BY TIM GAYLE
SPORTS WRITER – SPECIAL TO THE EAN
TOP PHOTO: From left are Steven Clark, Ava Cardona, David Lewis, Austin Golson
PRATTVILLE — Ava Cardona listened to Mike Lamar rattle off the list of accomplishments of the Willis Bradford Christian Leadership Award winner and figured out who Lamar was referring to.
“I thought it was the guy who had the 4.39 (grade-point average),” she said. “I heard that and I was like, ‘he’s winning.’”
It wasn’t Marbury’s Jack Thompson, as she thought. Lamar was actually discussing the accomplishments of Cardona, the Prattville Lions’ soccer star who received a Presidential Scholarship to the University of Alabama and is considering whether she should try out for intramural soccer or go out as a walk-on to the Crimson Tide’s soccer team.
“I was very surprised,” she said. “I don’t know if I really deserve it, compared to everyone else, but I appreciate it and I’m going to use it as a guide to do better.”
Cardona became the 10th Lion honored with the award since its inception in 1991 and the fourth in the last six years.
The daughter of Gil and Lori Cardona, she maintains a 4.29 grade-point average and is active in extracurricular activities such as soccer, Science Olympiad, Junior Civitan and FCA. She is a member of Pinedale Baptist Church where she participates in the Youth Group and volunteers to work with the Children’s Church ministry. She plans to major in criminology in hopes of one day joining the FBI as a forensic scientist.
The 36th annual Prattville YMCA-FCA Awards Banquet, initiated in 1987 as a way of honoring Autauga County’s senior student-athletes, returned to its familiar home on Monday at the First United Methodist Church after spending the previous two years at the Prattville YMCA as a result of COVID restrictions.
The Willis Bradford Christian Leadership Award was first presented to Marbury’s Jonathon Seamon in 1991 (there have been dual winners twice) and aims to promote the mission of the FCA and the YMCA to impact young people for Jesus Christ and to honor the student-athletes of Autauga County high schools that have demonstrated Christian leadership in their school and community.
The banquet honored each school’s nominee of a student-athlete for Bradford Award, presented to the top Christian athlete in the county. Monday’s event marked the first time in the 32-year history of the award that it wasn’t presented by Bradford, who passed away last November. The other five nominees for the award were:
• Alexis Robbins of Autuga Academy, a member of the Generals’ soccer team who serves the sports at the school as a cheerleader as well. The daughter of Bryan and Marolyn Robbins, she ranks number one in her class, currently serves as the SGA president and was the class president in the 11th and 12th grades. A member of Morningview Baptist Church, she serves in the children’s department at the church and plans to attend Alabama State University in the fall, where she would like to study occupational therapy.
• Myla Brown of Autaugaville, a member of the Eagles’ volleyball team. The daughter of Evelyn Dickerson, she has served on the Student Government Association, Youth Leadership Autauga County and Upward Bound at Alabama State University while ranking first in her graduating class. She is a member in the United Christian Church and participates on the praise dance team, youth choir and youth mentorship program. She plans to attend Tennessee State University where she will be majoring in nursing.
• Ashton Arnold of Billingsley, a member of the Bears’ baseball team. The son of Chris and Amanda Arnold, he is a member of the Beta Club and FFA and attends Bethsalem Baptist Church where he is an active part of the student ministry. He plans to attend Trenholm State Community College to pursue an associates degree in machine maintenance.
• Jack Thompson of Marbury, a member of the Bulldogs’ football and baseball teams who maintains a 4.39 grade-point average. The son of Jay and Wendy Thompson, he is an active member of the Prattville Church of Christ where he provides leadership in the Wednesday night class and plans to attend Troy University and pursue a degree in exercise science.
• Ella Jane Connell of Prattville Christian Academy, a member of the state championship basketball team who is the school’s career leader in points scored, field goals made, assists and steals while being honored as two-time 3A player of the year. The daughter of Scott and Claudia Connell, she is a member of Landmark Church of Christ where she is a member of the youth group, volunteers as a nursery worker and as a preschool teacher. She earned a scholarship to play basketball at Faulkner University.
The featured speaker was former Prattville High offensive lineman Austin Golson, who went on to play at Ole Miss and Auburn. The format was different from past years, with FCA area representative Steven Clark asking Golson several questions, allowing Golson to use the answers to explain how his faith turned around his life.
“I made the decision to try to get back into the church, into the FCA, realizing the life I wanted to live wasn’t going to take me anywhere I needed to be when I was an adult,” Golson said. “Fast forward, I ended up going to Ole Miss, playing there for a season, great year. As I mentioned earlier, my grandparents raised me and my grandad had three heart attacks when I was at Ole Miss. They had all graduated from Auburn and I just felt God was leading me to come back home.
“So, I made a huge sacrifice. I’m losing my scholarship. I took out a loan and walked on at Auburn for a year. That was obviously not a good situation, but I found a way to keep myself around the right people, stayed in these FCA groups, keep fighting through and realizing that God’s plan was better than my plan.”
In 2021, the event added a new award as the retiring Otis Reeves, who had spearheaded the first 34 banquets and had coached most of the sports provided by the Prattville YMCA over his 49-year coaching career, was the recipient of the Otis Reeves Outstanding Coaches Award.
This year, Reeves was on hand to present the award to Prattville Christian Academy boys’ and girls’ basketball coach Jason Roberson, who guided the girls’ team to its second consecutive 3A state championship.
The T.O. McDowell Christian Leadership Award was presented to Prattville’s Hunter Davis, an award that was initiated in 2008 to recognize an athlete who has displayed servant leadership through the YMCA and community activities.
For the 15th year, schools selected up to five student-athletes for the YMCA-FCA Christian Leadership Circle. The selections included:
Autauga Academy — A.J. Perry, Jake Robbins, Tyrus Sellers and Cody Tornow.
Autaugaville High School – Makesiah Burns, Alisha Burwell, Jamarcus Golson, Jaden Nixon and Deon Steele.
Billingsley High School – Hannah Emfinger, Macie Hubbard, Jackson Manning and Randriquis McCary.
Marbury High School – Callie Carter, Maddox Hollon, Addyson Jarman, Erin Nelson and Caleb Sutton.
Prattville High School – Jessica Cord, Marie Downey, Shidaisha Harris, MaCayla Hines and Samantha Stauter.
Prattville Christian Academy – Brady Hughes, Hannah Jones, Cooper Osborne, Avery Rogers and Caroline Schumpert.
