Laura Marchman Brown received the call straight from the chairman of the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame, and she still couldn’t believe she was an inductee.

So the next day, the 1988 West Point graduate asked Randy Jones what it all meant. Jones initially stayed mum because there’s a letter that generally breaks the news to the 11 annual honorees. But once Brown revealed she’d already spoken to the chairman, Jones was free to confirm what his nominee already suspected.

She was in.

“I was surprised,” said Brown, who’ll officially be enshrined at a banquet April 25 at the Cullman Civic Center. “I was like, ‘A little peon like me done something.’ I don’t know, I’m still overwhelmed, I guess is what you’d call it. It’s been so many years, and you just don’t think everybody remembers you.”

Despite her modesty, Brown’s prep career was certainly worth remembering. She starred in basketball, volleyball and track and kept the accolades coming in all three.

Brown was a four-time All-County basketball selection, an All-Area pick for three and the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award as a senior. She also secured All-State status as a junior, sharing a magical ride to the state tournament with her older sister and teammate, Dalene.

“We didn’t ever try and compete against each other,” Brown said. “Nobody did. We just played together as a team.”

Before even mentioning the trip to state, the first hoops sequence that came to Brown’s mind involved a high-stakes trip to the free-throw line. The score was tied late against Hazel Green when the standout was fouled and put on the stripe for two attempts.

The short version of the story is West Point was victorious, but the slightly longer version is far more entertaining.

“I shot the first free throw and sunk it,” Brown said. “And the second one of course I airballed it. But we ended up winning.”

Brown made All-County in volleyball and was a force to be reckoned with in track. West Point didn’t actually have a track back then, though, so runners poured flour on the football field for lanes.

Brown didn’t let the setback stop her from setting the school record in her favorite event, the 200-meter dash. The top time held for a shade more than 20 years before it was bested by her daughter, Whitney.

Suffice to say, Brown, who still holds West Point’s high jump record, was anything but sad to pass the torch. Forking over a nice chunk of change after the fact was likely a bit more difficult.

“Her senior year, I told her, ‘If you’ll break my record, I’ll give you $100,’” Brown recalled. “And I’ll be darned, she broke it.”

The Warriors’ track coach at the time was none other than Clayborn Campbell. As he now does at Cold Springs, Campbell qualified his fair share of kids for the state meet. How he got them there then compared to now, however, is undoubtedly different.

“We loaded up in, I don’t know if it was his work van or what, but we’d all sit on five-gallon buckets,” Brown said with a laugh. “You couldn’t do that now.”

Three sports kept Brown plenty busy, but not too busy for a fourth.

Unfortunately, though, there was one tiny detail that disallowed an additional activity.

“I would’ve probably played softball, but the year I graduated, the next year’s when they started having softball,” she said. “Yeah, I’m old (laughs).”

Brown graduated with scholarship offers from UAH, UAB, Wallace State and UNA but turned them down and got married instead. She helped her husband, Kenneth, clean chicken houses for 15 years before heading back to school and working a stretch as an X-ray technician. These days, Brown is a custodian at West Point High while waiting for a bus route to open so she can get behind the wheel.

As her induction nears, Brown is thankful for all the support she’s received from her family — Kenneth, Dalene, Whitney, Cole (son), Phyllis (mother) and Jerry Ray (father), who passed away 10 years ago this July. Brown said her dad “was always the one who pushed us the most” and, even if his girls had practice during the week, would spend the weekend helping them get better.

“I know he’s happy,” she said.