RUSK — There was plenty to celebrate Sunday afternoon at the Rusk Civic Center as the Rusk Athletic Booster Club presented the annual All-Sports Award Ceremony.
With five of Rusk High School's six-major team sports having earned state playoff berths during the 2016-17 school term, and a slew of student-athletes having qualified for region, area and state in the array of individual sports the school offers, there were many to be formally recognized and lauded for their respective achievements.
Academics were not forgotten either, as numerous young men and women were signaled out for their high academic achievement, both on the district and state levels.
Cody Glenn, a 2005 graduate of Rusk High, served as the keynote speaker.
Glenn, who now works as a coach at Langham Creek High School in the Houston area, ranks No. 8 in career rushing yards (6,353) all-time in Class 3A.
He went on to play collegiate football at the University of Nebraska and played professionally for the Washington Redskins, Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens.
Glenn seemed genuinely glad to be back in town.
“To come back and see the changes for the better, it makes me proud to say that I am from Rusk, Texas,” Glenn said. “I hope you realize what you have here and what you are a part of,” Glenn reminded the large number of student-athletes that were in the audience.
One of Glenn's key points directed toward the student-athletes had to do with making poor decisions.
“You will make mistakes...I made mistakes; but what is important is to learn from those mistakes and to not repeat those mistakes again,” he said. “If you have to make a choice, and you have to think too long about your decision, you probably should not do it.”
Booster club president Jason Crysup and Rusk athletic director and head football coach Jowell Hancock took care of things from the podium and kept the roughly 135-minute program flowing along at a nice pace.
Some of the premier award winners included: Jake Hugghins (E.H. Whitehead Outstanding Male Athlete), Damayshea Hart (J.L. Hassell Outstanding Female Athlete), Jake Hugghins (Jacksonville Daily Progress Male Scholar Athlete Award) and Rebekah Ruiz (Jacksonville Daily Progress Female Scholar Athlete Award).
Other lofty lauds went to Travis Pepin (Class of '63 Players Choice Football Award), Demarion Greenwood (Sportsmanship Award), Jalin Henderson (M. R. Philbrick Fighting Heart Award), Darrian McDuff (Dale Dotson Basketball Award) and Damayshea Hart (Doug Jordan Basketball Award).
Crysup presented Rusk head baseball coach Jason Barnes with a brand new plaudit — Eagle Nation Leadership Award.
Rusk Athletic Booster Club scholarship winners were Caitlin Ballew, Natalie Reither, Jake Hugghins, Noah Acker and Trevor Lee.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.