NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., center, answers questions from Chattanooga Times Free Press Sports Editor Jay Greeson, left, and Assistant Sports Editor Stephen Hargis at the 2014 Best of Preps Banquet on Thursday at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Earnhardt was the guest speaker at the annual event which honors the area’s best prep athletes.
Chattanooga Times Free Press Assistant Sports Editor Stephen Hargis, right, presents Male Athlete of the Year Slade Dale with the football award at the 2014 Best of Preps Banquet on Thursday at the Chattanooga Convention Center .
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., takes the stage at the 2014 Best of Preps Banquet on Thursday at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Earnhardt was the guest speaker at the annual event which honors the area’s best prep athletes.
Brian Davis, left, and Justin Brown work to install a NASCAR ice sculpture at the 2014 Best of Preps Banquet.
People dine at the 2014 Best of Preps Banquet on Thursday at the Chattanooga Convention Center. NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., was the guest speaker at the annual event which honors the area’s best prep athletes.In the athletic realm there is little the three major award winners from Thursday night’s Best of Preps Banquet have in common except, obviously, success.
One common theme, however, from the overall coach, female and male athletes of the year is the path to that success and the acknowledgement that so much more is involved than individual glory.
For Coach of the Year Jake Yost, Female Athlete of the Year Brooke Copeland and Male Athlete of the Year Slade Dale, Thursday’s coronation in front of the largest crowd in banquet history was a chance to reflect on what got each of them there.
“This is such a cool experience to be recognized for our program doing so well,” said Yost, who in two seasons as the coach of Cleveland’s juggernaut wrestling team has won four state titles. “A lot of it is due to so many people and facets of the program that I just happen to be the representative of, from the coaches to the parents and to the people in the community.”
That sentiment was also a major theme of guest speaker Dale Earnhardt Jr., who said his NASCAR success is all about teamwork and being part of a family. Ringgold’s Dale, after hearing racing’s most popular driver’s words, was moved to thank his own actual and athletic families.