Jump to content

BHC's-29 years of Gene "Pappy" Thompson Award Recipients

tbgfan
 Share

Recommended Posts

tbgfan    856

tbgfan
Posted (edited)

Bristol Herald Courier is doing a daily series on past years Gene "Pappy" Thompson winners. These are the recipients posted the last few days. Thought you might want to read an update on their lives now. Will add to this list as each new story is posted.

 

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/13/first-29-timmy-brown-follows-his-calling-ar-970424/

2004 Winner - Timmy Brown (Richlands High School)

 

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/13/first-29-colley-says-award-and-honor-win-ar-968647/

2005 Winner - Jacob Colley (Haysi High School)

 

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/12/2006-thompson-award-winner-elizabeth-lindsay-worki-ar-968642/

2006 Winner - Elizabeth Lindsay (Grundy High School)

 

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/11/first-29-arrington-becomes-student-crazy-duke-ar-963792/

2007 Winner - Chelsea Arrington (St. Paul High School)

 

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/10/first-29-harrison-trying-overcome-concussion-ar-962520/

2008 Winner - David Harrison (Rural Retreat High School)

 

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/09/first-29-lovett-has-interesting-year-ar-961163/

2009 Winner - Jared Lovett (Abingdon High School)

 

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/08/first-29-frye-still-appreciates-his-pappy-win-ar-958647/

2010 Winner - Caleb Frye (Patrick Henry High School)

 

 

Life has many choices---eternity two

Edited by tbgfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

tbgfan    856

tbgfan
  • Author
Posted

Typing this from the printed edition--couldn't locate the online posting.

 

1995 Winner - Seth Askins (Clintwood High School)

 

 

Former Clintwood football standout graduated from William and Mary law in 2002

 

BY NATE HUBBARD

BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

 

California is a long way from Clintwood.

 

But even if his surroundings have changed, Seth Askins hasn't wavered from his high school goals.

 

"I always wanted to be a prosecutor," said Askins, the 1995 Gene "Pappy" Thompson award winner.

 

"I always knew I would play football or be a prosecutor and when football didn't work out this is where I was headed."

 

Askins, who was a star quarterback for the Greenwave and was on the University of Virginia scout team for two years as a walk-on in college, is now an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego, serving as the deputy chief of his office's general crimes section.

 

After graduating from UVa in 1999 and William and Mary law school in 2002, where he met his wife, Askins said he spent the next six years in two-year chunks, spending roughly 24 months each clerking for a federal appellate court judge in Washington, D.C., working as an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Fauquier County and serving as an associate with the McGuire Woods law firm before finally getting settled in California.

 

"I'm good here," he said with a laugh.

 

Askins, though, said he still makes it back often to Dickenson County, where his dad was a longtime commonwealth's attorney and his parents still reside.

 

Despite his varied experiences over the past 16 years, Askins said the Pappy award remains meaningful.

 

"It was an honor then and it's an honor now," he said.

 

While he's created a successful law career, Askins expects to tackle a new challenge in the coming years: figuring out soccer.

 

Askins said his two kids, a 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son, are becoming futbol fanatics.

 

"I'll learn," he said with another chuckle.

 

As he's proven, when Askins sets his mind to something, success isn't far behind.

 

Other 1995 finalists: Melissa Gilliam (Marion), Rachel Glass (Daniel Boone), Nathan McGlothlin (Lebanon), Kelly Sue Rector (Patrick Henry).

 

Other 1995 nominees: Steven Audia (Lee High), Kerri Lynn Beasley (Gate City), Natasha Belcher (J.J. Kelly), Shannon Casteel (Castlewood), Emily Dungan (Chilhowie), Michael Forrester (Sullivan East), Josh Hale (Virginia High), Steve Harris (Northwood), Garrett Jackson (Abingdon), Joey Ibrahim (Elizabethton), Tara Mitchell (Richlands), Tabitha Penland (St. Paul), Lisa Raines (John Battle), Wes Robbins (Powell Valley), Lewis Satterwhite (Tennessee High), Amy Stiltner (Grundy), Tracy Watson (Science Hill)

 

 

Life has many choices---eternity two

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 
 
 

tbgfan    856

tbgfan
  • Author
Posted

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/26/former-thompson-award-winner-meg-graves-still-runn-ar-995293/

1992 Winner - Meg Arnold Graves (Tennessee High School)

 

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/27/2/first-29-samantha-slate-holds-thompson-award-high--ar-998187/

1991 Winner - Samantha Slate (Abingdon High School)

 

 

 

Life has many choices---eternity two

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 
 

tbgfan    856

tbgfan
  • Author
Posted

Couldn't find this story posted online.

 

 

1990 Winner - Stephen Fields (Chilhowie High School)

 

Former Chilhowie star juggles raising his children, earning a criminal justice degree at Bluefield College

 

Stephen Fields knows the adrenaline rush of scoring a winning touchdown in front of hundreds of cheering fans on a Friday night and the elation of sinking a key bucket to help clinch a victory in basketball.

 

But neither of those moments compare to what he experienced one evening on the living room carpet with his 9-year-old son.

 

"One of the greatest things I've ever experienced is to be a parent of a special needs child and then to watch him take his first step at the age of nine," Fields said of his son, Dezmond. "I see parents take great pride in their child being a great athlete or scholar, but to see my son take that first step when doctors said he wouldn't live to be six was a proud moment for me."

 

Fields has known many proud moments such as his selection as the 1990 Thompson Award recipient.

 

Fields was the star athlete at Chilhowie High School were he rushed for a career 3,275 yards while scoring 450 points in football, he finished with 1,549 career points in basketball and was the holder of three individual school track records.

 

"That seems like such a long time ago," said Fields, who is employed by Food City at the company's distribution center near Abingdon. "But playing sports was just the norm. That's what I loved doing."

 

Fields' excellence at sports and his work ethic in the classroom along with his community service all came together to make him the winner of the Thompson Award.

 

"I remember my mother (Virginia) going out to get the paper on Sunday morning and she came back in the house all excited saying that I had won the Thompson Award," Fields remembered. "I think my mother was more excited than I was."

 

Fields attended East Tennessee State but school became secondary after the birth of Dezmond.

 

"We were in and out of hospitals during that time so I put my education on hold," Fields said. "But I know the value of an education. Last year I decided to work toward a degree."

 

And Fields is getting closer to earning that degree.

 

"After this summer I will need only two classes to get my degree in criminal justice," said Fields, who is attending Bluefield College. "If I can do this, then anybody can."

 

Fields wants to set an example for his other children---daughter Erika (16), stepdaughter Nicollete (12) and daughter Jade (2)--just as his mother set an example for him.

 

"My mother never graduated from high school and she was a single mom raising four kids," Fields said. "Mom pushed us to further our education and to do the best we could."

 

Other 1990 Finalists: Tonya Bailey (Daniel Boone), Melissa Bowden (John Batttle), Chris Day (Lee High), Mark Summers (Appalachia).

 

Other 1990 Nominees: Stanley Bowles (Tazewell), Rex Carter (Rye Cove), Adam Dowe (Virginia High), Trevis Gillespie (Northwood), John Gose (Gate City), Shane Hillman (Clintwood), David Horne (J.I. Burton), Mitch House (Castlewood), John Hulvey (Abingdon), Jeannine Ingram (Sullivan South), Donna Kilgore (Dobyns-Bennett), Terina Meade (Pound), Eric Newberry (St. Paul), Chris Patton (Graham), Michelle Rife (Richlands), Christine Stringer (Marion), Richard Torbett (Sullivan East), John Weatherspoon (Powell Valley), Orville Whittington (Science Hill), Don Williams (Holston), Stephanie Wilson (Tennessee High).

 

 

Life has many choices---eternity two

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 
 

tbgfan    856

tbgfan
  • Author
Posted

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/30/first-29-abingdons-dean-won-pappy-award-1988-ar-1007205/

1988 Winner - Elizabeth Dean Ledford (Abingdon High School)

 

 

http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/apr/30/first-29-locke-made-most-high-school-experience-ar-1008507/

1987 Winner - Mike Locke (Virginia High School)

 

 

 

Life has many choices---eternity two

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 
 
 

GMan    3,569

GMan
Posted
http://www2.tricities.com/sports/2011/may/03/thompson-award-winner-trey-mccall-home-diamond-ar-1012178/

1985 Winner - Trey McCall (Abingdon High School)

 

 

Life has many choices---eternity two

 

I was waiting for this one. Nice guy and a hell of a baseball player...tremendous hitter and the best arm of any high school catcher I've ever seen/played against.

 

Funny story about Trey and Abingdon.

 

My senior year we were playing Abingdon at Abingdon. Trey, of course, was catching.

 

I "got lucky" and lead off the inning with a single.

 

Now, I wasn't the fastest guy in the world but I was pretty quick on the bases back in the day.

 

I'm standing on first, watching the signs from Coach McKinney...take my lead...pitch goes to the plate...I step back on first.

 

I look over at Coach McKinney...he gives me the same sign...I get my lead off of first...pitch to the plate...I walk back to first.

 

Next pitch, same thing except Coach McKinney is very animated with giving me the sign this time...I get my lead off first...pitch to the plate...I go back to first.

 

By this time, Coach McKinney is glaring at me from the third base coach's box with his hands on his hips. Coach O'Neal, our first base coach, asks me "you're getting the signs, right?"

 

I looked at him and said, "Yeh, but there's no way in hell I'm going to try to steal on this guy."

 

Abingdon's first baseman fell to his knees laughing...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 

Deleted Account    5,203

Deleted Account
Posted
I was waiting for this one. Nice guy and a hell of a baseball player...tremendous hitter and the best arm of any high school catcher I've ever seen/played against.

 

Funny story about Trey and Abingdon.

 

My senior year we were playing Abingdon at Abingdon. Trey, of course, was catching.

 

I "got lucky" and lead off the inning with a single.

 

Now, I wasn't the fastest guy in the world but I was pretty quick on the bases back in the day.

 

I'm standing on first, watching the signs from Coach McKinney...take my lead...pitch goes to the plate...I step back on first.

 

I look over at Coach McKinney...he gives me the same sign...I get my lead off of first...pitch to the plate...I walk back to first.

 

Next pitch, same thing except Coach McKinney is very animated with giving me the sign this time...I get my lead off first...pitch to the plate...I go back to first.

 

By this time, Coach McKinney is glaring at me from the third base coach's box with his hands on his hips. Coach O'Neal, our first base coach, asks me "you're getting the signs, right?"

 

I looked at him and said, "Yeh, but there's no way in hell I'm going to try to steal on this guy."

 

Abingdon's first baseman fell to his knees laughing...

 

LOL. Thanks for sharing that, a good read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 

tbgfan    856

tbgfan
  • Author
Posted

Story not published on-line

 

 

1984 Winner - Patty Lipoma Gill (Sullivan North High School)

 

Former Sullivan North star was the first female honored with the "Pappy"

 

 

Once a four-sport star and a trailblazer, Patty Lipoma Gill is now a coach and captain.

 

The 1984 Gene "Pappy" Thompson award winner out of Sullivan North High School---and first female to win the honor---Gill left Kingsport, Tenn., for Annapolis, Md., following her high school graduation and has been a Navy woman ever since.

 

"I'm still active duty in the Navy," Gill said. "It's made an excellent career for me."

 

Gill got her undergraduate degree in oceanography and later got more schooling in applied physics with a concentration in underwater acoustics.

 

Today's she's a captain and a commanding officer of a management group doing work on developing advanced naval technologies out of the Washington Navy Yard in D.C.

 

Gill met her husband through the Navy and both of her sons, now 12 and 9, were born while she was on a post in San Diego. Her career has featured an overseas tour in Great Britain as well as cruises to Indonesia and Japan and she's lived in six different U.S. states.

 

"It's taken us to all of the different parts of the country," she said.

 

During her high school career at then-newly opened Sullivan North, Gill excelled in basketball and softball and also dabbled in soccer and golf.

 

"Golf in still a big thing," she said. "That's pretty much my prime sport as far as me personally."

 

Gill, though, also played basketball in a military league up until last year when she suffered a shoulder tear that has slowed her down, if only slightly.

 

"I think I'll mostly focus on coaching," she said. "I love teaching the fundamentals to the kids because to me that was one of the most important things."

 

She currently serves as a head or assistant coach for her sons' basketball, baseball and soccer teams. Gill called her oldest son "a big lefty" on the pitching mound and said when her latest command tour ends in a couple of years she may finally retire from the Navy and bring her family back to Kingsport in time for him to star as she once did for the Raiders.

 

While athletcis remain a big part of her life, Gill said the Pappy award's significance to her comes from its emphasis on the whole person.

 

"It's not just all about sports.... and I thing that's great," she said.

 

Other 1984 Finalists: Sheryl Absher (Richlands), Oliver Asher (Holston), Greg Hoofnagle (Marion), Kevin Jessee (Virginia High).

 

Other 1984 Nominees: Tommy Craft (Gate City), Brian Davis (Hurley), Jill Elkins (Castlewood), Mark Frye (R.B. Worthy), Connie Griffin ( Sullivan East), Ross Hawkins (Ervinton), Melissa McCray (Science Hill), Jeannie McFall (Clintwood), Linda Neuls (Abingdon), Jimmy Osborne (Rich Valley), Jeff Pardue (Johnson County), Mark Rollins (Rye Cove), Billy Sage (Pennington), Pete VandeBrake (Tennessee High).

 

 

Life has many choices---eternity two

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 
 
 

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...