First Posted: 8/15/2012

LUMBERTON — A legendary drag racer, a college football referee and a congressman are among the newest members of the Robeson County Sports Hall of Fame.

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, David Lewis, Bessie Landis, Gary Lockee, Jeff Taylor, SheenaWest and John Armstrong will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a date to be announced.

Hall of Fame chairman Abdul Ghaffar said the selection process was difficult.

“Robeson County has so many legendary athletes, the process actually gets more difficult every year,” he said. “I think we have a broadly representative group in this class. There is a runner, football referee, two basketball players, drag racer and a bird dogtrainer. They are from all corners of our county.”

John W. Armstrong is one of America’s top college football officials. Originally from Charlotte, he claims Fairmont as his “home community” because he lived there most of his adult life. Beginning as a high school official in 1965, he worked six state championship games. Armstrong began college officiating in 1973 in the South Atlantic Conference and began working in the Athletic Coast Conference in 1989. He has worked the Alamo, Rose and Texas bowls and the Army-Navy Classic twice. He currently serves as an observer and replay official for the ACC.

Sheena West Gatehouse played high school basketball at Littlefield High School where she led her team (21-4) to the sectionals and was a North Carolina Scholar. West is believed to be the first, Robeson County woman to play Division I basketball. A four-year starter for UNC Asheville, she remains on their record books for career rebounds. While she was at UNCA, the program upgraded to Division I, and West competed against Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky. Beginning as a paralegal, West attended law school and embarked on a distinguished career that including a stint with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg District Attorney’s office. She is in private practice today and runs marathons.

Bessie McDonald Landis is a member of the Fayetteville State University Athletic Hall of Fame. She is a Parkton native and graduate of Oakridge High School in 1948. Landis got her start on dirt court with a homemade basket. She took her athletic talent and a desire for a better life to Fayetteville State Teachers College. She is a member of FSU’s athletic hall of fame.

David Lewis was a three-time all-American runner and member of UNC Pembroke’s only national championship team in 1978 in cross country. He was a standout performer for St. Pauls High School and is a member of UNCP’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Garrett (Gary) Ertle Lockee helped found the National Bird Dog Museum and the Bird Dog Hall of Fame in Grand Junction, Tenn. He is one of the nation’s leading experts in bird dog training and hunting, having honed his skills in the woods and fields near his childhood off Union Chapel Road near Pembroke. Lockee ran track for the University of South Carolina in 1941-42, before beginning on a 30-year career as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Remarkably, he also served as a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the early 1950s.

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre coached youth sports for many years and always with a purpose – good, clean Christian competition. Three of his baseball teams were All-American Drug-Free teams based on character development and drug-free education. The founder and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports, Rep. McIntyre’s love of sports has remained strong. In 2006, the National Recreation and Park Association honored him with the National Congressional Award for leadership in promoting youth sports and recreation across America. That is one of many awards he has received for his continuing support of youth sports. Recently, Rep. McIntyre earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Jeff Taylor is a national legend in Stock, Super Stock, Super Comp, Com and Pro Stock drag racing. One of the most versatile drag racers in America, he is four-time National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national champion with 38 wins. He was born into a racing family in Lumberton and continues to build cars and compete.