Tiger legend among the Putnam City District Athletics Hall of Fame 2026 Class

The inductees are chosen by a committee composed of administration, former athletes, and coaches.  High school, collegiate, and professional accomplishments are all considered when selecting candidates. 

The list of inductees in this year's class includes, from Putnam City, Ashley (Bright) Giddens (basketball/softball), Renee Nickles (basketball, cross country, track & field), Pete Papahronis (basketball), Larry Winnard (coach), and Jim Wooldridge (basketball).  The Putnam City North inductees are Courtney (Nelson) Burks (track & field), Dustin Caldwell (basketball, football) & Lane Ramsey (baseball).  Inductees from Putnam City West include Zina (Ochoa) Barnes (softball), Amanda (Holley) Earle (basketball, softball), Jimmy London (wrestling), and Joanna (Bailey) Wiginton (basketball).

Additionally, the District will be honoring multiple historic and accomplished teams.  The 1981 state champion Putnam City West football team will be inducted.  The Hall of Fame will also welcome three different Putnam City Pirate track & field relay teams.  The 1972 mile relay team, the 1976 two-mile relay team, and the 1994 4x800 relay team.

Ashly (Bright) Giddens was a standout basketball and softball player for the Putnam City Pirates.  She was a four-time All-City pitcher on the diamond, where she was also an All-Stater.  She first played collegiately at Cowley College, where she rewrote their record books.  Bright left Cowley with 15 school records, 2 All-American seasons, a Conference Freshman of the Year season, and a Conference MVP.  She moved on to Wichita State, where records weren't safe either.  She graduated from WSU with 5 school records and 1 conference record.  She was a 1st Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection in 2008.  She was later inducted into the Cowley College Hall of Fame in 2017.

Not many people have athletic records that stand for over 40 years.  Renee Nickles has, more than once.  After setting a state record in the high jump as a Senior in 1978, Nickles went on to be a four-time All-American at the University of Oklahoma.  She was a Big 8 Conference Champion in the high jump and set 4 individual school records at OU.  She was also part of a relay team that set a school record.  Her indoor pentathlon record at OU stood for 41 years.  She placed 6th in the pentathlon at the 1982 USA Track & Field Championships and represented Team USA in the USA vs. USSR Track Dual.  Her high school state record was eventually broken, but it still stands as the Putnam City school record 47 years later.

Pete Papahronis has become a major name in high school coaching in Oklahoma, but he was a great basketball player before his success on the sidelines.  Papahronis earned All-City mention twice on the hardwood at Putnam City before taking his talents to East Central University.  At East Central, he helped lead the Tigers to an NAIA National Runner-Up finish as a senior before going much further from home than Ada.  Pete ended up in Greece and was a superstar.  He played 11 professional seasons for top-level teams.  As a coach, he helped lead Guthrie to back-to-back state titles in 2008 & 2009.  He then led the Edmond North girls to back-to-back state titles in 2022 & 2023. He remains the head coach for the Edmond North girls today.

Coach Larry Winnard not only brought home championships as a wrestling coach at Putnam City, but also built the athletic training program at PC and at other schools, and then continued to innovate and educate others in that space.  Winnard was the 1976 Junior High Wrestling Coach of the Year in Oklahoma.  He followed that up by coaching the high school to a state runner-up finish in 1977.  He was the Class 4A Coach of the Year in 1978 when he led the Pirates to a State Championship.  Larry was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Chapter, in 2009.

Jim Wooldridge was a standout basketball player at the high school and collegiate levels before embarking on a coaching career that led him to the NBA.  Wooldridge helped lead the Pirates to an undefeated state championship season in 1972.  He then helped lead Louisiana Tech to a Southland Conference title in 1976.  After his playing days, he was an assistant at Louisiana Tech, East Central, and Central Missouri.  He then became head coach at Central Missouri, Texas State, Louisiana Tech, Kansas State, and, finally, UC-Riverside. During that run, he also served as an assistant for the Chicago Bulls.   He won a National Championship at Central Missouri in 1984 and was the Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 1994. 

Putnam City North has had many state champions in track & field.  Courtney (Nelson) Burks is the only one to have also won an NCAA National Championship.  Nelson was the state champion in the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles as a Senior in 2014.  She was also a three-time First Team All-City selection.  She continued her career at Pittsburg State, where she was the NCAA National Champion in the 100-meter hurdles in 2019.  Courtney was an eleven-time All-American for the Gorillas, and her team won an NCAA National Title in 2016.  She set 4 school records and was part of 2 more as a relay team member.

Dustin Caldwell was the key factor in a massive turnaround of the Putnam City North football program.  A tailback, Caldwell rushed for almost 4,000 yards in his career and was the City Player of the Year as a Senior.  That Senior year, the Panthers were 12-2 after never having won more than 5 games in a season as a member of Oklahoma's largest class.  Their only two losses were to Lawton Eisenhower, one of those in the state championship game.  Eisenhower was ranked number one in the country by USA Today.  After his All-State Senior year, Dustin took a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma.  His college career was riddled with injuries, but his high school career was legendary.

Lane Ramsey is the only Putnam City North Panther ever to make it all the way to the Major Leagues.  Ramsey, a 2014 graduate, was a bit of a late bloomer.  He went to Newman University to pitch after high school and played one season.  He sat out 2016 with an injury but played two seasons at the University of Oklahoma in 2017 and 2018.  He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and played seven seasons of professional baseball, reaching the big club in 2023.  The 6'9" Ramsey also played for a Triple-A Championship in 2025 for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

Zina (Ochoa) Barnes won titles in high school and in college.  The 1984 graduate was a softball state champion for the Patriots, winning the title as a sophomore in 1981.  She continued her career at Texas A&M, where the winning continued as well.  The Aggies won the Women's College World Series in 1987, and Barnes was one of three Putnam City West grads in the starting lineup.  Zina was also an NCAA National Runner-Up in 1986, and her team placed 5^th in 1988.  She led the Aggies in stolen bases during the 1988 season and lettered all four seasons she played in College Station.

Amanda (Holley) Earle led the Lady Patriots to a state championship on the basketball court as a Senior in 1981.  She was an All-State selection and was named to the All-City team for three years.  She went on to play at the University of Arkansas, where she was team captain as a Junior.  She set five school records, was a First Team All-Southwest Conference selection, and earned All-Southwest Conference Tournament team honors.  In various seasons at Arkansas, she led the team in ten categories.  For her Senior year, she transferred to Kansas State, where she was an All-Big 8 selection and made the All-Big 8 Tournament team in 1986.

Wrestling is a tough sport, and Jimmy London was as tough as they come.  London is the only two-time state champion wrestler that Putnam City West has ever had.  He won the title as a sophomore and as a senior, finishing fourth as a junior.  The All-State selection moved on to wrestle at the University of Wyoming, where he was a two-time Western Athletic Conference Champion.  He graduated with school records for career wins and pins, as well as season wins, and was the team's outstanding wrestler in 1981.

Joanna (Bailey) Wiginton is the fourth 1990 graduate of Putnam City West to be inducted.  A basketball star for the Patriots, she was an All-State selection as a Senior.  She went on to play at powerful Southern Nazarene University.  She received All-American mention twice and was the NAIA National Tournament MVP while leading her team to a National Championship in 1994.  She was the Sooner Athletic Conference MVP that year as well and made the All-Tournament team for the conference.  She received All-Conference mention for three seasons, making the first team in 1993 and 1994.

The 1981 Putnam City West football team never lost a game.  Hall of Fame Coach Mike Little led the Patriots to a 14-0 record, culminating with a 47-20 victory over Tulsa McClain in the championship game.  Hall of Famer Mike Cutter led the offensive efforts, rushing for over 1,800 yards that season with 27 touchdowns.  Cutter was the State Player of the Year.  Coach Little was the State Coach of the Year.  Defensive tackle Paul Mitchell was an All-State pick, and wide receiver Phil Summers was a First Team All-City selection.  The closest game of the year for the Patriots was, of course, against Putnam City.  West won that one 13-10.  This is the only state champion football team in Putnam City West history.

Putnam City High School has a rich history in Cross Country and Track & Field.  The Pirates have had three different relay teams win state championships while also setting state records in the same season.  In 1972, the mile relay team of Jeff Dethrow, Jim Hardin, Joey Hammond, and Alan Yates ran a 3:16.  In 1976, the two-mile relay team of Roger Nixon, Fred Mills, Ken Murphey, and Mike Ruggles ran a 7:52.2 at the State Meet.  Technically, because of the change to the metric system in high school track in 1983, these records were never broken.  In 1994, Ben Pitman, Daniel Phillips, Billy Miller, and Chris Triplett posted a 7:47 to set the state record in the 4x800 at the State Championships.  Their record stood for 31 years, finally broken during the 2025 season.  Head Coach Kenneth Keel coached the 1972 team, while Gene Firth served as an event coach.  Hall of Famer Randy Helms coached the 1976 team, and the 1994 Head Coach was Dorman Griffin. 

This year's induction ceremony and dinner will be held at Victory Church (4300 N. Macarthur Blvd.) on the evening of Monday, August 31^st.  For ticket information, please contact the Putnam City District Athletics Office at 405-495-5200 or click the link below.