Floyd County High School Hall of Fame inducts 2026 class

Five community members were inducted into the Floyd County High School Hall of Fame ahead of Friday’s 2026 Homecoming game. The ceremony was hosted by the Hall of Fame Committee at the Collaboration and Career Development Center. 

Individuals were presented for induction, and members of the first FCHS girls basketball team to play in Virginia High School League (VHSL) competition were recognized. Among the 80 or so guests in attendance were former coaches, members of teams coached, family members, and friends of the inductees.

Dirk Davis was presented for induction by his wife, Jennifer Davis, who is a retired Floyd Elementary teacher. Dirk began coaching junior varsity in 2011 and became varsity golf coach in 2020. The golf team won six district titles in six years and five regional titles in that time span. The teams won VHSL state titles in 2020, 2021, and 2022 (the school's first three-peat in any sport). Then, after being state runner-up in 2023, they won the state title again in 2024. Dirk was named regional Coach of the Year in 2020, '21, '22, '24 and '25, and was state Coach of the Year in 2020, '21, '22, and '24. He was recognized as Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame Coach of the Year in 2021, '22, and '24 as well as All-Timesland Coach of the Year in 2025.

Sonya Hylton Peyton and Laura Pratt Cantrell were presented by their FCHS softball coach, Wes Starkey, a former Hall of Fame inductee. Both are 1997 graduates who were outstanding team leaders during four years on the VHSL softball team. Sonya was three times All-District and All-Region, twice All-Timesland, and was first-team All-State her senior year. Laura was named All-District three times, twice All-Region, first-team All-State her senior year, and was an All-Star participant for the West squad her senior year.

Dawn Weeks was presented by her husband, Robert Weeks, a former Hall of Fame inductee. Dawn was recognized for her outstanding contributions as a coach of the cross-country and track teams. The boys and girls cross country teams that she coached won multiple district and regional championships, two state runner-up titles, and one state championship. In 2003, Dawn was named Coach of the Year for Three Rivers District and Region C; in addition, she was named girls cross-country All-Timesland Coach of the Year. In 2012, she was named boys cross-country Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Mike Sizemore was posthumously inducted by Hall of Fame Committee member Micky Hatcher. Mike had played two years of college football at Concord College before serving three tours in Vietnam where he received battlefield injuries — ending his own participation in sports. After coming to Floyd in the 1970s, Mike was a valuable supporter of FCHS sports. In his "Under My Hat" column in The Floyd Press, he gave in-depth coverage to all FCHS sports.

In 1973-1974, the first girls basketball team was coached by Sandy Mills, the first female coach at FCHS. That inaugural team was made up of five seniors, five juniors, two sophomores, and two freshmen. Prior to 1973, there were no youth teams in Floyd for girls, so all were learning to play VHSL team sports as high schoolers. Not having uniforms, they played in their gym shorts and t-shirts while wearing numbered pinnies. Micky Hatcher shared the names of all inaugural team members. In attendance at the ceremony and representing the team were Annette Wimmer, Julie Purdue, Anita Grim, Cheryl Austin, Cathy Moran, and Janet Agee who shared their pride in being part of the first team. Micky further shared that at least 100 girls had tried out, proving after the 1972 passage of Title IX that there was great interest in girls' sports in Floyd.

The 15 members of the first Floyd County High School Hall of Fame class were inducted in 2018; since then, 52 others have joined them. The 2026 class brings the total to 72 inductees to be honored with plaques on the Hall of Fame wall in the new gym. Inductees are primarily from one (or more) of three categories: (1) outstanding FCHS graduates who distinguished themselves while competitors on Virginia High School League teams in sports or forensics, (2) coaches of those teams, and (3) community supporters of FCHS programs.

All candidates are nominated (and nomination forms may be found in the Athletics/Hall of Fame section of the FCHS website (Athletics - Floyd County High School) and in the FCHS Administrative Office. Key criteria in the bylaws require that (1) future Hall of Fame classes will be comprised of up to five inductees; (2) 10 years must have passed since graduation for candidates to be eligible for nomination; (3) coaches must be retired; and (4) nominees' contributions must be recognized as outstanding.

The induction ceremony was held to coincide with Homecoming as another way to honor the inductees and to make more people aware of the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame Committee presented the new inductees for recognition at 6:45 p.m. on Coach Beale Field just before the beginning of the game.

Writer Janet Keith is a member of the Floyd county High School Hall of Fame Committee, and she is a member of Floyd Times' Board of Directors.