RRS NOTES: Pike Road Kiwanis Club Fun Run set; Saban hosts Clinic; Mr./Miss Basketball announced
STAFF REPORT
The second annual Family Fun Run organized by the Kiwanis Club of Pike Road is Saturday, April 16 and is for all types of runners – beginners to enthusiasts.
The 5K run begins at 8 a.m. at SweetCreek Farm Market and follows Pike Road’s bike and walking trail along Meriwether Road for 1.55 miles and then circles back to SweetCreek.
The run is open to all skill levels. Entering the race and getting a colorful race T-shirt is $25 for adults and $15 for children ages 12 and under.
The Kiwanis Club’s first Family Fun Run in 2021 raised $4,000 for the libraries at Pike Road’s schools, club, club president Sandy Cowen said. The 2022 run will benefit the Pike Road Kiwanis scholarship fund.
The proceeds from the fun run are always used to further the club’s mission of supporting the needs of children in the Pike Road community.
“One of the signature projects that our club has chosen is to award two scholarships to graduating seniors who demonstrate a need for financial assistance to pursue post-secondary education at a four-year college, two-year college or vocational/technical college,” Cowen said.
To enter the race, go to active.com and type Pike Road in the search box. Here is the direct link (Click)
Sponsors for the 2022 Family Fun Run include: Montgomery Multisport, Lowder New Homes, Mossy Oak Properties/ Alabama Land Crafters, Dixie Electric Cooperative, River Bank and Trust, Jack Ingram Motors, CB&S Bank, Buttermilk Farmhouse, Pike Road Family Eyecare, Pike Road Dental, Made by Mackin, Sol, the Jackson Wellness Center, Guns Out Crossfit and Livings, Lambert, Duffee and Mackin.
Saban to host Clinic of Champions
The 2022 Clinic of Champions hosted by Alabama head coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide football coaching staff is slated for April 7-9 on the University of Alabama campus.
The clinic features Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy, Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, former LSU and New Orleans Saints special teams coordinator Greg McMahon and Dr. Kevin Elko.
The Clinic will include a Chalk Talk with the entire Alabama coaching staff along with sessions from special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler, corners coach Travaris Robinson, offensive line coach Eric Wolford, tight ends coach Joe Cox and director of sports performance David Ballou.
To register for the Clinic of Champions and pay by credit card, go to https://www.alabamafootballclinicofchampions.com/. Coaches may also register on-site the day of the clinic.
The cost is $60. The Clinic of Champions is open to coaches only. All coaches attending are required to show their high school coaches card or a letter from their school for verification.
Dunning, Steele named top HS Basketball players
McGill-Toolen Catholic High School senior Barry Dunning Jr., and Hazel Green senior Samiya Steele earned the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s top basketball honor. Dunning was named “Mr. Basketball” for the just completed 2021-22 high school basketball season and Steele was chosen “Miss Basketball.”
The announcement came on Thursday during the ASWA’s annual awards banquet held at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center.
Dunning, an Arkansas signee and two-time Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year, was named the state’s 40th Mr. Basketball and just the fifth player from the Mobile area to receive the honor.
Calhoun’s J.D. Davison, who just finished his freshman season with the University of Alabama, won the Mr. Basketball honor twice in 2020 and ‘21.
“We always said Barry was going to play his best basketball as a senior,” McGill-Toolen head coach Phillip Murphy said. “He is a late bloomer in my opinion. He has a very high ceiling. He definitely played the best basketball of his high school career in his last two weeks. It’s going to be fun to see what he does at Arkansas.”
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound forward led McGill-Toolen to a 30-5 record and the Class 6A state semifinals this season. He was also named the Class 6A Player of the Year at the banquet, averaged 25.3 points and 12.9 rebounds this season. He also averaged 3.3 steals, 2.6 assists and 1.7 blocks for the Yellow Jackets. He was also Al.com’s Coastal Alabama Player of the Year.
Dunning was named the Alabama MVP in the 2022 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic played earlier in March. He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists in Alabama’s 96-89 victory.
Steele is the first Hazel Green player to be selected Miss Basketball and the 35th award winner since first starting in 1988.
“When you talk about Hazel Green girls’ basketball over the last couple of years, you think Samiya Steele,” Hazel Green coach Tim Miller said. “She is the heart and soul of the program.”
Steele averaged 17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists with 65 steals for Class 6A champion Hazel Green, which finished undefeated with a 35-0 record while winning its fifth straight title. The Trojans also ended with the AHSAA’s current longest winning streak (59) still intact. The Alabama State signee who participated in the recent Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game won by Alabama 89-81, finished her prep career with more than 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. She was selected the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and earned Class 6A Final Four MVP for the second straight season. Hazel Green was 141-5 during her final four years in high school with four state titles.
She became the fifth Huntsville area player to earn Miss Basketball honors in the 35-year history of the award.
Three boys and three girls from each of the AHSAA’s seven classifications and the AISA were recognized as finalists and were in attendance at Thursday’s banquet. A player of the year in each gender was selected by the ASWA All-State Committee comprised of member sportswriters from across the state.
The ASWA’s Boys’ Class Players of the Year included: (Class 7A) Labaron Philon, Baker; (Class 6A) Barry Dunning Jr., McGill-Toolen Catholic; (Class 5A) Martavious Russell, Sipsey Valley; (Class 4A) Antonio Kite, Anniston; (Class 3A) Cole Millican, Plainview; (Class 2A) Anthony Johnson, Midfield; (Class 1A) Will Bonner, Belgreen; (AISA) Robert Rose, Autauga Academy.
The ASWA Girls’ Class Players of the Year were: (Class 7A) Reniya Kelly, Hoover; (Class 6A) Samiya Steele, Hazel Green; (Class 5A) Olivia Vandergriff, Guntersville; (Class 4A) Emma Kate Tittle, Deshler; (Class 3A) Ella Jane Connell, Prattville Christian; (Class 2A) Molly Heard, Pisgah; (Class 1A) Timya Thurman, Linden; (AISA) Jasmyn Burts, Glenwood.