LeAnn Harrell Inlow, who played basketball, softball and tennis at Bainbridge High School, was the school’s senior athlete of the year in 1979. She was a first team All-Region player in all three sports.
After high school Harrell Inlow had outstanding college careers in basketball and softball. She was basketball rookie of the year with the Valdosta State University Lady Blazers during the 1979-80 season.
During the 1980-81 season with the University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs, Inlow played on a team that won the National Invitational Tournament national championship in Amarillo, Texas.
She played for the Florida State University Lady Seminoles softball team from 1982 to 1985 and was the most valuable player on their 1982-83 national championship team.
She returned to Bainbridge High School in 1987 as assistant Lady Cats basketball coach under late Lady Cats head coach Ken Byrd. She started the Lady Cats softball program as head coach in 1987.
As head coach of the Lady Cats tennis team from 1990 to 1998, she won seven region championships and led the 1997-98 team to the Final Four. She started the Lady Cats softball program in 1987. She was Georgia High School Coaches Association tennis chairman for two years.
Inlow played United States Tennis Association (USTA) tennis at the 4.5 level. In 1998 she was a state and sectional champion and went to the nationals.
She played softball with the Women’s Amateur Softball Association’s Tifton Tom Boys and helped lead them to the 1988 national championship in Ohio.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Masters Degree in athletic administration from Florida State University.
She and her husband Billy Inlow have a 15-year-old son who is a freshman at BHS.
Editor’s Note- This is the first in a series on the four people who will be inducted into the Decatur County Sports Hall of Fame Saturday March 1 at the Kirbo Center at Bainbridge College. Tickets are $20 and are available at the Kirbo Center, Grimsley Pharmacy Center, Parker Paint and Decorating Center and Action GMC.