LFO HONORS ITS OWN AT ANNUAL FEATHER AWARDS
The LFO Athletic Department came together to celebrate their own this past Tuesday night with the fourth annual Feather Awards. The ceremony was held on campus at Jerry Jones Gymnasium.
Athletes from all of LFO’S athletic teams served as presenters and emcees for the festivities, which also included a stirring speech by senior Amarrion Wells.
Warrior Nation celebrated the 20212022 sports year by presenting awards for individual and team achievements, both athletically and academically.
“You hear about other teams (at the school) that are doing well, but this is the one night of the year that we really get to get all of our athletes together, to recognize them and to celebrate all of their accomplishments,” said Athletic Director Chris Eaves. “It also gets us looking ahead towards next year and setting the pace for that.”
The ceremony, similar in format to the ESPY’S on ESPN, handed out awards in categories such as Director’s Feather for Outstanding Leadership, Team Academic Achievement, the Legacy Feather for Outstanding Achievement, the One Nation Feather Award, Play of the Year and Team of the Year.
Coaches nominated athletes for each category, while a selection committee determined the finalists and the winners for all but two of the awards.
Play of the Year was determined by an online fan vote that received more than 30,000 responses, while the One Nation Feather Award was voted on by LFO’S student-athletes themselves and given to the one student-athlete that best exemplified the LFO motto of “Many Tribes, One Nation; Many Passions, One Purpose”.
The night’s final special award, the Jerry Jones Legacy Builder Feather, named for the school’s late basketball coach, went to former coach Chip Liner. Liner coached multiple sports for three decades at LFO (1974-2004), but became
most synonymous with the softball program, who later named the field in his honor.
Liner’s family was in attendance and several of his former players were also on hand, some of whom appeared in a video tribute to their former coach.
During the video, Liner said that even though he didn’t graduate from LFO, he considered it “his school”, something he reiterated during his acceptance speech.
“Being at LFO for 30 years, you get attached to it,” he explained. “And being honored with the Jerry Jones Legacy Builder Award, that’s really special because Jerry is the
one that was referred to as ‘The Legend’.”
Liner said he was proud of the legacy he and Jones had helped build at the school, considering neither of them graduated from the school.
He also said he was touched by the former players that were in attendance for the ceremony, adding that he had gotten messages of congratulations and well-wishes from others that weren’t able to be there in person.
“I’ve been a Christian for years and years and I’ve always felt like my ministry was through coaching,” Liner added. “Just to hear the players on the video tonight speak about what I meant to them, you usually get that at a funeral, you know? I’m just glad I was alive to get to hear it. It was a very special night and I’m very honored.”