By CHUCK LARSEN
Sports Editor
Three former Fightin’ Chicks will be inducted into the Chickasha High School Athletic Hall of Fame during the Shawnee basketball game at the Activity Center on Thursday, Feb. 11.
Don Booher, a great baseball player in the 1950’s, Judy Hart Nelson, an outstanding track and cross country athlete in the late 70’s, and Tim Thomas, the 1986 Gatorade Track Athlete of the Year for Oklahoma, will be honored in ceremonies at halftime of the boys’ game.
The Chicks and Lady Chicks will play Shawnee Feb. 11 i a Suburban Conference game.
DONALD LEE BOOHER
Donald Lee Booher, Class of 1952, was an All-State baseball player and a running back and punter on the football team.
He played on the 1951-52 conference championship football team and finished his senior year with a 50-yard punting average and a school record for a 71-yard punt that still stands today. He finished his senior year in baseball with a batting average over .500, earning him All-State honors.
After graduating, Don won two state championships with the Duncan American Legion baseball team and one with the Oklahoma City Jefferies Truckers semi-pro team.
He enrolled at Oklahoma A&M; (now Oklahoma State University) in 1953 and walked on to the baseball team as a freshman. He was awarded a full scholarship for his sophomore season and the team qualified for the College World Series.
The 1955 Aggies went undefeated and Don led them in hitting with a .387 batting average. They made another trip to the College World Series and set a tournament record for stolen bases with 15, which also still stands today. Don had three of them.
Professional scouts called the Aggies “the best team they ever scouted,” as eleven players were signed to professional contracts.
Don gave up baseball after graduating from college with a business degree and went into sales, where he was very successful. He found his niche in apparel and worked his way up to a national sales manager position for eight years before retiring.
Don married his high school sweetheart, Nell Perrin, after high school graduation and the couple later built OK Skateland. They sold the business in 1989 and relocated to Tulsa, where they still live and own and operate Tulsa Self Storage.
JUDY HART
NELSON
Judy Hart Nelson, Class of 1981, was an outstanding student and an outstanding track and cross-country runner in high school. She ran all four years, earning honors every year.
In the fall of her freshman year, Judy earned All-State honors in cross-country with a seventh-place finish at the state meet.
In the spring track season, she won the conference championship and the state championship in the mile, setting a state record, and placed fifth in the 880. She also placed second in the mile at the Meet of Champions as a freshman.
Judy finished fifth at the cross-country state meet in her sophomore year, earning her another All-State award, but missed the spring track season due to an injury.
She won her third cross country All-State award with a third place finish at state in her junior year and also placed third at the OKC Winter Indoor Track Meet in the mile. In the spring, she won her second state championship in the mile.
Judy wrapped up her running career with a second place finish at the state meet in her senior year.
Besides her running, Judy also played basketball and was a member of the National Honor Society, FFA, the Pep Club and the Latin Club.
Judy graduated from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in 1985 Suma Cum Laude with a degree in accounting. She worked for a highway construction company until 1989, when she started her own business, Chickasha Industrial Welding and Supply, Inc., which is now celebrating its 20th year of operation. Judy married Don Nelson in 2000 and the couple has a son, Hugh Hart Nelson.
TIM THOMAS
Tim Thomas, Class of 1986, lettered in football but made his mark in track.
Tim won five state championships while at Chickasha, one each in the 100 meter dash, the 400 meter run, as a member of the 4x100 relay team and two individually in the 200 meter run. He held a state record in the 100 meters and still holds state meet records in the 200 and 400 meter runs. In his senior year, Tim was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for track and field and was also a National High School All-American.
After graduating, Tim ran for two years at Eastern Oklahoma Junior College in Wilburton and finished out his collegiate career at Oklahoma State University.
While at Wilburton, he was a National Junior College All-American runner-up in the 300 and qualified in both the 100 and the 200 meters at the USA Junior World Championship Trials.
Tim hit his stride at Oklahoma State in his junior and senior years. He was a member of the Big 8 champion 4x100 relay team and was a runner-up in the 200 at the Big 8 Championships. He holds the OSU indoor record in the 400 and was also a USA Indoor Track Championship qualifier in that event.
Tim won the Kay Barrett Doke Award, was an OSU All-American and was named the OSU Male Athlete of the Year in his senior season. He qualified for the NCAA national meet and also qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 400.
After college, Tim returned home to Chickasha to teach at the middle school and was an assistant football coach under Tim Reynolds and an assistant track coach under Gary Sampson.
Two years later, he moved on to the Moore school system, where he spent five years as head coach for the junior high track and football teams at Brinks and Highland West and assisted in both sports at Moore and Westmoore.
Tim is currently in his second year as the head football coach and the boys’ track coach at Northeast Academy in Oklahoma City.
