Half of this year’s six finalists for the Scrappy Moore Female Athlete of the Year award were underclassmen this past school year, including two decorated sophomores.
The winner will be announced during Thursday’s annual Times Free Press Best of Preps banquet at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Doors open at 6 p.m., dinner begins at 6:30 and this year’s featured speakers are tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams.
The finalists for Female Athlete of the Year are Gordon Lee junior Holli Brooks, Howard sophomore LaQuisha Jackson, Arts & Sciences’ Kayla Kelly, GPS sophomore Tory Kemp, Red Bank’s Bailey Lyness and Northwest Whitifled’s Christy Robinson.
A two-sport star, Brooks averaged 14 points, four rebounds and two steals in helping Gordon Lee’s basketball team go undefeated in Region 6-A and finish 25-2. In softball, the outfielder batted .378 with 24 runs and 23 RBIs for the Class A state runners-up.
Jackson lived up to her Spring Fling hype by following through on her announced intentions to break state records in the 100- and 200-meter sprints. The nation’s 10th-rated sprinter also anchored the Lady Hustlin’ Tigers’ state titles in the 4×100 and 4×200 relays and in two years has yet to lose in her eight running events at the state meet. She set a state record in the 100 (11.46) and capped her night by running the 200 in 23.86 to break a 32-year-old state mark. She began the week of the Spring Fling by finishing third in the state pentathlon, the first season she has competed in that event, and by the end of the week she received a standing ovation after her four state titles.
Kelly teamed with her twin sister Ahmee to win their second straight Class A/AA tennis state doubles championship and played No. 1 singles for the Lady Patriots. She led the Lady Patriots’ vaunted four-guard basketball lineup by averaging 15 points and seven rebounds a game. She was one of three CSAS seniors who finished with more than 1,000 career points, helping the team reach the Class A semifinals in the program’s first trip to the state tournament.
Kemp qualified for the state-limit four events at the Division II state track meet, finishing second in the triple jump, long jump and 300- and 100-meter hurdles. She averaged seven points, eight rebounds and three steals a game in basketball, helping the Bruisers reach the second round of the Division II-East region tournament before losing at top-ranked Ensworth. She also was a team leader in volleyball with 301 kills, 143 digs, 327 assists, 98 blocks and 33 aces.
Lyness, a Tennessee Wesleyan signee, averaged 16.9 points, 4.3 assists and 3.4 steals in basketball, finishing her career with 1,352 points. She was the leadoff batter and shortstop in softball and helped the volleyball team set a school record by winning 56 matches and capturing the Class AA state championship.
The 6-foot-3 Robinson, a Samford basketball signee, averaged 10 points, 6.5 rebounds and two blocks while making 55 percent of her field-goal attempts. She helped the Lady Bruins rebound from a region-tournament upset loss to advance to the Class AAAA state championship game and finish 29-4. In volleyball, she was an All-Area 7-AAAA performer, leading Northwest with 393 kills, 174 digs, 35 blocks and 17 aces.
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