17 minute read
SCHOOLS
from 4.7.22
Vestavia Hills Names Mann as New Freshman Campus Principal
Bill Mann, assistant principal at the main campus of Vestavia Hills High School, has been named the next principal of the Vestavia Hills High School Freshman Campus.
Mann will take on the role for the 2022-23 school year, according to a press release from Vestavia Hills City Schools. The Vestavia Hills Board of Education made the change during a meeting March 21.
Before becoming assistant principal at the main high school campus, Mann taught history at Louis Pizitz Middle School. He moves into the principal role with 15 years of education experience.
Mann, reached by phone by offi-
cials with the city schools, said he looked forward to leading the work to build a positive student and staff culture at the school.
“It’s important for students at the freshman campus to be excited about joining the Rebel family at the high school level,” Mann said in the press release. “I look forward to building on the solid foundation already established at the school and making it a place that students and staff are proud to be a part of.”
Mann’s principal status follows the retirement of David Howard, a longtime Vestavia Hills teacher and administrator who helped form the freshman campus in 2020.
“Mr. Mann has served Vestavia Hills City Schools as a teacher, coach and assistant principal,” Superintendent Todd Freeman said. “He has a reputation of being a successful leader in each of those positions. He will be a great leader for the stellar faculty and staff at the freshman campus.”
TODD FREEMAN VESTAVIA SUPERINTENDENT
Photo Vestavia Hills City Schools
Before becoming assistant principal at the main high school campus, Bill Mann, above, taught history at Louis Pizitz Middle School.
SCHOOLS 3 … 2 … 1 … LEGO!
Crestline Lego Team Wins Robotics Award at State
Crestline Elementary’s Crestline Cool Coders competed March 5 in the First Lego League State Championship, a global program open to grades four through eight.
The Cool Coders felt confident going to state after winning the Champion’s Award at the Southern Railway qualifier, according to a release from Mountain Brook City Schools.
The rookie team of fourth, fifth and sixth graders walked away from the competition with the Robot Performance award after outscoring 23 teams in a series of timed challenges.
Making up the team were
Fourth graders: Jack Couch, Charlie Long and James McLester.
Fifth graders: William Acker, Val Marcoux and Samantha Oliphant. Sixth grader: Emelia White.
Crestline team sponsor and head coach: Heather Phillips.
Coaches: Scott Phillips and Pronce Acker.
Robot: Rhino
Crestline Elementary’s Crestline Cool Coder’s won the Robot Performance award at the First Lego League State Championships last month.
Hoover Schools Foundation Denim and Dining Event Set for Aldridge’s Pavilion
Hoover City Schools Foundation will host the annual Denim and Dining fundraiser April 29 at Aldridge Gardens.
The outdoor pavilion will play host to this casual event with live and silent auctions, live music and a catered barbeque dinner from Jim ’N Nick’s.
Proceeds will be used for enhanced academics in all 17 of Hoover’s schools to benefit its nearly 14,000 students, including college and career readiness, teacher grants, professional development, STEM and SeedLAB.
Denim and Dining also will serve as the kickoff event for the Commit to 36 Campaign, an initiative of the Hoover City Schools Foundation to raise $36 for every student in the Hoover City School District – $1 for every week of the school year.
For more information visit: hoovercsf. org. Drew and Sara Franklin were among the guests attending last year’s Denim and Dining event.
We work tirelessly to help kids get well because Hugh has a long list of stuff he wants to do.
WE DO WHAT WE DO BECAUSE CHILDREN HAVE DREAMS.
1600 7TH AVENUE SOUTH BIRMINGHAM, AL 35233 (205) 638-9100 | ChildrensAL.org
Teachers Are in the Spotlight at Homewood Grown
Homewood Grown is a community event organized by the Homewood City Schools Foundation that celebrates “all things Homewood.”
Being held April 29, the event will include dinner provided by The Happy Catering Company in Patriot Park along with a keynote speech by awardwinning educator Debbie Fly, who has taught in the Homewood School system for more than 30 years.
The 2022 Teacher Impact Award winners also will be announced.
Due to limited capacity this year, the event is currently full. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, go to homewoodcityschoolsfoundtion.com for details.
Journal file photo by Jordan Wald
Homewood Grown is a community event organized by the Homewood City Schools Foundation that celebrates “all things Homewood.” Above, Marshall and Carey Beth Rivers with Erika and Corey Hartman at Homewood Grown 2021. This year’s event will be held on April 29.
HARRADINE
From page 40 said. “He has phenomenal hands. To be his size, he has incredibly soft hands and that helps as much as his punting. He has a really strong leg.”
Using Skills in Football
Harradine’s strong leg has helped him become one of the top football kicking recruits in the nation as both a punter and place-kicker. During the 2021 football season, he converted 59 of 64 extra point attempts and 7 of 14 field goal attempts (with a long of 39 yards), and he averaged 40 yards per punt. Also, 70% of his kickoffs wound up in the end zone, resulting in touchbacks.
Harradine spent spring break working on his kicking. He’s being heavily recruited by Baylor and Mississippi State, but he said he would take a serious look at any school from one of the Power 5 conferences (SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12 and Pac-12) that offered him a scholarship and has a good engineering school.
Harradine didn’t start playing football until the eighth grade, but he took over as the Spartans’ primary kicker as a sophomore on the varsity. Mountain Brook football coach Chris Yeager gave Harradine some of the credit for the Spartans’ stout defense during the 2021 season.
“The neat thing was Reed Harradine kicking the ball into the end zone and teams were getting the ball on the 20 and having to try to drive the length of the field,” Yeager said. “He’s a real talented young man. But probably the best thing he does is punting. He brings rain when he’s kicking it. He puts it in the clouds.”
Harradine took pride in creating touchbacks.
“Most high school kickers can’t put the ball in the end zone, so I try to put a good kick on it,” he said. “Plus, if I don’t put it in the end zone our special teams coach gets mad.”
Harradine’s most memorable place-kick of the 2021 season came in the Class 6A semifinals against ClayChalkville when he kicked a 28-yard field goal with 1:48 remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the score 18-18.
“That’s one of the scariest field goals I’ve every hit because if I didn’t make it, it would have been the end of the game,” he said. “So I guess you can say I clutched up.”
Clay-Chalkville eventually won the game 24-18, ending the Spartans’ playoff run.
Soccer Tradition
Although Harradine’s future is in football, soccer has been his game all his life. His dad, Robert Harradine, who is from England, played as a center midfielder for the famous Chelsea Football Club in London.
Harradine’s older brother Ethan also played soccer and was Mountain Brook’s all-time scoring leader with 60 career goals when he graduated in 2018. He’s now studying engineering at UAB after playing soccer at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.
Harradine credits his brother for helping him become a skilled goalkeeper. The two would play in the backyard and Harradine would try to stop Ethan’s shots.“That’s how I got pretty good at goalkeeping because he was good at shooting,” Reed Harradine said.
Reed Harradine shares his success this season with his defenders, especially seniors Cole Knight and Camden Hemstreet and freshman Jude Smith.
“I don’t want anything going in the goal, so my job is to stop it,” Harradine said. “I’ve got some good guys in front of me who do a good job of stopping the ball before it gets to me.
“I try to guide all those guys back there, letting them know where people are. If they do their job correctly, it makes my job easier.”
And of course, he doesn’t have to do any running.
Harradine’s strong leg has helped him become one of the top football kicking recruits in the nation as both a punter and place-kicker.
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Homecoming
By RuBin E. GRant
Sarah Ashlee Barker tries to go where God wants her.
When Barker, the 2020 Alabama Miss Basketball, signed with Georgia out of Spain Park High School, she said she was following the leading of the Lord. And now that she’s transferring to the University of Alabama
after two seasons with the Bulldogs, she once again said God is behind her decision.
Barker signed with Alabama last week after entering the transfer portal following Georgia women’s coach Joni Taylor’s departure to become the head coach at Texas A&M. Taylor had recruited Barker.
“I came to Georgia 100 percent because of her,” Barker said in a phone interview. “I don’t regret my decision. But God opens other doors and I believe God is leading me to Alabama.”
Barker considered following Taylor to Texas A&M but decided she wanted to be closer to home and play for Alabama coach Kristy Curry.
“I love coach Curry,” Barker said. “She’s doing good things at Alabama and she wants to take the next step to get Alabama to the top of the SEC. I have a good relationship with her, so it was time to come home.”
Barker, a 6-foot guard, will finish the semester at Georgia and report to Alabama in June. She will be a junior for the Crimson Tide.
As a sophomore this past season, Barker averaged 7.7 points, 4 rebounds and 2.4 assists, playing in 31 games for the Bulldogs. In her first season, she earned a spot on the 202021 SEC All-Freshman Team and was twice named the league’s freshman of the week, playing in 24 games and averaging 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds.
“We are so proud and excited to welcome Sarah Ashlee Barker home to Alabama,” Curry said in a release. “She has the two most important qualities that we look for in a player that you can’t coach, and that is heart and hustle. Those attributes truly make her special as a competitor and a teammate.
“She will bring such valuable SEC experience to our program, which will translate to her making an immediate impact within every aspect of our program. Our Alabama women’s basketball family just gained a truly special person. Welcome home, SA!”
Barker was selected the Alabama Sports Writers Association 2020 Miss Basketball after averaging 23.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.9 steals as a senior and leading Spain Park to the Class 7A state championship. She was named MVP of the Class 7A tournament along with being selected the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and the MaxPreps Player of the Year.
She also was the 2020 OTMJ Player of the Year and a three-time ASWA all-state selection as well as the 2019 Class 7A Player of the Year.
Barker scored 2,222 points and collected 1,107 rebounds during her career at Spain Park, helping the Jaguars win two state championships, in 2018 and 2020.
Journal file photo
Former Spain Park standout Sarah Ashlee Barker as a sophomore this past season, averaged 7.7 points, 4 rebounds and 2.4 assists, playing in 31 games for the University of Georgia.
Storied Legacy
Barker is the daughter of former Alabama quarterback Jay Barker. Her older brother Braxton Barker will be a graduate assistant football coach this fall after spending the past four seasons as a backup quarterback for the Tide.
“Braxton texted me congratulations and said he was glad I was coming to Alabama,” Sarah Ashlee Barker said. “My whole family is happy I’m coming home.”
Barker’s twin brother, Harrison Barker, is a backup quarterback at UAB, which also factored into her decision to transfer closer to home.
“If I had transferred to Texas A&M and he started playing in some games for UAB, I wouldn’t have been able to see him play,” Sarah Ashlee Barker said. “Now, if he gets to play, I can go see him.”
By RuBin E. GRant
More than a month and a half into the 2022 high school softball season, Spain Park coach C.J. Urse Hawkins is not quite sure what to make of her team.
That’s not to say that the Jaguars have been bad. They went into their Senior Night game Monday against Sumiton Christian with a 22-5-2 record.
But Urse Hawkins, who has more than 950 victories in her coaching career, is uncertain about whether she has a team capable of making a deep run in the postseason, which begins April 30.
“Coming into the season I thought we had a good foundation, even though we were replacing four starters,” Urse Hawkins said. “I like our group. We have some good chemistry, a group that sacrifices for each other.
“With the pitching depth we have, I felt we could reload, but our lineup falls off after our first five hitters. So we’re not a juggernaut.”
The Jags had to replace All-American Annabelle Widra, who played six seasons as a pitcher and shortstop. She’s now at Michigan.
Also gone is outfielder Lydia Coleman, who is at Penn State, and slugging first baseman Chloe Brittain.
Spain Park did return Katie Flannery, a junior shortstop who has already committed to Oregon.
“She’s a strong player and versatile,” Urse Hawkins said. “She can play anywhere and she has a lot of leadership skills, too.”
Flannery entered this week with a robust .459 batting average, while leading the team in hits (39), runs (29), RBI (30) and doubles (8). She also had six home runs and a .764 slugging percentage to go along with a .511 on-base percentage.
Slugging sophomore catcher Maggie Daniel also returned. She was leading the team with 10 home runs and was tied with Flannery for the team lead in RBI with 30. She also had seven doubles, a .368 batting average, a .911 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage.
“She’s got power,” Urse Hawkins said. “She’s big and strong. She will have a chance to break the school home run record before she’s finished.”
Sophomore outfielder Emma Hawkins, freshman second baseman Charlee Bennett and senior outfielder Emma Jolley also have been productive at the plate.
Hawkins, the daughter of the coach, was batting .365 with a .473 on-base percentage, 26 runs scored and 13 stolen bases. Bennett was leading the team with 17 stolen bases and had four home runs and 22 RBI. Jolley, one of five seniors on the team, was batting .379 with 12 stolen bases, 28 runs scored and seven doubles. She signed with BirminghamSouthern College in February.
The other seniors are Caroline Whisenhunt, Katherine Brown, Kyndal Heaton and Morgan Jolley, who is Emma Jolley’s twin sister.
Whisenhunt (3-0), who transferred from Hoover, and Brown (6-1) are both pitchers, but the ace of the staff is junior Ella Reed. She fashioned a 13-2 record as a sophomore last year and has a 13-4 record this season with a 1.95 earned-run average and 128 strikeouts in 97 innings pitched.
“She does a great job,” Urse Hawkins said. “She’s got movement on her pitches and speed and has a different assortment of pitches.”
The Jags compete in Class 7A, Area 6, also with defending state champion HewittTrussville, Vestavia Hills and Oak Mountain. Spain Park was 1-1 in the area heading into their game Tuesday at Hewitt, which is ranked No. 18 nationally by MaxPreps.
“I think this is the toughest area in the state, without a doubt,” Urse Hawkins said. “Hewitt is the favorite to win area, but I feel like anything can happen and any of the four teams can advance to the playoffs.
“I feel like we have a chance, but we have to stay healthy and manage the uncontrollable things.”
RIGHT MIX
Spain Park Softball Squad Hopes Team Chemistry Will Produce a Playoff Spark
Journal photos by Jordan Wald The ace of the staff is junior Ella Reed. Maggie Daniel is leading the with 10 homers.
R.J. Hamilton prepares to tag a John Carroll base runner out at second in the Buc’s 9-8 win over the Cavs last week.
HOOVER
From page 40 Florence to reach the championship series.
Their quest for their first title since 2017 ended in the championship series against No. 4 Auburn when the Bucs lost the deciding game 7-6, leaving the bases loaded in the final inning. They finished 27-22.
Coming so close to a state championship has turned the Bucs into a close-knit unit this season.
“I’m proud of what we did last year,” Steele said. “It glued us together for this year. Since we were runners-up, we came in looking back at how close we came to winning it last year. So this year, we’re playing an extremely difficult schedule to get us ready for the area to try to get back to the playoffs.”
The Bucs were ranked No. 6 in Class 7A in last week’s Alabama Sports Writers Association poll. Hoover carried a 22-9 record into their Area 5 opener at Tuscaloosa County on Tuesday. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Thursday at Hoover. Next week the Bucs will play three games against area foe Oak Mountain and conclude area play the following week with three games against Thompson.
“I think we have a good chance to win the area,” Steele said. “We’ve got a bunch of good arms, guys like Jack Campell, Tyler Wilson and Samuel Schmidt. I think it comes down to throwing strikes and making the routine plays on defense because we’ve got guys who can hit.”
Last week the Bucs hosted the Walk-On’s Buccaneer Classic, going 4-2 in the three-day spring break event. They posted victories over Brooks 11-0, Harvard-Westlake School from California 3-2, Farragut from Knoxville, Tennessee, 3-1, and Christian Academy of Knoxville 4-2, but lost to Gadsden City 9-4 and Mountain Brook 5-4 in eight innings.
The Bucs have gotten solid production from players such as Steele, outfielder Will Lawrence, outfielder Andrew Batson, catcher-middle infielder Cade Carr, first baseman Carter Milliron, third baseman Conner Prothro and middler infielder R.J. Hamilton.
Steele, the 2021 OTMJ Player of the Year, is one of several seniors who will play at the next level. Steele has signed with Samford, Protho with Central Alabama Community College, outfielder Luke McNeill with Snead State Community College and pitcher Marcus Locklear with Lawson State Community College.
Juniors Wilson (Auburn), Hamilton (Vanderbilt), and Carr (Samford) also have committed to play baseball in college.
“The guys work hard, and it’s a bunch of guys that have been around this thing for a while, and they know what to expect and how to work,” Hoover coach Adam Moseley said.
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