The Sports Ledger
Page 13
July 2021 E-Edition
Find Sports at www.TheSportsLedger.com
Auburn incoming freshman earns spot on Olympic team cheer her on in July. War Eagle!” “This means so much has been beaten in the category. Lee entered the
NFHS Honors Elmore County’s Hayden Holton with 2021 National Spirit of Sport Award
Auburn gymnastics incoming freshman Sunisa Lee punched her ticket to the Tokyo Summer Olympics as she finished second in the all-around at the USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials Sunday night in St. Louis. “It has been an amazing experience to watch Suni achieve what she has been working towards for years,” Auburn head coach Jeff Graba said. “This was such a great weekend. The Auburn program is so excited for her, and we can’t wait to Eve Rackham Watt and the Volunteer's volleyball team have released the 2021 schedule. Following an unprecedented 2020- 21 volleyball season, things return to normal for the Lady Vols as they prepare for a 28-match slate. Unlike the 2020- 21 hybrid schedule, all of UT's matches this coming season will take place in the fall. The schedule features 15 home matches, including the Tennessee Classic which opens the season for the Lady Vols. Tennessee begins the 2021 campaign at home, welcoming NC State, Texas Tech and ETSU to Thompson-Boling Arena for the Tennessee Classic Aug. 27-28. The following weekend, Baylor and Pittsburgh come to Rocky Top for a three-match weekend series. Tennessee plays Baylor on Sept. 3 and Pittsburgh
Hayden Holton, a former student-athlete at Elmore County High School in Eclectic, was honored at the 102nd National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS) Summer Meeting as the 2021 national recipient of the National High School Spirit of Sport Award. Holton was also selected as the NFHS Section 3 Spirit of Sport Award recipient (including the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee). The National High School Spirit of Sport Award was created by the NFHS to recognize those individuals who exemplify the ideals of the spirit of sport that represent the core mission of education-based athletics. Nominations for this award were generated through NFHS member state associations and reviewed by the NFHS National High School Spirit of Sport Award Selection Committee composed of state association staff members. “Hayden’s journey exemplifies exactly what the NFHS “Spirit of Sport” Award is all about,”
to me and I’ve worked so hard for the past couple years,” Lee said. “To just go out on the floor and do everything I was supposed to do feels amazing.” Lee, of St. Paul, Minn., finished first on bars and beam at the end of the two-day trials to go with her second-place finish in the all-around. Lee also topped Simone Biles on day two in the all- around, marking the first time since 2013 that Biles on Sept. 5, while the Bears and Panthers play each other on Sept. 4. After a home and home against Morehead State Sept. 10 and 12, UT travels to West Lafayette, Indiana, to play in the Stacey Clark Classic Sept. 17-18. The Lady Vols will play hosts Purdue along with IPFW and Jacksonville State. UT's non-conference slate features four teams that made the NCAA Tournament in the spring in Baylor, Pittsburgh, Purdue and Morehead State. Pittsburgh and Purdue both advanced to the quarterfinal round, while Baylor reached the third round before falling to Nebraska. Morehead State won its opening round match, but was eliminated in round two by Florida. For the first time in the Rackham Watt era, Tennessee opens conference play at home with a string of five
Olympic Trials as the U.S. champion on bars and runner up in the all-around and on beam. She will head to the international meet as a world champion, securing team gold at the 2019 World Championships. Lee also won silver on floor and bronze on bars at the world meet. Women’s gymnastics kicks off on July 25 at the Tokyo Olympic Games with the first round of team competition. The Lady Vols play Arkansas Sept. 25-26, Auburn on Sept. 29 and close out the homestand with Texas A&M Oct. 2-3. UT then goes on a five-match road swing beginning Oct. 8-9 at South Carolina, before continuing with an Oct. 15 date at Georgia. The road trips concludes in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a two-match set against LSU Oct. 23-24. Reigning national champions Kentucky visit Knoxville Oct. 27, before the Lady Vols make a quick trip to Florida to take on the Gators on Nov. 3. Tennessee rounds out its home slate with one match versus Ole Miss on Nov. 7 and a pair of matches against Alabama Nov. 18-19. The final road series sees UT travel to Mississippi State Nov. 13- 14. The Lady Vols close out the regular-season Nov. 24 on the road at Missouri.
Tennessee Volleyball Schedule Tennessee Head coach matches on Rocky Top.
Hayden Holton
said retiring AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese, who also took part in the presentation Tuesday. “We are very proud Hayden, his school and community family are being recognized for their unflinching love and spirit.” Holton, graduated from Elmore County High School in 2020 as an accomplished four- sport student-athlete, earning academic and athletic honors. It was a remarkable ending to a high school career that began with an unspeakable tragedy. In September 2016, during the first semester of Hayden’s freshman year, his parents died in a double shooting putting Hayden and his siblings into the national spotlight. A family member was charged with the murders but charges were later dismissed. Hayden’s life as he knew it was gone. He moved to live with relatives in Alexander City following the tragedy but returned to Eclectic and Elmore County High School as a sophomore where his coaches, teammates and the community became his extended family, providing him structure and support. “They wrapped their arms around him and embraced him, and helped him through this situation as much as you could,” Rogers said. “In his first year back at Elmore County, Hayden could not compete in football and basketball but he could practice and never missed a session or workout, and he often served as a team manager, statistician or water boy just to keep close to his extended athletic family.” “I loved the family part of sports, most definitely,” Hayden told al.com in a 2020 article. “That seriously helped the most. It’s always something to fall back on. If you break down, there’s always somebody there for you no matter what, and you’re there for them the same way. It’s one big family, a huge family.” Hayden not only played four sports, basketball, football, baseball and soccer, bur was active in the Future Farmers of America and his church community, participating in a mission trip to Guatemala in 2019. As a senior, Hayden was named the Bryant-Jordan Foundation’s Ken and Betty Joy Blankenship Student- Achievement Award State Co-Recipient (with Kamyn Sparks of Pleasant Valley High School), which recognizes students statewide who face and overcome difficult obstacles.
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software