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By ZACHARY SEIFTER/ Staff Writer

 

Two Thorsby seniors were honored with a signing day event on May 28 at Thorsby High School.

The two seniors, cheerleader Anna Kate Church and golfer Brandon Hight, were both offered scholarships in their respective sports. Church will be attending Troy University while Hight will be heading to Snead State Community College.

A ton of hard work was put in by the two athletes to get to this point. Both golf and cheerleading are individual sports in many ways, and both require a lot of practicing alone. However, both students pushed themselves to be the best, and both were rewarded.

“The amount of time I had to practice, it was every day of the week,” Church said. “When my friends were wanting to go out, I was having to stay home. I had to practice, I had to be dedicated.”

Sacrifices were made by Church and Hight to get to the collegiate level, but those sacrifices ended up being worth it. Church is headed to her dream school, and Hight is the first golfer from Thorsby High School to ever be offered a full scholarship.

“It’s really nice just knowing all the hard work has paid off,” Hight said. “To see everybody supporting me and everything I’ve done, it’s just nice to know that.”

While the sacrifices and hard work played a big role in Church and Hight advancing in their sports, there were other factors. One massive factor was that both had strong support systems that provided love and support to them as they pursued their endeavors. Church was quick to give others credit, knowing she would not be continuing in cheerleading without the people in her life.

“I couldn’t have done it without my parents,” Church said. “They were the ones who sat with me through it all and told me that ‘You have to push yourself, you have to want it. Nobody else can do this for you,’ and my friends, they’re the ones that were there for me, and they pushed me to be who I am today, and I couldn’t have done it without them or my coaches.”

Hight shared a similar sentiment.

“They’re really good people,” Hight said of his friends and family. “I just want to thank them for everything they’ve done for me, and it really helped me get to the next level.”

The two will now continue on in their paths as they attempt to achieve more with their new schools. However, both know they have people cheering them on at Thorsby, whether it be friends, family or teachers and coaches at the school.

Should they continue to succeed like they did at Thorsby, bright futures are ahead for both Church and Hight.