Jack Bauerle A native of Glenside, Pennsylvania, Jack Bauerle attended La Salle College High School before enrolling at the University of Georgia. A competitive swimmer in high school, Bauerle set numerous records as a four-year letterman on the Bulldogs swim team from 1971 to 1974. After graduating, Bauerle served as an assistant coach for the University of Georgia’s swimming and diving team before being named the head coach of the women’s team in 1979 and the head coach of the men’s team in 1983. Since taking over both programs, Bauerle has guided the Lady Bulldogs to four National Team Championships and nine Southeastern Conference titles, while leading the men’s team to nine Individual National Championships and five Southeastern Conference titles. A five-time NCAA National Coach of the Year, Bauerle also coached the U.S. women’s swim team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and led Team USA to a record fourteen medals. Still the current men’s and women’s swimming and diving head coach at the University of Georgia, Bauerle is the winningest women’s swim coach in NCAA history, as well as the winningest head coach for both women and men in SEC history.

Sally Smalley Bell Growing up in Dublin, Georgia, Sally Smalley Bell always had a passion for basketball and began playing the sport in the fifth grade. A member of the Dublin High School girls’ basketball team, Smalley Bell enrolled at the University of Georgia where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education. After graduating from Georgia, Smalley Bell became the Habersham County Recreation Department director and gained her first experience as a basketball official when she was called upon to referee a pee-wee league basketball game. Encouraged by the experience, Smalley Bell joined the Georgia Mountain Officials Association – the first woman to do so – and began officiating high school basketball games in 1975. After several years of refereeing both boys and girls high school basketball games, Smalley Bell started officiating collegiate basketball games for the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association), and, beginning in 1981, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). Since then, Smalley Bell has worked fifteen Women’s Final Four tournaments, dozens of international events including the 1996 Olympics, and numerous professional WNBA games. A recipient of the 1991 Naismith Award as the Women’s Basketball official of the year, Smalley Bell is currently the Coordinator of Women’s Basketball Officials for the Sun Belt Conference and the Ohio Valley Conference.

Bob Boylston Born in Atlanta, Bob Boylston grew up playing many sports and excelled at football, basketball, and baseball at Druid Hills High School. After quarterbacking the Red Devils to the 1956 state championship game, Boylston accepted an athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Alabama. As a lineman under Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, Boylston was named a co-captain in his senior year and helped the Crimson Tide to an appearance in the 1960 Bluebonnet Bowl. After serving in the Army from 1962 to 1964, Boylston began his officiating career as a high school football referee with the Georgia Football Officials Association (GFOA). A decade later, Boylston began umpiring football games for the Southeastern Conference and, over the next twelve years, worked over one hundred collegiate games (including seven bowl games and the 1977 National Championship game). In 1978, Boylston became an NFL referee and officiated over four hundred regular season games, twenty-one playoff games, a then-record nine Championships Games, and two Super Bowls. After an on-field injury forced him to leave his umpiring position in 1998, Boylston became an NFL instant replay official and has since overseen another two hundred football games. A former President of the Professional Football Referees Association (PFRA), Boylston was awarded the 1991 George Gardner Award by the Atlanta Touchdown Club for his outstanding work as a football official.

Tracy Ham Tracy Ham was born in Gainesville, Florida, and began playing football at nearby Santa Fe High School as a wide receiver and defensive back. At the urging of Santa Fe’s head coach Warren Buck, Ham switched to playing quarterback and quickly excelled at his new position. Despite being recruited by major colleges to play defensive back, Ham decided instead to play quarterback at the next level and enrolled at Georgia Southern College (now Georgia Southern University) in Statesboro, Georgia. In four years at Georgia Southern, Ham led the Eagles to back-to-back Division I-AA National Championships (1985, 1986) and became the first collegiate player to rush for over 3,000 yards and pass for over 5,000 yards in a career. After being named an All-American in his senior year, Ham was drafted by the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams but opted instead to play quarterback for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. In 1989, Ham became the first CFL quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season and was presented with the league’s Most Outstanding Player award. After one year with the Toronto Argonauts, Ham signed with the Baltimore Stallions and led the team to a win in the 1995 Grey Cup. In thirteen seasons in the CFL, Ham amassed 40,534 passing yards, 8,043 rushing yards, and a combined total 284 touchdowns. One of the most prolific rushing quarterbacks to ever play the game, Ham was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

Cliff C. Kimsey, Jr. Cliff C. Kimsey, Jr. was born and raised in Cornelia, Georgia. An all-around outstanding athlete, Kimsey was a three-year football and baseball letterman at Cornelia High School. At fullback for the football team, Kimsey led the Yellow Jackets to an undefeated season in 1936 and was named captain of the team the following season. In his senior year, Kimsey was selected to play in the first Georgia High School Association All-Star Game where he scored a touchdown and helped the North team beat the South team, 25-6. After graduating, Kimsey brought his athletic talents to the University of Georgia where he continued to play both football and baseball. A three-year punter, linebacker, and versatile running back for Coach Wallace Butts, Kimsey moved to blocking back in his senior year and created holes for Heisman trophy-winning teammate Frank Sinkwich. Named All-Conference in 1941, Kimsey’s blocking skills led the Bulldogs that season to an 8-1-1 record and a 40-26 victory over TCU in the Orange Bowl (where Kimsey caught a 60-yard touchdown pass). That spring, Kimsey hit .345 and went 4-0 as a pitcher for the Bulldogs baseball team, earning him the University of Georgia’s Outstanding Senior Athlete Award. An Army officer in the Pacific during World War II, Kimsey returned to Georgia in 1946, and, as head football coach at Cedartown High School, guided the Bulldogs to a record of 7-2-1.

John Andrew Smoltz A native of Warren, Michigan, John Smoltz was an All-State baseball and basketball player at Lansing’s Waverly High School. While a pitcher on the Michigan State University baseball team, Smoltz was chosen by the Detroit Tigers in the twenty-second round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft. After pitching in the minor leagues, Smoltz was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 1987. The following year, Smoltz made his major league debut as a starting pitcher with the Braves and earned his first of eight All-Star appearances in 1989. In 1992, Smoltz led the league in total strikeouts with 215 and was named that season’s National League Championship Series MVP. A key figure in the Braves World Series win in 1995, Smoltz continued to dominate on the mound, winning the National League Cy Young Award in 1996. Following Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow, Smoltz switched to being a closer and led the National League with fifty-five saves in 2002. After brief stints with the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, Smoltz retired in 2009 with a career record of 213-155 (.579), a 3.33 ERA, and 154 saves.