KA’s Stennis honored as top area FCA athlete
Tori Stennis is still trying to wrap her head around what happened at Friday morning’s Jackie Slay “Breakfast of Champions” event held at MSU-Meridian.
The Kemper Academy senior was chosen as the Mark Bryan Female Athlete of the year by the East Central
Mississippi Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, representing 33 schools in nine counties.
“I’m still in shock,” Stennis said on Tuesday morning. “I had no idea I was going to win that.”
“It’s a big honor for the county,” said Chris Gully, FCA sponsor for Kemper Academy. The fact that out of nine county region we had a winner from Kemper Academy is special.”
Each school nominated two students as “Champions of Character.” All 66 of them were honored during Friday’s banquet which was concluded with a presentation from former Heisman Trophy Winner and NBA standout Charlie Ward of Florida State.
Representing Kemper Academy were Stennis and Faith Wilson, while Darrian Turner and Kalyan Clayton represented Kemper County High School
Each of those 66 then went on line to fill out a questionnaire. One of the questions was about what kind of impact FCA should have.
What caught the judges’ attention was her take on bullying.
“I have seen people be bullied in my life and every time I see it I can see the bully as the victim as much as the one being picked on,” she said. “They both are hurting from something and need help. We should learn to care about people and seek to help them.”
The nine counties that make up the East Central chapter of the FCA are Kemper, Lauderdale, Neshoba, Newton, Clarke, Jasper, Leake, Scott, and Smith counties.
The Mark Bryan Male Athlete of the Year was Bradon Epting of West Lauderdale, while Wade Weathers of Stringer High School was named the Mac Barnes Coach of the Year.