2022 Easley Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees
Aug. 23—EASLEY — The Easley High School Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Sept. 9 at halftime during the Green Wave Varsity football game against J.L. Mann. Three past graduates are set to be inducted this year including:
Kelly Bossert — A 2016 graduate of Easley High School, Bossert lettered three years for the volleyball team. In 2015 she was selected All Region and Region Player of the Year. She was also selected All State by the SC Coaches Association of Women's Sports. She also was selected by the Greenville News to the All Up-State Girls Volleyball Team. While in high school she was a member of the French Club and the Honor Society. Following her high school career, Bossert was a member of the 2016 AAU 18 Premier National Championship Team. She played volleyball for Wofford College for four years and was selected twice to the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll while earning SoCon Fall Academic All Conference in 2017. She graduated from Wofford with a degree in Psychology. Presently she lives in Easley and serves as a coach for the Carolina One Volleyball Club.
Bert Owens — A 1974 graduate of Easley High School, Owens earned four letters in baseball, two in football and two in basketball. He was a member of the 1972 SC AAAA State Champion Football Team. He was named Greenville Piedmont Athlete of the Year following his senior season. He also received the Sportsmanship Award in football his senior season. Owens played baseball for American Legion Post 52 for three seasons. Following high school, he went to Anderson Junior College where he also played baseball. He graduated from Winthrop University with a degree in Sociology in 1981. Upon graduation, he returned to Easley where he coached the State Champion 15 and under team with the Easley Recreation Department. He became an assistant baseball coach in 1985 and has continued with the Green Wave Baseball Program and the Green Wave Football Program through today, holding the record for the longest tenure of anyone coaching at Easley High School. Owens follows in the footsteps of his father, J.B. "Red" Owens, who was inducted into the Easley High Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.
Joey Pankake — A 2011 graduate of Easley High School, Pankake earned five letters in baseball for the Green Wave. He was selected All State in 2010 and 2011, All Region in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 along with being named Region Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011. He was selected to play in the SC Baseball Coaches Association SC-NC Select Game in 2011. Following in high school, Pankake continued playing baseball at South Carolina for three years before he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. He played four years with the Tiger organization. Currently he resides in Lexington and works for the Farm Bureau.
Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.
