Commentary on this story on Thursday's Headlines Podcast .

The third class of the Union Pines Athletic Hall of Fame includes coaches, athletes and an educator.

Selection committee chairman Bobby Purvis recently announced the six members of the Class of 2007.

George D. Griffin, Jeffery Thomas Dowd, Mike Apple, Andy Kelly, Carl Salmon and Tyrone Ross will be inducted at a ceremony to be held in the school auditorium on Feb. 2.

"Like the past classes," Purvis says, "this one very much represents what we want our athletic hall of fame to be about. I think the school and the community will be very proud of the selections."

Griffin has been an ardent supporter of Viking athletics during a teaching and administrative career that included 28 years of service as the school's principal and as an assistant superintendent of the Moore County Schools.

He was known for getting behind the school's coaches and the betterment of athletic facilities at the school, including the completion of the field house.

The former athletes being inducted include Dowd, a 1982 graduate. He was the starting point guard for Viking basketball teams that won a conference championship in 1980 and were conference and district champions in 1981. He was also all-conference in track for four years and went on to play basketball at Appalachian State.

Apple was a teammate of Dowd's on the 1981 basketball team. He was the leading scorer and rebounder on the 1981, and was a two-time all-conference selection.

After a four-year basketball career at Guilford College he coached at Union Pines and Western Harnett, and is currently the boys' basketball coach at Pinecrest.

Another former Viking cager selected is Kelly, a 1989 graduate. He led the Vikings in scoring and rebounding in his senior year, and finished his career as the second highest scorer in the history of the school.

A deadly outside and free throw shooter in college as well, Kelly transferred to Clemson for his senior year. He and 2005 inductee June Doby Hill, who played at N.C. State, are the only former Vikings to start in an ACC basketball game.

Salmon, Kelly's coach at Union Pines, is another one of the inductees. Salmon coached both boys' and girls' basketball and track at Union Pines, winning many conference championships in both sports.

The Campbell University graduate also served as athletic director. His 1975-1976 girls' basketball squad won a state championship. During his coaching tenure he served as the coach for both the girls' (1976) and boys' (1998) East-West All-Star basketball games.

Representing the Union Pines football program in the new class is Ross. A defensive lineman and a tight end, the 1987 graduate caught 36 passes for 850 yards and 10 touchdowns in his senior year. He was also all-conference in basketball and track.

Ross was a three-year starter in football at North Carolina Central, graduating cum laude in 1991.

Involved with the Hall of Fame since its inception, Purvis, currently the assistant athletic director and head boys' basketball coach at the school, looks forward to another evening of fellowship and reminiscing when the inductions take place in February.

"It has touched the hearts of a lot of us, especially those who have been here awhile and remember when they played and that sort of thing," he says. "It's always good to be reminded of the good times and, most of all, the good people involved in the athletic history of this school."

Previous inductees

Class of 2005 -- June Doby Hill, Bobby Myers, John Frye, Curtis Frye, Drew Scott and the 1975-1976 girls' state championship basketball team; Class of 2006 -- Bobby Phillips, Dan Maples, Yvonne Holder, Darryl Person, Jennifer Bennett and the 1991 boys' state championship tennis team.