JACKSON, Tenn. - The Union University Sports Hall of Fame has announced six inductees for the class of 2023. Jimmy Gammon, Kirk Goehring, Leah Gronberg Hood, Raymond Judy, Douglas Martin, and Darin White. The 2023 Union Sports Hall of Fame Banquet will take place Friday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. on campus in the Carl Grant Events Center. 

The last chance to make reservations for this year's banquet will be Tuesday morning, April 18 by 10 a.m.. To register online, visit www.uuathletics.com/hofpay. For questions about reservations, contact Teresa Thomas at tthomas@uu.edu or 731-661-5325. 

Visit the Union Sports Hall of Fame webpage to view past inductees, see photos, watch replays of previous banquets, get the live stream of this year's banquet, or nominate a deserving person. 

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Jimmy Gammon, '74, Baseball

Jimmy Gammon played baseball at Union from 1970-74 and served as team captain. He was considered by many as one of the best catchers in the country during his time at Union. He set the program record with a 19-game hitting streak. As a sophomore, he hit .325 with 55 hits, 37 runs, 12 doubles, and two home runs.

Gammon led Union to the NCAA Small College World Series in 1970 and 1972. His team also went to one NAIA National Tournament (1973).

In 1974 as a senior, Gammon was named the team's Most Valuable Player and was awarded the Fred DeLay Memorial Award for the most outstanding varsity athlete at Union. He also earned the Outstanding College Athletes of America Award from the organization based in Washington D.C. WJAK radio out of Jackson honored Gammon with the Super Sport Award for supreme individual effort in the world of sports further promoting the greater Jackson area.

Gammon was just as successful off the field at Union, being named Mr. Union, was an officer for ATO fraternity at Union, was voted a campus favorite, was elected junior class president, and president of the U-Club.

Gammon has continued to be active in sports in Jackson since his time at Union. He was a member of Jackson City Championship teams in softball, racquetball, basketball, and golf. He is a club champion at Hidden Valley Golf Club and has recorded 10 holes in one. He is an avid bass fisherman and remains a fan of Union sports. Gammon has won professional awards for his work in insurance. He is a member of Calvary Baptist Church.

Gammon and his wife, Judy, have been married for 44 years. They have one daughter, Rachel Gammon, and a granddaughter, Layla James Gammon.

Kirk Goehring, '97, Men's Basketball

Kirk Goehring played basketball at Union from 1995-97, earning All-American and all-conference honors. The former McDonald's All-American from Jackson North Side High School, scored 1,222 career points in just two seasons at Union, joining in the exclusive 1,000-point club.

Goehring scored 740 in 1997 putting him fifth all-time in the record books with points in a season. He helped the Bulldogs to 40 wins in two seasons, starting a streak of 17 straight winning seasons for the Bulldogs.

Goehring left Union with an undergraduate and masters degree, both in Business Administration. He earned a second graduate degree from Louisiana State University in banking.

Since leaving Union, Goehring has remained very active in the local community, a place he has called home since the age of three. He has served on several boards and committees including the Jackson Soccer Club, the Jackson Madison County Sports Hall of Fame, the Jackson Country Club, the Carl Perkins Center for Prevention of Child Abuse, the March of Dimes, and the American Heart Association Red Tie Society.

Professionally, he has been active within the Tennessee state banking community as the past Chairman and Trustee of the Southeastern Schools of Banking, served as the Chairman of Tennessee Bankers Association Annual Credit Conference in 2011.

Goehring has worked in banking for 26 years and is currently the Division President and Chief Credit Officer of West Tennessee Bank, a division of Decatur County Bank. He is also a member of the Jackson Madison County Sports Hall of Fame.

Goehring lives in Jackson with is wife, Jennifer, and their two daughters, Alyssa and Amelia. They are active members of Englewood Baptist Church. He has served on the church finance committee for four separate terms and as greeters for the past 23 years.

Leah Gronberg Hood, '04, Softball

Leah Gronberg Hood played softball at Union from 2001-2004, earning NAIA All-America honors all four seasons. She was named conference and region pitcher of the year, while also being named TranSouth All-Conference and all-region four times each. She earned NAIA Scholar Athlete twice. She was also a four-time National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) All-American and Academic All-American.

Hood appears in the Union University softball record book numerous times. Some of her records include No. 1 in career winning percentage (.920), No. 2 in career wins (102), career ERA (1.07), no-hitters in a season (6), No. 3 in innings pitched (804), appearances (129), starts (119), career no-hitters (8), and No. 4 in career strikeouts (758). At the end of her career in 2004, she was just the fourth player in NAIA history to win 100 career games.

During her career, Hood was a key contributor during Union softball's most successful era. In that four years from 2001-04, Union softball won four TranSouth Regular Season Titles, two TranSouth Tournament Titles, three NAIA Region Titles, three NCCAA National Championship Titles, and four trips to the NAIA National Tournament. Union's best ever NAIA finish was a third place finish in 2001. That season, Hood was 29-3 with a 0.94 ERA, helping Union to a school record 63 wins.

Hood earned Union's Fred DeLay Award, the top award given to a graduating athlete. She was also recognized as the Jackson Madison County Hall of Fame Female Athlete of the Year from Union in 2004.

Hood and her husband Zeb have been married for 17 years. The couple has four boys, Kai 16, Jax 14, Kier 10, and Jude 8. She has been teaching and coaching softball at her high school alma mater, A&M Consolidated, for the last three years. Outside of working, she enjoys chasing her boys around and watching them play their various sports.

Raymond Judy, '43, Men's Basketball/Football

Raymond Judy played basketball at Union two years before a medical condition ended his playing career. He returned to Union and graduated in 1943. Judy led the team in scoring with 18 points per game and was one of the leading scorers in the SIAA league.

In 1938, he chose a basketball career at Union, turning down a playing contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. While at Union, he earned the nickname "Sparkplug" for his scoring and ball handling abilities. Mid-season in 1942, Judy had to resign from playing basketball due to his health.

Judy was president of the senior class at Union, U Club, and was homecoming king.

Before coming to Union, Judy had a distinguished career at Dyer County High School in West Tennessee. After his playing career and graduation from Union, he coached at Byers Hall High School in Covington, Tennessee and then Central High School in Savannah, Tennessee. Judy then moved to Orlando, Florida where the taught at Howard Junior High School  for five years before transitioning to Oak Ridge High school where he worked for 22 years, including 16 years at Director of Athletics. He retired in 1985 after 35 years of teaching, coaching, and administration.

Judy had many honors over his career including having the Oak Ridge High School baseball field named in his honor. He received the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Award, was a charter member of the Metro Conference Hall of Fame, is in the Gibson County (TN) Hall of Fame, and the Oak Ridge High School (FL) Hall of Fame.

Judy passed away in June of 2009. He was married to Martha Hill Judy (Union class of '46). Judy was very proud of his two sons, Buster and Bill, and grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Douglas Martin, '07, Men's Cross Country

Douglas Martin ran cross country at Union 2004-07 and is one of only two All-Americans in program history.

Martin was a four-time TranSouth First Team All-Conference runner. He was named first team all-region in 2006 and 2007, while being named second team all-region in 2004 and 2005.

Two of Martin's times still rank in the top 20 all-time, including the ninth-best 8K time in program history.

In 2007 as a senior, Martin finish 23rd in the NAIA National Championships Race, earning him All-America honors. He also qualified for the 2006 NAIA National Championships.

Martin was named an NAIA Scholar Athlete all three years that he was nominated for the award.

After graduating from Union, he spent the first two years teaching at Gibson County High School. He then spent the next nine years teaching at South Gibson County High School. He coached cross country for nine years at South Gibson and added track and field coach the final four years at SGCHS. In 2018, he moved to Maryville Tennessee where he currently teaches Spanish and coaches cross country.

Martin and his wife, Mary Beth (Union class of 2004) have been married for 15 years. The couple has two children, Ethan and Hannah. He is an active member at Church of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He enjoys running, mountain biking, hiking, camping, and anything with his family.

Darin White, Men's Soccer Coach

Darin White coached men's soccer at Union University from 1998-2005, the first varsity coach in program history. He started Union's club program in 1994-95 before becoming a varsity sport in 1998.

White led the Bulldogs to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Title in 2003, had five NCCAA region titles, and led Union to its first-ever NAIA region tournament appearance in 2004 and a trip to the title game in 2005.

White's career college coaching record was 94-64-9. His teams were nationally ranked in the top 20 of the NAIA six times in eight years, and finished as TranSouth Conference runner-up three times. White's last game at Union in 2005 was a double overtime road loss to the eventual NAIA national champion in the NAIA Region XI championship game. That same year he was named NAIA South Region Coach of the Year.

White stepped away from coaching college soccer to focus on his seven children's soccer teams. In 2006 he became the founding Director of Coaching for the Tennessee Rush Soccer Club (aka Lobos Rush) in Memphis. In the years that followed, His teams advanced to the state championship finals 13 times in 15 years, winning nine titles. He advanced to regionals five times, and the U.S. Youth Soccer President's Cup 3 times.

One of the greatest joys of White's coaching career was the opportunity to coach with his father, Russell White (aka Coach Dad). The two of them coached together for almost two decades spanning both college and club teams.

White is currently a Margaret Gage Bush Distinguished Professor and Executive Director of Samford University's Center for Sports Analytics. After earning a Ph.D. in Marketing Strategy at the University of Alabama, he began his career at Union in 1994 as an assistant professor in the McAfee School of Business. After his college coaching career, he assumed the role of Director of Research for the McAfee School of Business to assist in its quest to achieve AACSB accreditation.

In his spare time, White enjoys traveling to Europe with his family to attend soccer matches, reading about Ancient Near East history, and teaching Biblical Theology classes at his home church in Birmingham, Church at Brook Hills. He and his wife, Laura, have seven children, two "bonus kids" by marriage, and four grandchildren. They live in Vestavia Hills, Alabama within a mile of where he grew up.

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