[Sly Fox]

Nichols leads class of eight into NBH Hall

By Buddy Thomas
Standard-Times senior sports writer
April 28, 2007 6:00 AM

Nichols will be back in the athletic spotlight May 12 when he leads eight former athletes into the New Bedford High School Athletic Hall of Fame during ceremonies at the Hawthorne Country Club. Joining Nichols are the late Edward Wojcik (Class of 1941), Jeff Miller (1975), Reggie Gomes Jackson (1975), Mary Beehan Duffy (1977), Neil Macedo (1978), Bobby Duarte (1983) and Aaron Perron (1991).

Reggie Gomes Jackson

The two-sport standout was a four-year member of the girls basketball team and two-year starting pitcher on the softball squad. She was the first-ever female Standard-Times "Player of the Week" as a sophomore and first Female Athlete of the Year at New Bedford as a senior.

Earning a scholarship to Lynchburg Baptist College (now Liberty University), she nearly made the 1976 Olympic basketball team — cut from the final 15 — and played well enough to earn induction to the school's Hall of Fame in 1998 with her sister, Helen. A four-year starter, she is among the top 50 players on the school's scoring list and still holds the school record for most steals in a game with 11.

She began teaching physical education in the New Bedford Public School system in 1988, and became a volunteer assistant coach with the New Bedford High School girls team. Later, she was appointed the girls freshman coach and went on to compile three undefeated seasons. Reggie resides in New Bedford and is engaged to Cecil Lopes Sr. She has one son, Keith Jackson, of Laurel, Md.

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