By Jon Mark Beilue
Three former athletes and coaches – all from the Amarillo ISD — are set for installation on June 8 in the 67 th Annual Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame ceremonies.
One of the most successful wrestling coaches in Texas history who had to overcome his deafness as first an athlete and then as a coach of multiple sports, and the highest career scorers in both girls and boys in the Amarillo ISD who went
on to similar paths in the Big 12 comprise the class.
Scott Tankersley, Natalie Ritchie-Roberts and Austin Johnson propel the elite number of inductions to 210 in the 2025 HOF class. They will be honored, along with coaches and athletes of the year from 2024-2025 in 11 sports, and five special award winners, at 2 p.m. June 8 at the Amarillo Civic Center’s Grand Plaza. There is no admission charge and a free catered reception is scheduled before and following the ceremonies.
SCOTT TANKERSLEY (No. 208)
After he was diagnosed as deaf following a trip to an Oklahoma lake at age three, Scott Tankersley showed uncommon courage and a lifetime of determination to forge a career as first an athlete and later one of the most successful wrestling coaches in Texas history.
His parents, Earl and Shirley Tankersley, were determined not to shield their son and provide him opportunities others had including mainstream academic classes, and sports at the Maverick Club and Kids, Inc.
Despite hearing-impaired, Tankersley was a two-year starter for the Caprock football and baseball teams. As a linebacker, he had a knack during timeouts for reading the lips of opposing coaches on the sidelines. At Austin Junior High, a teacher assigned the class a written topic on what career her students wanted to pursue. Tankersley said he wanted to be a coach. The teacher said he could never do that because of his profound deafness.
Tankersley responded with the words: I WILL BE A COACH. Was that ever true. It took some extra convincing during some job interviews and some extra faith from administrators, but once Tankersley got his foot in the door, it never shut. He had a gift of communication despite his deafness, and a knack for instilling confidence in his athletes to achieve more than they originally believed.
From 1989 to 1997, at first West Texas Christian and later when the school merged with San Jacinto Christian, his girls basketball team won the 1994 TCAL state title, and boys were twice state runner-up while at WT Christian. In 1995, he
won state in both boys basketball and baseball at San Jacinto.
Tankersley was given the chance to coach girls wrestling at his alma mater, Caprock. He immersed himself in the sport that was mostly new to him, and soon the Lady Longhorns won an unprecedented seven UIL state titles – six in a row –
from 1998-2009. Caprock was three-time dual state champion and had a dual record of 144-2.
A UIL girls wrestling coach of the year, Tankersley coached 21 state champions. At Bushland High School from 2009-2022, Tankersley coached six different sports. His wrestlers won five district titles. His last two years of coaching, he guided the Bushland softball team to a 62-15 record. Tankersley retired from coaching to become pastor of the Amarillo Deaf Church. He and wife Angie, also deaf, have three adult children – Trent, Tori and Tiara.
NATALIE RITCHIE-ROBERTS (No. 209)
Natalie Ritchie’s impact on basketball in the Texas Panhandle began at an early age. She played for Tim Ritchie, her father, in AAU basketball, specifically for the West Texas Flyers. Ritchie was among the top girls in the Panhandle and South Plains who competed for multi-national titles.
After national runners-up in their age group twice, the West Texas Flyers won three consecutive national championships in the 1990s. The Flyers three times defeated a California team led by Diana Taurasi, later two-time college player of the year at UConn and 10-time WNBA All-Star. At Amarillo High, the 5-foot-9 Ritchie started as a freshman for the traditionally strong program. Initially a post, Ritchie moved outside where she established herself as perhaps the top long-distance scoring threat in Amarillo ISD history.
At the urging of her father, Ritchie’s scoring often behind the 3-point line was a jumper, and not a traditional set shot. Marsha Sharp, her coach at Texas Tech, called Ritchie “the best shooting guard in the nation” when she signed with the
Lady Raiders in 1999. Ritchie was the first player in Amarillo history to score more than 2,000 points in
her career.
She finished her career with more than 2,800 points, more than any player, boy or girl, in AISD history. As a junior, she averaged 25.6 points and 5.5 rebounds. She began to battle knee injuries after that but still averaged 22.2 points as a senior. As a sophomore, Ritchie was named second-team 5A all-state by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, and named first-team all-state by the Texas Girls Coaches Association both her junior and senior years.
Ritchie was recruited heavily with final schools of Duke, Stanford, Texas and Texas Tech before picking the Lady Raiders. She played 123 games for Tech from 2000-2004, a time in which Tech was 99-33, went to the Elite Eight once and Sweet Sixteen twice. Ritchie battled a concussion and knee problems, but still scored 1,005 points and was in double figures in 48 games.
Her 189 three-pointers are fourth all-time, and her eight three-pointers against Oklahoma State were at the time a school record. Active off the court as well, Ritchie was honored for her work with others with the Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year Award. Ritchie and husband Dustin Roberts have three children – Ritchie, 14, Rachel, 12, and Ruby 9. She is executive vaccine sales representative for Merck, a pharmaceutical company she has worked for 20 years.
AUSTIN JOHNSON (No. 210)
Two years after Natalie Ritchie left Amarillo High, the next great scorer emerged from the Amarillo ISD – this one from the north side. Austin Johnson was a fixture at Palo Duro for four years. He had a four-year career with the Dons that the school has not seen before or since. He started as a freshman, and despite the young age, more than held his own.
His PD career ended in 2005 with 2,602 points, most by any Amarillo ISD boys player in history. Twice he scored 44 points for the Dons, the first time as a sophomore. He also earned a rare quadruple-double also a sophomore – 24 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals. That earned Johnson national notice in Sports Illustrated’s
“Faces In The Crowd.” As a 6-foot-3 senior, Johnson led the Dons to the 4A state tournament, the first for Palo Duro in 44 years. During his high school career, Johnson was three-time District 3-4A MVP and two-time first-team all-state by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. Johnson had his choices of colleges, most of them in the Big 12. Oklahoma, because of proximity and ties to the state, won out.
Johnson played his first year for renowned coach Kelvin Sampson and the last three years for Jeff Capel. Johnson made a similar adjustment at Oklahoma as he did at Palo Duro. He started for the Sooners midway through his freshman year and remained in the lineup for 127 games through four years. In that time, OU went 89-42, and his last game with the Sooners was a loss to North Carolina in the Elite Eight. Johnson scored 888 points in his OU career, and was in double figures in 39 games. He finished his career 12th all-time in assists, 13th in steals and 20th in blocks.
After college, Johnson played internationally with BBC Nyon in Switzerland, Al Mouttahad Tripoli in Lebanon and Applied Science University in Jordan. Returning to Amarillo, Johnson was boys basketball coach at Ascension Academy for six years, and is the current Ascension athletic director. Along with other business interests, he has the Austin Johnson Academy of Hoops where he trains primarily girls not only in Amarillo, but in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
He and wife Ashley had three daughters – Addilyn, Ambrey and Aspyn.
Coaches of the Year
Baseball: Khris Kelp, Gruver High School
Basketball: Eric Schilling, Nazareth High School
Cross Country: Wes Kirton, Canyon High School
Football: Adam Cummings, West Plains High School
Golf: Kellen Kirkland, Wildorado High School
Soccer: Whitney Bernard, Randall High School
Softball: Brad Elam, Clarendon High School
Tennis: Darby Norman, Randall High School
Track: Corby Maurer, Panhandle High School
Volleyball: Berklee Norris, Vega High School
Wrestling: David Quirino, Randall High School
Athletes of the Year
Baseball: Clayton Norrell, Amarillo High School
Basketball: Grace Foster, Childress High School/Lubbock Christian University
Cross Country: Addyson Bristow, Canyon High School
Football: Reid Macon, West Plains High School
Golf: Gam Songprasert, West Texas A&M
Soccer: Kyndal McClain, Randall High School
Softball: Ava Sharp, River Road High School
Tennis: Kynley Craddock/Dax Betzen, Randall High School
Track: Addyson Bristow, Canyon High School
Volleyball: Sydney Soria, Randall High School
Wrestling: Hunter Bogner, Dumas High School
Special Achievement Awards
Armando Lujan, Sunray High School football
Chris Sumrall, Tascosa High School, Kevin Richardson, West Plains High School,
Kolby Otto, Amarillo High School, Joe Stafford, Tascosa High School, retiring
coaches
Harlie Brabham/Blayne Robison, San Jacinto Christian Academy
Dick Risenhoover Memorial Award: Jake Rogers, Canyon High
School/Detroit Tigers
Big Play: Jani Contreras/Kyleigh McHugh, Randall High School
Super Team: Randall High School girls soccer team
Dee Henry Inspiration Award: Wyatt Davis, Canadian High School
In addition, state and national individual and team champions will be recognized.