The latest class of the Trigg County High School Athletic Hall of Fame will be inducted Saturday.
The 2023 class includes Larry Palmer, a two-time all-state selection in football; Todd Butts, named All-State in football; the 1991 girls’ state champion cross country team; and Tina Davis, Sam Cofield, Lynn Cofield, Graham Cofield, and Grady Cofield, who were all instrumental in the creation and development of Trigg County’s archery program.
The ceremony will be held on Saturday, September 30 at the Trigg County High School cafeteria. Doors open at 11:00 with the program to begin at noon. Tickets will be sold at the door for $10 and include the cost of the meal.
Todd Butts
Trigg County football coach Dixie Jones said Todd Butts was one of the few players that Mayfield always ran away from.
Butts anchored a defensive line in 1984 that allowed just 69 points in 11 games – that’s 6.3 points per game. Only the 1940 Trigg County team that played nine games allowed less.
Butts was named to the All-Western Kentucky Conference Team and was All-State Honorable Mention by the Louisville Courier-Journal.
In 1985, Butts played on both sides of the football, rarely leaving the field. Butts again was among the team leaders in tackles and sacks and was named to the Associated Press All-State Team at defensive end. The Courier-Journal again named him All-State Honorable Mention.
Butts was also a key member of Trigg County’s baseball team throughout high school. Trigg County won 33 games in his final two seasons. In 1986, Butts was part of a Wildcat team that set a school record with 19 wins. That record stood until 2011.
He received a four-year scholarship to Kentucky State University for football and received some college interest as a baseball pitcher. Butts transferred to Murray State University after one year at KSU. He walked on at Murray and made the team.
Larry Palmer
On a team full of stars, Larry Palmer made his name known when Trigg County needed a big defensive play.
The defensive end was a key component of Trigg County’s back-to-back state football championship teams in 1971 and 1972.
He was one of three Trigg County players voted to the 1971 Associated Press Class A All-State Football team.
Known for his defense, Palmer also played tight end and had a memorable catch in the 1971 state championship game against Lynch. Trailing by two touchdowns and facing third and 14 at its own 36-yard line, Pamer caught a 13-yard pass from Bruce Higbee. On the next play, Willie Grubbs ran it in from 51 yards out and gave Trigg the momentum as they staged a second half comeback and brought home the school’s first state title.
In 1972, Palmer dislocated his elbow in Trigg’s season-opening loss to Pineville in the Mt. Sterling Recreation Bowl. It didn’t keep him down for long.
With freakish size and speed, Palmer was known for covering long distances to make tackles. In Trigg County’s 1972 playoff win over Harrodsburg, Palmer had a key fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.
In the state semifinals against Richmond Madison, Palmer recovered a fumble that set up the go-ahead touchdown and a return trip to the state championship game.
The Wildcats were facing a Pikeville team that came into the contest averaging 47 points a game. Palmer and the Trigg County defense held Pikeville to 55 yards and zero points.
Palmer was named to the Associated Press All-State First Team and the Louisville-Courier Journal All-State Second Team in 1972.
He would continue his football career at Kentucky State University.
Tina Davis, Sam Cofield, Lynn Cofield, Grady Cofield, and Graham Cofield
When Trigg County Middle School was selected as one of 21 schools in the state to participate in the ‘Archery in Kentucky Schools’ pilot program in 2002, there weren’t many that anticipated the lasting impact archery would have on Trigg County.
Chosen to enhance her P.E. class, Davis underwent the required training through the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Kentucky Department of Education and became the first coach of the Trigg County archery program.
What began as a pilot program eventually berthed the ‘Arrowcats’ – the Trigg County archery program that won multiple state and national championships through the National Archery in Schools Program.
Two students who helped make the Trigg County Arrowcats known throughout the state and nation were Graham and Grady Cofield. Graham won back-to-back NASP state titles and a national title despite an accident while lining the sights of a rifle that required surgeries to his hand and eye.
Grady won a national title at the World Archery Festival.
Their parents, Sam and Lynn Cofield, were instrumental in the growth of the Trigg County archery program as coaches and organizers. As the program grew to over 100 kids, space was needed for practices.
The Cofields built a facility in Cadiz that became known as the home of the Arrowcats and entered into a lease agreement with the school.
The Cofield family also lent their knowledge and expertise to other schools and programs for those who wanted to start an archery program.
When the Kentucky High School Athletic Association sanctioned archery as a sport in 2013, Trigg County already had a leg up on the competition thanks to the efforts of Davis and the Cofields. Trigg won the first three state championships through the KHSAA from 2013-15 and still holds the state record for the best team score.
As the archery program prepares to move into its new practice home this fall on campus as part of the co-curricular building, it can look at its roots that began over 20 years ago through the vision of Tina Davis and the work of the Cofield family.
1991 Trigg County Girls’ State Champion Cross Country Team
After a state runner-up finish in 1990, the Trigg County girls’ cross country team pulled off a remarkable upset and claimed the 1991 state title at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Trigg County returned four of its top five runners and claimed a second place finish at the Trigg County Invitational.
Trigg County sent five of the first six runners across the finish line at the region meet, held at Lake Barkley State Park.
Nikita Mayes won the region title, followed by Belinda Byron, Antionette Mayes, and Kesha Alexander in the top four. Mary Byron finished sixth for Trigg County, who missed a perfect team score by one point.
The state meet had recently moved from the steeplechase course at the Kentucky Horse Park to the campground course. On a cold Saturday morning, Trigg County put its first five runners into the top 20 and edged defending state champion St. Henry by three points.
St. Henry had won four of the previous five Class A state titles and had not lost to a Class A school in the 1991 season leading up to the state meet.
Mary Byron moved up seven spots in the final 100 yards to help the Lady Wildcats claim the program’s second state title.
Belinda Byron, a seventh grader, finished in seventh place, followed by Antionette Mayes in 10th place and Nikita Mayes in 11th place. Alexander was 12th and Mary Byron was 19th.
Michelle Bybee was 62nd and Tara Phillips was 77th.
At the time, Trigg’s three-point margin of victory was a state record. It now stands in third place. Also at the time, their team score of 49 tied for the ninth-lowest at a Class A state meet.
