Tooley, Mason (Miller) Nelson, and the 1998 boys soccer state championship team will be honored as the newest members of the hall of fame during a banquet on April 15 at The Civic Center in Gainesville.
A 1962 graduate of Gainesville High School, Ridlehuber earned all-state honors in football and baseball before choosing a football scholarship to the University of Georgia over a contract offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates. A two-year starter at quarterback for the Bulldogs in coach Vince Dooley’s first two years as head coach, Ridlehuber went 13-7-1, earning Sun Bowl MVP honors after Georgia topped Texas Tech 7-0 in the 1964 Sun Bowl. He then had a short stint in the NFL and AFL, playing for the Falcons in their inaugural season (1966) followed by the Oakland Raiders (1968) and Buffalo Bills (1969).
During Jerry Davis’ 28 years spent at the helm of the Gainesville boys basketball program, he amassed 701 wins. Included in those wins were 24 subregion and region titles, 11 Lanierland championships, and two state titles during a magical stretch in the early 80s where his teams won 35 straight games. At the time of his retirement in 2008, Davis was second in the state among active coaches in wins. He was named GACA state Coach of the Year twice and region coach of the year 10 times.
Mason Hill’s 39 years coaching at Gainesville High School, including stints in tennis and golf, along with his heralded time as head girls basketball coach. All told he won seven state championships (four in basketball) and 30 region titles (10 in basketball). In addition, Hill is a four-time GACA state Coach of the Year and 30-time region coach of the year.
On Oct. 25, 1985, with an extra point that put Gainesville up 21-7 on Madison County, then Gainesville junior Shelly (Garner) Black made history as the first female to score in a Georgia High School Association football game. But that wasn’t the only history she made for an all-boys squad at GHS; Black scored the first soccer goal by a female in the Spring of her junior year while starting for the Red Elephants (the school didn’t have a girls’ program at the time). The goal came on a penalty kick.
Identical twins Lea Miller-Tooley and Mason (Miller) Nelson never lost a high school tennis match in their four years representing Gainesville High School. Members of the class of 1998, they helped the Red Elephant tennis program to four straight state finals and one state championship (1995), playing at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Both ranked in the Top 20 on the junior circuit, and as the No. 1 and No. 2 players in Georgia, Lea and Mason each received a full tennis scholarship, with Lea going to Wake Forest and then Georgia Tech while Mason went only to Georgia Tech.
Finally, the team being inducted into the hall of fame this year is the 1998 Red Elephant boys soccer team, which under the leadership of Jim O’Callaghan and Chip Branch, won the program’s first state championship.
To be eligible for induction in the Gainesville Athletics Hall of Fame, athletes must have graduated from a Gainesville City School (including EE Butler and Fair Street schools) no fewer than 10 years ago. Nominations are accepted year-round on Gainesville’s athletic website.
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