Top Athletic Performers Honored At Thomas Heyward Academy

By David Shelton

Senior Writer

Ridgeland – Building a consistently competitive athletic program is tough to do at a small private school, but the coaches and athletes at Thomas Heyward Academy make the most of their opportunities.

The 2025-26 school year recently came to an end but before classes ended, the school’s athletic department took some time to honor some of the top performers in athletics from the past year.

Track and field is one of the newer and developing sports at Thomas Heyward. The numbers, though limited, are seeing an increase. The most valuable performer award from this spring went to Baylor Bryan and Josh Gibson. Most Improved honors went to Noah Theurer and Alondra Vera.

Fisher Thomas received the Golden Club award in golf while Mason Reed received the Rising Star award. Cole Bowen was Most Improved.

In softball, Elena Fay was the offensive most valuable player and EK Bowen was the defensive most valuable player. Ollivia Meador as the overall MVP and Brenley Owens earned the Rookie Award.

Meador also was the top defensive player in volleyball while Cayleigh Smith was the top offensive player. Presley Ballagh was the team MVP and Lily Gantt was the Rookie of the Year.

In baseball, Mackie Bowers was the MVP and Miles Stanley received the Coaches award. Luke Simcox was the top defensive player and Dodge Peeples was the top offensive player.

Abigail Kidwell received the Rebel Award in cheerleading and Cadence Graham was tabbed most valuable cheerleader.

In football, Tony O’Banner was named the Most Valuable Player for offense and Owen Palazzo earned the award for defense. Peeples was the lineman of the year an Tyler Hyman received the coaches award. Josh Gibson received the Golden Helmet award.

Gibson also received the team Leadership award in boys basketball while O’Banner was tabbed as the MVP. Winston Twenge was most improved and Ben Gibson received the defensive award.

For Clay Target shooting, Miles Stanley was the Shooter of the Year and Nolan Smith received the Coaches award.