Hunter, Montgomery named 2022 Vonn Bell Award winners
A large crowd gathered at Ridgeland High School on Saturday, May 14 for the presentation of the 2022 Vonn Bell Awards, which are part of the Ridgeland Athletic Department’s annual Hall of Fame ceremony.
A total of eight very deserving studentathletes, four boys and four girls, were selected as finalists for this year’s award. The announcement of the winners was made by the awards’ namesake via a pre-recorded video message, while his mother, Vanessa, was on hand to help present the two awards to the overall winners.
The eight finalists were selected after first earning either a male or female Athlete of the Month Award by the RHS athletic department. These monthly honors were based upon coaches’ nominations and awarded to those “who represent the highest levels of leadership, citizenship, selflessness and outstanding achievement, on and off the field.”
This year’s finalists included Kaitlyn
Boller (cheerleading), Mackenzie Hunter (riflery), Cordasia Watkins (softball) and Bailey Fowler (volleyball) on the girls’ side, and Jacob Klein (football), Sam Dickson (soccer), Logan Montgomery (track) and Jakobe Turner (football) on the boys’ side.
Each candidate was introduced and given a finalist award after the crowd saw a video interview of each individual athlete. However, the biggest two trophies of the night were reserved for the overall winners, Hunter and Montgomery.
Hunter was a leader for the Ridgeland rifle team and was the only Panther to qualify for the state tournament as an individual. However, the Panthers also won the Area 10 championship and two matches in the state tournament to earn a berth in the state finals as a team for the first time in school history.
“It means a lot,” Hunter said of receiving the Bell Award. “I feel like this is one of (my) biggest accomplishments ever. I thought going to state was the biggest
accomplishment, and maybe it still is, but this is big.
“I really couldn’t have done it without the people supporting me...definitely Sarge (Ridgeland rifle coach Carl Gentry, Jr., MSgt, USAF, Retired).”
Hunter’s next stop is Georgia Military College in Milledgeville where she will be joining the school’s ROTC program and its highly-regarded riflery team. She plans to earn her teaching degree and return to Walker County.
“I’m going to come back (to Ridgeland) and I’m going to coach this rifle team,” she added. “That’s my goal.”
Hunter also said she hoped she was able to draw attention to the sport and, hopefully, open doors for others.
“Riflery doesn’t get enough attention,” she added thoughtfully. “But hopefully this encourages other people, especially girls and other women, to know that it can be done and it can be accomplished.”
Montgomery, the night’s other Bell Award winner, won his award two days after earning his third and fourth individual state track and field championships with the Panthers. Montgomery, who swept the Class AAAA shot put and discus title as a junior to become Ridgeland’s first state track champion, pulled off the sweep again in Albany on May 12.
“This is a big honor, to stand not only among all the finalists for this award, but just (for) this community,” he said. “Of all of the great athletes to ever come out of Ridgeland High School, and to be recognized as one of the top athletes to ever come out of this community, is a huge honor for me.”
Montgomery has already signed to continue his career in the Southeastern Conference at the University of Florida.
“I want to go to Florida and be the best athlete that I can be, whether that’s school records, SEC records or NCAA titles,” he continued. “Then after that, it’s the Olympics. I’ve always pictured myself wearing the red, white and blue and having that ‘USA’ across my chest. That’s what I’ve dreamed about since I was little. It’s at the top of my bucket list, if you will.”