ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Winners of the 2022 Joe Sewell Memorial Award Scholarship were announced Tuesday at the Wetumpka Civic Center.
Congratulations to Belle Haynes, of Tallassee High School and Michael Austin Forney of Holtville High School as the overall winners.
BELLE HAYNES
Tallassee High School
Softball, Volleyball, Track and Field
Beulah Baptist Church: VBS Volunteer, TRIBES Participant, Operation Christmas Child Softball: Team Captain, All-State, All-Metro, All-County, All-State Terrific 20, North-South Team Volleyball: Team Captain Bryant-Jordan Scholar-Athlete Volunteer with Food Pantry, Math & Physics tutor, Life-South Blood Drive Mu Alpha Theta, FCA, Key Club, SGA Officer, Spanish Club Scholarships to University of South Alabama, Auburn University, University of Alabama, UAB, Samford University, Southern Union Community College 9th Grade Joe Sewell Certificate Winner – Daughter of Dana and Beth Haynes
MICHAEL AUSTIN FORNEY
Holtville High School
Baseball, Football, Basketball
Shoal Creek Baptist Church: Prayer Group Leader Baseball: Highest Batting Average, Team Captain, All-County, All-Metro, All-State Football: North-South All-Star, County Defensive Player of the Year, All-County, All-State, Team Captain, Lead Tackler FCA, Mu Alpha Theta Officer, Spanish Club, Boys State Activities Director Volunteer with Humane Shelter, Food Pantry, Scholarships to Auburn University, Belhaven University, University of South Alabama, Millsaps College, University of Alabama Huntsville, Alabama A & M, AUM, 9th Grade Joe Sewell Certificate Winner – Son of Robert and Lee Forney
Here are the winners in individual categories:
Girl’s Leadership Award went to Madison Elaine McElrath of Stanhope Elmore High School.
Girl’s Academic Award went to Maggie Kathryn Thames of Elmore County High School.
Girl’s Church, Community, & Character Award went to Mackenzie Elizabeth Foshee of Stanhope Elmore High School.
Girl’s Athletic Award went to Chloe Baynes of Tallassee High School.
Boy’s Leadership Award went to Avery M. Thomas of Wetumpka High School.
Boy’s Academic Award went to Nathan Alan Golden of New Life Christian Academy.
Boy’s Church, Community, & Character Award went to Colton Curtis Jones of Edgewood Academy.
Boy’s Athletic Award went to Cooper Harrison Mann of Holtville High School.
The award was established in 2005 to recognize outstanding high school senior athletes in Elmore County who have consistently represented the highest ideals of Christian leadership.
Each year, one male and one female senior from Elmore County high schools are chosen for the top honor – the Joe Sewell Memorial Award and $3,000 John Sewell Scholarship. Male and female category winners are also selected for academics, athletics, leadership, and church, community, and character, with each category winner receiving a $1,000 scholarship. The Joe Sewell Memorial Award is the only program of its kind in the River Region that presents scholarship money in conjunction with the awards to overall and category winners.
Additionally, the award serves to honor the legacy of Joe Sewell, a native of the Titus community who established a very successful baseball career in the Majors from 1920-1933 and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.
Sewell’s athletic skill was apparent as he holds two of Major League Baseball’s records including the lifetime record for fewest strikeouts in his 14-year career with only 114 in 7,132 at-bats. His outstanding character and leadership are qualities that serve as the foundation of this award. His cousin John Sewell, for whom the top scholarships are named, loved sports and spent much of his free time coaching and helping young people.
Both men left a legacy in Elmore County that youth and adults alike can emulate.
This year’s 18th Annual Joe Sewell Memorial Award banquet was held Tuesday, May 3rd, at the Wetumpka Civic Center.
This year’s keynote speaker was Jonathan “Bear” Woods, former professional Canadian football linebacker of the Canadian Football League, and current Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at Wetumpka High School. The Joe Sewell Board of Directors previously scheduled Woods as the keynote speaker for the event in 2020, but Covid-19 forced a change of plans for that year’s event.
The Joe Sewell Board of Directors expresses their appreciation for the consistent generosity of the sponsors whose contributions allow the awarding of the program’s scholarships, as well as the opportunity to celebrate these students’ accomplishments with a formal award event each year. For more information regarding the award and scholarship program, visit http://joesewellaward.com
