Photo by Brian Hoffman
The Lord Botetourt Athletic Hall of Fame inducted four former athletes into the hall last week. The Class of 2022, who were introduced at halftime of the LB football game last Friday, included Grace Blaylock, Megan Forbes, J.J. Hickman and Macey Tyree.
Blaylock is a 2009 graduate of Lord Botetourt High School and the daughter of Tom and Susan Blaylock. She was a four-year varsity women’s basketball player, earning a starting position during her sophomore through senior seasons.
Grace was named the MVP of the Terrier Classic Christmas tournament during her sophomore and senior seasons. She was the Blue Ridge District Player of the Year in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons and was named to the Kiwanis Club All Metro team both her junior and senior seasons, earning Metro Player of the year in 2009. As a senior she was also named to the All-Timesland Team and second team all-state.
Blaylock ended her career at Lord Botetourt with 1,135 points and with the school three-point record for both single season (79) and career (185). She also attended the Governor’s School throughout her time at LB.
After Lord Botetourt, Grace earned a Division 1 scholarship to UNC-Asheville. She was a valuable role player throughout her career, averaging six points per game and earning 89 starts. While at UNC-Asheville she was twice named to the Big South All-Academic Team. She also earned a spot on the Division-1-AAA Athletic Directors Association Academic All-American Team in 2010-11.
Grace studied Health and Wellness Promotion with a focus on Pre-Med. After college, Grace returned to Roanoke where she enrolled at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. After earning her medical degree, she attended George Washington University where she completed her residency in Orthopaedic Surgery. She is currently living in Philadelphia, Pa., where she is in her final year of training at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia focusing on pediatric orthopedic surgery.
Forbes, a 2004 graduate of Lord Botetourt, was an outstanding track and field athlete. From 2000-2004, she won 24 district or regional titles in the 55-meter hurdles, 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump. Each year she had terrific State meets, placing in multiple events each year and finishing as the State runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles as a senior.
At the end of her senior year Megan won multiple scholarships, including the Bank of Fincastle Fall Run Scholarship, the Cosmopolitan Senior Girls Scholarship, the Bobby Camper Memorial Scholarship, the Frank McCue Scholarship and the Lord Botetourt Athletic Boosters Scholarship.
After graduating from Lord Botetourt, Megan went to James Madison University on a track scholarship. While at JMU, Megan ran competed in the 60-meter hurdles, 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, and the 4 x 400-meter relay and also threw the javelin.
Also while at JMU, Megan joined the softball team for the 2008-09 season and set a record with 22 consecutive stolen bases. She received the Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner’s Academic Award, was named a NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete and was a member of the 2008-09 Colonial Athletic Conference Championship Softball Team.
After graduation from JMU, Megan remained active by coaching cross country and track at Bailey Bridge Middle School, winning eight divisional and seven county championships. She also has created and implemented training programs for local high school athletic teams, working as a sprint and conditioning trainer.
Megan has remained competitive, qualifying for the World Championship Spartan Race in Lake Tahoe. She is a certified sports nutritionist as well as a singer, guitarist and worship leader for church services and retreats. She leads faculty and student Bible studies at Bailey Bridge Middle School. In her free time she enjoys paddle boarding, surfing, working out, hiking and playing pickleball.
Hickman was a standout wrestler during his days at LB, and the reason J.J. joined the wrestling team in 7th grade was because he did not make the basketball team. In 8th grade he was undefeated and won the Virginia Challenge State Tournament.
J.J. was invited to join the Virginia Challenge National team, trained with the high school wrestling team and was mentored by Dane Powers. He ended up going to two national tournaments, one in Chicago and one in Virginia Beach, winning All-American honors at the Chicago tournament.
During his freshman year in high school the Cavaliers went to the Big Orange Tournament where J.J. wrestled John Copper, who was a four-time state runner-up. Hickman was able to put him on his back in the first minute of the first period. Although he did not win that day, that season J.J. finished as a runner-up in the district and fifth in the regional meet.
After regionals, J.J. remembers standing in front of the guidance counselors office getting ready to quit school when teammate Ryan Broughman (HOF Class of 2021) walked by and said, “Shake that one off, go get them next year.” The following weekend, he went to the State Meet and watched Ryan win State. J.J. remembers Coach Raymond Broughman jumping into Ryan’s arms and he wanted that feeling.
During his sophomore year J.J. won the Titan Tough Man, The Big Orange, district, regionals and was a runner-up at the state tournament. After state, Coach Broughman recommended to him to try Greco and Freestyle wrestling state tournaments in which he was runner-up for both tournaments. Also, he made Team Virginia and went to Fargo, N.D., for the national tournament. In the Greco tournament he won four matches and lost two. In the Freestyle tournament, he won seven matches and lost two, making him nationally ranked.
During his junior year he was ranked No.1 in the state for group AA, but the season started to fall apart as an injury to his shoulder forced him to forfeit the final match at the Titan Tough Man. Losses at the district and regional matches dropped J.J. to the lower half of the state tournament bracket and he had to wrestle every person that placed in the state tournament to win it. In the semifinals he beat the individual who had defeated him in the district and regional Tournament, and went on to win the state championship. Instead of J.J. running and jumping into Coach Broughman’s arms, Broughman jumped into J.J’s arms.
J.J. was invited to Richmond for a tournament for Team Virginia where state champions from Single A through 4A and private schools wrestled to see who the best was for Team Virginia. J.J. finished as the runner-up in the tournament.
During his senior year he won the Titan Tough Man, The Big Orange and the district. He finished as the runner-up in both the regional and state tournament. His senior season ended with going to two national tournaments, winning a national tournament in Richmond.
Tyree earned 12 varsity letters at LB in volleyball, basketball, and soccer. In volleyball she was all Blue Ridge District First Team three years and the Blue Ridge District Player of the Year her junior and senior seasons. She was All Region III First Team in 2009 and ’10 and Region Player of the Year in ’09, VHSL All State in 2009 and 2010 and All Timesland in ’09 and ’10.
At the completion of her career Macey was the LB career kills leader with 1,058, which was ninth all-time in the VHSL record book. She helped lead her teams to Blue Ridge and Region III Championships and the state quarterfinals.
In basketball Macey played varsity all four years and was a starter for three. She helped lead the team to the state semi-finals in Richmond her sophomore year. In 2011 she was All-Blue Ridge District and All Region Honorable Mention, as well as the Kiwanis Unsung Hero recipient.
Macey was a four-year starter in soccer. She was All-Blue Ridge District First Team in 2010 and ’11 and the Blue Ridge District Player of the Year her senior year. Macey was All-Region III in 2010 and ’11 and All-State in 2011.
Tyree set the LB single season goals scored record in 2011 with 27 goals. She helped her team to Blue Ridge and Region championships as well as state quarterfinal games.
In the spring of her senior year Macey was not only Lord Botetourt’s female nominee for the Bnai’Brith award, but she was selected as the overall female winner for the award based on Athletics, Academics, Leadership, and Community Service.
After her graduation, Macey played one year of club volleyball at Virginia Tech, then transferred to Roanoke College where she was a three-year starting outside hitter, finishing with 586 kills and 852 digs. Macey was named to the ODAC All-Academic Team.
After graduation she was an assistant coach for the Maroons from 2015-17. Today, Macey enjoys competing in regional Crossfit competitions, playing golf, and training her dog Maverick.
