SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Appalachian State University's Melissa Morrison and Valorie Whiteside are two of 10 former Southern Conference student-athletes that have been selected as members of the inaugural class of the SoCon Hall of Fame, the league office announced on Wednesday.

The 10 honorees will be inducted into the newly created SoCon HOF on May 4 in a ceremony at the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg, S.C. The inaugural class was selected by a voting panel of 20 media members and league administrators from a pool of 254 nominees.

Now Melissa Morrison-Howard, Morrison won 17 individual conference championships and led the Mountaineers to a sweep of the league's eight women's track and field team crowns (indoor and outdoor) from 1989-93. She was a two-time all-American, thanks to third-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles at the 1993 NCAA indoor track and field championships and a ninth-place showing in the 100-meter hurdles at the ?93 NCAA outdoor track and field championships. An exceptionally versatile athlete, Morrison claimed her 17 conference titles in eight different events (indoor 55-meter dash, indoor 55-meter hurdles, outdoor 100-meter dash, outdoor 100-meter hurdles, indoor and outdoor 200-meter dash, indoor triple jump and outdoor long jump) and still holds six ASU and four SoCon records. For her efforts, she was named the Most Valuable Performer at the SoCon's indoor and outdoor championships in 1992 and ?93.

Following her graduation with a B.S. in psychology in 1993, Morrison embarked on a successful professional career, highlighted by winning bronze medals in the 100m hurdles at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. In addition to being the only American Olympian to ever medal twice in the 100m hurdles, she is also a four-time U.S. indoor champion in the 60m hurdles (1998, ?99, 2000 and ?02) and claimed the U.S. outdoor title in the 100m hurdles in 1997.

Twenty-one years after the conclusion of her illustrious college basketball career, Whiteside remains the SoCon's record-holder in nine different categories, including career points (2,944), career scoring average (25.4 points per game), career field-goal attempts (2,231), career free-throw attempts (1,173), single-season points (776 in 1986-87), single-season scoring average (27.1 ppg in 1984-85), single-season field-goal attempts (598 in 1987-88) and single-season free-throw attempts (338 in 1984-85) and points in a game (48 vs. Western Carolina in 1986). She also holds 42 school records, which include all of ASU's scoring, rebounding and blocked-shot standards. She remains among the top 10 in NCAA history in career points and scoring average.

For her efforts, Whiteside was a three-time first-team all-American, four-time all-conference honoree, garnered SoCon all-tournament honors three times (including tournament MVP twice) and was the 1987-88 SoCon Player of the Year. She led the Mountaineers to SoCon regular-season and tournament titles in 1987 and ?88 and helped the Apps advance to the third round of the WNIT in 1987. She graduated from ASU in 1989 with a B.S. in communications and enjoyed a successful 14-year professional career in Europe, with stints in Spain, Switzerland and Portugal.

Joining Morrison and Whiteside in the SoCon's inaugural class are Megan Dunigan (women's tennis ? Furman, 1999-02), Dick Groat (baseball and men's basketball ? Duke, 1950-52), Sam Huff (football ? West Virginia, 1952-55), Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice (football ? North Carolina, 1946-49), Arnold Palmer (men's golf ? Wake Forest, 1948-50; ?53-54), Adrian Peterson (football ? Georgia Southern, 1998-2001), Frank Selvy (men's basketball ? Furman, 1952-54) and Jerry West (men's basketball ? West Virginia, 1956-60).