CHS Athletic Hall of Fame

It is with great sadness that the CHS Athletic Hall of Fame shares the news of the passing of a beloved coach, friend, and mentor, Paul Wellborn. A life long supporter of Concord sports, Coach Wellborn was a familiar face at our Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. He recently enjoyed being surrounded by his soccer players when they were inducted into the CHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2024. He enjoyed the reunion of players that came from all around the country and Chile, spoke with current Concord soccer players at length, and was one of the last to leave the event as he told me he was just so, so happy. Thank you, Coach. You will be missed-a true Concord legend.

Obituary for Paul H. Wellborn | Doherty Funeral Homes, Inc. Celebrate the life of Paul Wellborn and join others in sharing memories, stories, and condolences.

ATTENTION‼️ ATTENTION ‼️

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN for the Concord Athletic Hall of Fame class of 2026 through May 1, 2026!!

While we continue to grow our database, we rely heavily on nominations from our community to help identify outstanding candidates from the past 50 years of Concord athletics. Many of our inductees were brought to our attention by fellow teammates or coaches, and we are grateful to those who took the time to share their stories. Once nominated, candidates remain under consideration in future years. We will be accepting nominations until May 1st, so start gathering all the information on your favorite athlete, coach, team/relay, or community member now!

TO NOMINATE:

STEP 1️⃣: Review our nomination criteria, which can be found here, to ensure your candidate is eligible: https://tinyurl.com/HOFCriteria

STEP 2️⃣: Gather factual and statistical information about your nominee. Start this step early - we know it can take a while! Remember that the more relevant info you include, the better. We will not seek additional info about the candidate if you just submit a name or limited/vague information.

STEP 3️⃣: Fill out the appropriate link for your candidate's nomination, including all relevant information that the committee would need when making decisions:
🏃 Individual Athlete: https://tinyurl.com/HOFAthlete26
👭 Team/Relay: https://tinyurl.com/HOFTeamRelay26
🗣 Coach: https://tinyurl.com/HOFCoach26
👏 Community Member: https://tinyurl.com/HOFCommunity26

2025 CHS Athletic Hall of Fame-thank you to BSD's Mick Austin for always capturing the emotion of the day.

Sneak peek at today’s Induction Ceremony. Today was our largest crowd yet, bringing together an emotional and joyful reunion of Raiders. Thank you to all our sponsors, our speakers, our guests who took great lengths to show up for the people who shaped them when they were athletes. Congratulations! Always a Raider ❤️

🌟 2025 INDUCTEE SPOTLIGHT - 1975 & 1976 GIRLS' SWIM TEAMS 🌟

The 1974-75 and 1975-76 girls’ swim teams were the first State Champions for Concord girls sports and second team in Concord history to win two consecutive championships. The girls’ swim team was coached by Mrs. Carol Wood and assistant Mr. Tom Fagley.
Coach Wood started the girls swim program in 1970. The following years, as the conference expanded, Concord won multiple Conference Championships, but winning a State Championship was not yet a possibility for girls’ teams. The first year the girls were allowed in the State meet was 1975. Concord had many outstanding swimmers, led by Sandra Kupchick who led the team all three years she was at Concord. This was her senior year, and under her leadership, the team was thriving, but a strategic sacrifice on Sandy’s part was necessary to boost the team’s score and win the State meet. Sandy selflessly agreed to leave the 200 Medley Relay’s certain first place finish to swim in the 400 Free Relay and help score points in that event to boost the team’s point count to win the meet. The move worked, with the relay coming in third, and Concord’s first female State Championship was solidified!
The team was dominant again in the 1975-1976 season, winning the conference again with a 9-0 record, 10-1 overall with a loss to Nether Providence in Pennsylvania. Their closest meet was against rival Brandywine High School, a battle for points that repeated itself in the final meet of the season. This year Coach Wood was pregnant, and her due date was around the State meet. Sure enough, she went into labor the morning of the meet, and assistant coach Mr. Fagley had to take over. In spite of, and perhaps because of, Coach Wood’s absence, the girls reached a deeper level of motivation and swam & dove extremely well, scoring points in every event. However, after the morning trials, Concord was behind Brandywine in points. The 400 Free Relay was seeded fourth, but they would need to finish in first to get the points needed to win the meet. They rose to the challenge. The relay swam so well that night that one of the officials asked if the team swam a different four swimmers from the card of eight listed. They had not — they all just dropped an unbelievable amount of time to get the win and set a state record. Concord won the State Championship!

Thank you to the Widdoes family and their generous support of our Athletic Hall of Fame event that takes place this Saturday, October 18. If you know you've been putting off repaving your driveway, patio, or walkway, give them a call and tell them the Concord Athletic Hall of Fame said thanks! 😀 https://www.rswiddoes.com/

Thank you to RAWLAW for generously supporting the Athletic Hall of Fame from the start. Your sponsorship has made this exciting reunion of athletes, coaches, and alumni possible and many, many families thank you.

If you are looking for representation you can trust, contact RAWLAW.
https://rawlaw.com/