Top student-athletes honored at 2023 Best Preps Tyler awards banquet

Published 8:10 pm Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Student-athletes from 18 schools, along with their family and coaches, filled the Green Acres Crosswalk Center on Tuesday night for the fifth annual Best Preps Tyler presented by Peters Autosports.

The event honors the best and brightest student-athletes in the Tyler area. Over 750 people were in attendance, organizers said.

Mineola’s Dawson Pendergrass and Bullard’s Callie Bailey continued to excel in the sporting arena and in the classroom as they took home the top prizes.

The duo was rewarded for their efforts as Pendergrass was selected as the CHRISTUS Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute’s Male Athlete of the Year and Bailey was named the CHRISTUS Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute’s Female Athlete of the Year, respectively, during the event.

The student-athletes were humbled to receive the top honors.

“It’s really exciting,” Bailey said. “I played multiple sports so getting athlete of the year is kind of a big deal to me. And I’ve been playing so long.

“It’s a great thing. I know our team works really hard, and it could’ve been any of us honestly, just happened to be me because I was nominated.”

Pendergrass also expressed appreciation for the award.

“It means a lot, just the hard work I’ve put in, it’s starting to pay off, it’s great,” Pendergrass said. “It means everything. Just got to thank God, my family, my teammates, because they’re ultimately the ones that put me in position to get that award.”

Pendergrass said there are great athletes in the area and it was an honor to be on the stage alongside them.

“There’s some great competition,” he said. “It’s a great reward to get.”

Dawson Pendergrass: Male Athlete of the Year

Pendergrass posted a standout career as a student-athlete for Mineola High School.

In four years for the Yellowjackets on the football field, he had 820 carries for 7,414 yards with 88 touchdowns. He also had 70 catches for 1,179 and 16 touchdowns. On defense, he recorded 171 tackles with 15 interceptions — five returned for touchdowns — and four fumble recoveries.

As a senior, Pendergrass did it all for the Yellowjackets. Listed as a running back, Pendergrass was also forced into some quarterback duties. He rushed for 3,184 yards and 38 touchdowns on 358 carries. He was 30 of 60 passing for 479 yards and six touchdowns. He had eight catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. He converted seven two-point conversions. On special teams, he blocked four extra-point attempts. On defense, he had 19 tackles and two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

He was the Tyler Morning Telegraph All-Rose Country Football Player of the Year and was the Class 3A Texas Built Ford Tough Player of the Year.

Pendergrass is also a standout on the basketball court, helping lead the Yellowjackets to the Class 3A Region II final. He averaged 14.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game. He had 15 blocks and was the District 13-3A Defensive MVP. He also earned Class 3A Region II All-Region honors from the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

He also competed in track and field and played golf for Mineola.

“Dawson has represented our program with high standards from the first day he entered high school as a freshman,” Mineola athletic director and head football coach Luke Blackwell said. “He has led with hard work and dependability.”

Pendergrass has a 3.0 grade point average. Pendergrass has signed to play football at Baylor University.

Callie Bailey: Female Athlete of the Year

Bailey is a two-sport star in softball and volleyball at Bullard High School.

Through 29 games and April 5, Bailey was hitting .389 with three doubles, three triples, 15 RBIs, 40 runs scored and 28 stolen bases for the 26-3 Lady Panthers, who were ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 4A at the time.

Bailey was also on the Bullard softball team last season that advanced to the UIL State Softball Tournament for the second consecutive season. Bailey hit .431 with 57 RBIs, 53 runs and 27 stolen bases in her junior season and was selected to the Tyler Morning Telegraph All-East Texas Softball first team.

“Callie is our Best Preps nominee for a multitude of reasons,” Bullard head softball coach Julie Murry said. “She is a young lady who excels on and off the softball field and she demonstrates an unusual understanding that to be the best you must have sacrifice, perseverance, attention to detail and be able to live and work with a greater purpose. She elevates everyone around her on a daily basis, as a friend and teammate.”

Bailey was also the libero for the volleyball team. She was the District 18-4A MVP, leading Bullard to a district title.

“When I tried to think of the best words to describe Callie for this nomination — many great words came to my mind,” Murry said. “She is a tremendously hard-working athlete who has been a constant for Bullard softball since she blessed us with her arrival last year. She is highly skilled, has a great softball IQ and she is always thinking, always watching and always working. I can’t give a better overall description than she is a dream to coach. This kid competes in whatever she does … and we could not ask for a better role model for our softball program or for this award. She loves Jesus, she’s drama free and she’s fearless – in life and athletics.”

Bailey has a 4.8 grade point average. Bailey has signed to play softball at Texas Woman’s University.

Champion coach encourages athletes to live ‘limitless’

Tyler Junior College women’s basketball coach Trenia Tillis Hoard, who led the Apache Ladies to the 2022 NJCAA National Championship, was the keynote speaker.

She shared her story of living a “but God” life and how that has gotten her to where she is today.

“I was a C/B student,” Tillis Hoard said. “I was not a great student, but I was a good basketball player. I started getting good in the seventh or eighth grade. They then started saying they would give me Oreos if I scored 15 to 20 points in a game. I averaged 20-plus points as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior. Even when I played pro ball in Barcelona, Spain, I wanted Oreos.

“Without Oreos and that orange ball, I wouldn’t be here.”

Tillis Hoard had people tell her she wouldn’t make it in college. She tore her ACL, something she now said was the “best thing to happen.”

“Some things happen to us and some things happen for us,” she said.

Tillis Hoard went on to get a master’s degree and two more college degrees.

“In life, it’s not about what I did or what she did, but what he did. But God,” Tillis Hoard said.

Tillis Hoard said when she got hired at TJC, “my ex-boss told TJC she will not do the work to keep the program going.”

She displayed her ring to the crowd and said, “my Lord and Savior put a ring on it.”

Moments later, she closed with, “to everybody in here, no matter your age or stage in life, you are limitless because your God is limitless.”

There are 18 participating schools and nominations are based upon a student-athlete’s contributions on the field, in the classroom and in the community.

Schools included are Tyler Legacy, Tyler High, All Saints, Bishop Gorman, Grace Community, Chapel Hill, Brook Hill, Cumberland Academy, Whitehouse, Bullard, Lindale, Arp, Troup, Jacksonville, Brownsboro, Van, Canton and Mineola.

Other awards given:

• Award for Heart and Desire to Van’s Mikyka Bachert

• Award for Inspiration to Lindale’s Trey Mazratian

• Kona Ice Award for Going the Extra Mile to Jacksonville’s Chesni Speaker

• Grace Community School Award for Sportsmanship to Whitehouse’s girls basketball team of sophomore Kiana Thornton, junior Malazia Pardue, freshman Tayla Morris, freshman Mahayla McMahon, freshman Savannah Onley, senior Massila Kadi, junior Audrey Brody, junior Kate Jones, sophomore Hailey Morrison and freshman Indeya Williams.

• ETX View Award for Outstanding Achievement in Academics to Whitehouse’s Audrey Brody

• East Texas Professional Credit Union Award for Community Excellence to Bullard’s Natalie Constante

• Peters Autosports Coach of the Year to Whitehouse baseball coach Greg Branch

• Peters Autosports Athletic Director of the Year to Mineola’s Luke Blackwell

Individual sport winners were:

• Whitehouse’s Josh Green, Altra Federal Credit Union Award for football

• Tyler’s Kristen Williams, Altra Federal Credit Union Award for volleyball

• Tyler Legacy’s Brady Filla, Award for boys cross country

• Grace Community’s Abby Metzger, Award for girls cross country

• Bullard’s Garrett Nuckolls, Texas Bank and Trust Award for boys basketball

• Chapel Hill’s DJ Kincade, Texas Bank and Trust Award for girls basketball

• Troup’s Bailey Blanton, Southwest Floor Carpet One Award for softball

• Whitehouse’s Ethan Stone, J&K Storage Award for baseball

• Tyler’s Payton Campbell, ETX View Award for boys powerlifting

• Tyler Legacy’s Mia Zuniga, ETX View Award for girls powerlifting

• Bishop Gorman’s Isaac Natera, Award for boys track and field

• Lindale’s Christiana Ussery, Award for girls track and field

• Whitehouse’s Luke Neely, Award for boys soccer

• Bullard’s Niyah Gee, Award for girls soccer

• Tyler Legacy’s Jacob Cole, UT Health East Texas Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute Award for boys golf

• Tyler Legacy’s KyAmbria Acy, UT Health East Texas Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute Award for girls golf

• Bishop Gorman’s Morgan Salitore, Award for cheerleading

• Whitehouse’s Jordan Craft, ETX View Award for boys tennis

• All Saints’ Lauren Kiblinger, ETX View Award for girls tennis

• Grace Community’s Michael Green, Award for boys swimming

• Grace Community’s Blakely Roseberry, Award for girls swimming

• Whitehouse’s Carter McLaughlin, Award for lacrosse

• Bishop Gorman’s Sophia Benedict, Award for student athletic trainer

• Bishop Gorman’s Josh Hayes, Award for wrestling

• Arp’s Haley Bryand, Award for bass fishing

• Chapel Hill’s Brianna Martin, Award for drill team