Emily Moser excelled in just about every area of school throughout her years at Lee Academy.
Moser was an honor student all year, graduated earlier in the month with a 4.0 GPA, was a MSAIS basketball and softball all-star and a track state champion in the 100-meter dash with a time of 14.09. She was elected student council president, the most athletic and most popular in her class and Miss Lee Academy. She was the homecoming queen, yearbook editor and chief and for all four years of high school the vice president of the Key Club.
She will be continuing her education at Mississippi State University in the fall pursuing a degree in speech pathology. She received a Key Club scholarship for around $1,000 for doing 200 or more community service hours, a Junior Auxiliary scholarship for $1,000 and a Marianna Faith Sherman scholarship for $500.
Staying focused helped Moser reach her goals.
“With sports and school, I just have to manage my time and stay on top of everything that I’m doing and plan my stuff outside, make sure I don’t forget about everything,” Moser said. “I just try to set a good example to everybody else that looks up to me.”
Moser said she had some free time on the weekend, but mostly, she was practicing for sports or studying for classes.
“It’s not very hard,” Moser said. “I enjoyed most of it, so it’s fun. It is a little challenging to stay on top of everything.”
As student council president, Moser had to plan homecoming and do other things to help her school. Her other achievements included being district MVP for basketball, making the all-district team and earning team MVP. She finished second at the state meet in the long jump with a distance of 15 feet 11½ inches, won a silver medal as part of a 4x100-meter relay team that came in second and finished fourth in the triple jump. She won track and field team MVP and the best in the field for her team.
Moser won the best offensive player for the Fillies softball team. She had the team’s highest batting average at .486. She played second base and shortstop and also earned softball all-conference honors.
She was a nominee for the Lee Academy Hall of Fame.
While Moser’s plate is full in school, she also babysits outside of school.
One of Moser’s biggest obstacles to remain on track came in the final regular season basketball game at home against Marshall Academy.
Moser injured her left ankle early in the first quarter and had to be carried off the court. She came back later in the period with the Fillies behind and led them to a come-from-behind victory with 27 points of her own.
“I just think about the other people that don’t have a chance to play,” Moser said. “I’m doing it for my team, not just myself. It’s not just about me. It’s about my team and my coaches and my family. It’s just about making everyone proud of me in all the athletics.
“In the Marshall game, when I came back into the game, I just kept thinking that this could be my last chance to get us a good seed in the district tournament to move us further ahead and not to get a lower seed where we would get put out earlier. That’s what kept me to keep playing.”
Moser’s injury was healed by track season.
“I just kept stretching and doing strengthening exercises and running and making sure that I was taking care of my body,” Moser said.
Lee Academy’s spring sports were cut short in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. However, Moser wanted to build on her performance as a sophomore this past spring.
“I put in a little work and time trying to get better,” Moser said. “In 10th grade, I had placed in long jump for the first time and won a medal at state. I just wanted to do it again and this time get a gold medal. I did end up doing that in the 100-(meter) dash. I was just really excited about that. I just wanted to outdo my year of 10th grade and do better this year and beat my times and my lengths and my jumps. So I practiced to get better at that.”
Moser’s mother, Ginny, and father, Chad, influenced her to be well-rounded.
“Both of them always pushed me to make sure I was on top of everything and would do everything that I could to just have a good year, push myself to do better and have a chance to do everything in high school,” Moser said.
Ginny Moser and Taylor Fleming, son of Lee Academy softball coach Tom Fleming, coached her in softball at a young age.
“My mom was mainly my softball coach when I used to play Youth Incorporated,” Moser said. “She and Taylor Fleming used to coach me. My dad just kind of always worked with me and pushed me.”
Former Fillies basketball coaches Shanae Govan and Michael Peckham helped her with her game.
“My two probably biggest influencers were Shanae Govan – Coach G, she coached me in basketball in seventh and eighth grade – and then in ninth grade Coach P came in and he was probably one of my biggest influencers of my life,” Moser said. “He just taught me how to love the game and how much I should actually push myself and how good I could actually be and that I could go far in life. He taught me everything I know really.”
Moser said she has kept in touch with Govan since she left Lee four years ago. Peckham just recently left Lee.
Moser managed to play sports in the fall, winter and spring and not contract COVID.
“My mom just kept telling me stay in, I don’t need to get sick for sports and miss my games,” she said. “I never really had a setback from it.”
Lee Academy had in-person learning, but many other schools throughout the country were virtual.
“We were really fortunate to be in school and be with our friends,” Moser said. “I got the best senior year possible. We got to go to school and have our stuff pretty normal other than having to wear a mask most of the time. We just got really lucky because most people still didn’t get to have a graduation, but we did. We’re just really lucky for that.”
Moser thanked her family and all the coaches who have worked with her through the years and said she was grateful for all of them.
