Regardless of what occurred at Lee Academy ten days ago, the school’s athletic teams had unprecedented success during the 2017-18 school year.
“I prefer to concentrate on the positive aspects of the school year,” Lee Athletic Director Rick Johnston said this week.
With that in mind let’s begin with the success of the 2017 football team. The Colts finished the regular season 5-4 as one game was cancelled due to a scheduling mix-up on the part of Potts Camp High School. The record qualified the Colts for the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) playoffs.
Unfortunately the record placed Lee on the road against Adams County Christian School, the No. 2 team in south Mississippi and the charter bus driver made it a six-hour bus trip as he took “the scenic route” to Natchez, arriving at the stadium just in time for the Colts to hop off the bus, get dressed and hit the field for the kickoff. It rained cats and dogs all through the game as well and Lee lost the game, 35-8.
“We didn’t give them an inch,” Johnston recalled this week. “We played well but ACCS was the better team that night under the circumstances.”
The 2017 season was the first playoff appearance for the Colts in several years and they have a corps of underclassmen returning this fall who now have a taste for the playoffs and will want to supersede the “one and done” role in playoff action.
The 2017 girl’s softball team under longtime volunteer coach Tom Fleming reached the state MAIS finals for the first time ever. No they didn’t win the state championship, but they reached the finals and had a shot at the title.
Turning to basketball, the junior high school girls played for the district championship and the high school boys played for the district title and made the MAIS state tournament under new head coach Michael Peckham, who will return as the head basketball coach next season.
The Lee golf team, under the guidance of Coach Quincy Morrison, had two boys, Rutledge Agostinelli and Crawford Allen, play in the MAIS state tournament this spring. Allen finished seventh in the tourney.
The tennis team also had two all-star players, both of whom played in the MAIS north state tournament. Maggie Etheridge and Alexis Oliver competed in the MAIS north state tourney. Cory Harlow is the Lee golf coach.
The Lee junior high boys track team was the runner-up in district action this spring while the senior high boys won the district and north Mississippi meets, both of which were held here. And, they placed third in the MAIS state track meet. Johnston and Chad Foster are co-coaches for Lee track.
The athletic facilities at Lee are top notch and Johnston plans to continue improving them in the future. Just this year he added lights to the softball diamond and improved the gym by upgrading the floor to go along with last year’s upgrade of the stands.
The school has added another coach to the staff in Austin Jackman to coach soccer. He is a graduate student at Delta State University in Cleveland.
“He is a good addition to our athletic program,” says Lee Head of School Rone Walker.
“I think this was a solid year for us across the board,” Johnston says. “Our athletes set a foundation which to build on for the future.”
