Fannin County Sports Hall Of Fame Class of 2024

Sherry Thacker: Disc throwing State Champion

  • Sherry Callihan Thacker played basketball at Mineral Bluff and moved on to East Fannin High School in the autumn of 1971.
    Sherry Callihan Thacker played basketball at Mineral Bluff and moved on to East Fannin High School in the autumn of 1971.
  • Sherry Thacker won the event at the Region 8B track and field meet held in May of her senior year of 1975.
    Sherry Thacker won the event at the Region 8B track and field meet held in May of her senior year of 1975.
  • Coach Buzz Quintrell and Sherry Thacker were new to disc throwing but both studied the finer points of how to throw the discus to complement Sherry’s natural ability.
    Coach Buzz Quintrell and Sherry Thacker were new to disc throwing but both studied the finer points of how to throw the discus to complement Sherry’s natural ability.
  • Sherry was a member of the East Fannin 1975 track and field team. She won the 1975 Georgia state Class B championship in the discuss throw with a record heave of 96 feet, 10 inches.
    Sherry was a member of the East Fannin 1975 track and field team. She won the 1975 Georgia state Class B championship in the discuss throw with a record heave of 96 feet, 10 inches.
  • Rick and Sherry Thacker have three grown children and, to date, six grandchildren. Shown are, left, front, Banks Thacker, Beckett Laggis, Everett Stover and Georgia Grace Stover; sitting on the grass, Korey Laggis; back row, Berkeley Thacker, Carrie Thacker, Brandon Thacker, Chris Laggis, Whitney Laggis, Jonathan Stover, Lauren Stover, Rick Thacker and Sherry Thacker.
    Rick and Sherry Thacker have three grown children and, to date, six grandchildren. Shown are, left, front, Banks Thacker, Beckett Laggis, Everett Stover and Georgia Grace Stover; sitting on the grass, Korey Laggis; back row, Berkeley Thacker, Carrie Thacker, Brandon Thacker, Chris Laggis, Whitney Laggis, Jonathan Stover, Lauren Stover, Rick Thacker and Sherry Thacker.
  • Rick and Sherry Thacker spend most of their time involved in the activities of their grandchildren however they also enjoy skeet shooting when time permits. Sherry Thacker is shown skeet shooting.
    Rick and Sherry Thacker spend most of their time involved in the activities of their grandchildren however they also enjoy skeet shooting when time permits. Sherry Thacker is shown skeet shooting.

    By Mike Harper

    Special to The News Observer

    Scholar-athletes from Fannin County High Schools began competing with their counterparts from other schools in the early 1920s. The local high schools at Blue Ridge, Epworth, McCaysville and Morganton had relatively small enrollments usually under 200 students so competition with neighboring schools was generally limited to the game of basketball. In the fall of 1955, the powers-that-be in Georgia education circles implemented a state-wide consolidation program that resulted in the establishment of two high schools in Fannin County, East Fannin High School in Morganton and West Fannin High School located adjacent to Highway 5 roughly equidistant between McCaysville and Blue Ridge. The consolidation resulted in larger enrollments at the high school levels that permitted local schools to compete in other sports such as football, baseball and track and field. East Fannin and West Fannin High Schools were in operation from the fall of 1955 until another consolidation found the two institutions merged into the current Fannin County High School in the autumn of 1976.

    Throughout this 50-year period, many young men and women competed in athletics but only one young lady, Sherry Callihan Thacker at East Fannin, was able to attain the title of STATE CHAMPION. The young ladies at the old Fannin County High School at Morganton came close in 1945 and again in 1946 when they finished their seasons at state basketball runners-up but they were unable to capture the big prize labeled ‘State Champions’. Sherry Thacker’s singular accomplishment has resulted in her election to the 2024 induction class of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame.

    Sherry Thacker grew up in Blue Ridge. She briefly attended elementary school there but transferred to Mineral Bluff where her mother was employed at a sewing factory. She played basketball at Mineral Bluff and moved on to East Fannin High School in the autumn of 1971.  She took a hiatus from athletics during her first two high school years but joined the basketball and track and field teams as a junior. She was a starter for the Wildkittens hoop squads for two seasons.

    Sherry tried her hand at several track and field disciplines and found that she had a natural talent for throwing the discus. The event was new to her and Coach Buzz Quintrell but both studied the finer points of how to throw the discus to complement Sherry’s natural ability. She progressed and won the event at the Region 8B track and field meet held at Union County High School in Blairsville in May of her senior year of 1975. The region victory permitted her to advance to the state Class B state meet in Atlanta.

    Sherry won the 1975 Georgia state Class B championship in the discuss throw with a record heave of 96 feet, 10 inches. This performance shattered the previous record in the event by more than five feet. AND the throw etched the name of Sherry Callihan Thacker in the sports record books of Fannin County forever. She stands alone as the only athlete in the county, boy or girl, to win a state championship in any athletic endeavor before the school consolidation of 1976.

    After graduating from East Fannin, Sherry studied Business at North Georgia College. She met her husband Rick in Blue Ridge where she worked after college. Rick traveled a good deal around the South establishing offices for his employer, a commercial construction company. After their marriage, Rick and Sherry called a variety of cities home, such as  Atlanta, Orlando, Jacksonville and Nashville before settling in Griffin, Georgia. They have three grown children and, to date, six grandchildren. They spend most of their time involved in the activities of their grandchildren and also enjoy skeet shooting when time permits.