Mansfield ISD to induct new honorees into Hall of Honor

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Mansfield ISD will add more names to its Hall of Honor this month, inducting a Major League Baseball pitcher, a beloved basketball coach and principal, national champion basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter, All-State and SEC champion swimmer and a Lake Ridge football squad that went 15-1 and almost took a state 5A title.

The Mansfield ISD Hall of Honor, founded in 2013, includes legendary names from Mansfield ISD sports like Vernon Newsom, Debbie Weems, Samantha Morrow, Erin Grant, Stepfan Taylor and more. Plaques of the honorees are spread across the walls of the community room at Vernon Newsom Stadium.

2026 are Noah Syndergaard, who played baseball at Legacy High School and went on to become an All-Star for the New York Mets; Lili Thompson, who played basketball at Timberview High School, won a national championship at the University of Notre Dame and then suited up for the Harlem Globetrotters; Mike Thibert, who was a swimmer for Mansfield High School and then an SEC champion for Texas A&M University; Jason Mutterer, who was an assistant coach that helped lead Summit High School to the girls state basketball championship, then led the boys squad before becoming Summit's principal; and the 2015 Lake Ridge football team, led by Coach Kirk Thor, quarterback Jett Duffey and running back Duke Carter to the Class 5A state championship game.

The newest honorees will be inducted during a reception at 2 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Dr. Jim Vaszauskas Center for Performing Arts, 1110 W. Debbie Lane. Tickets are $25 and available here. Sponsorships are also available.