Thursday afternoon, inside the Lynn Camp High School gymnasium that is now named after her former basketball coach, Richard “Birddog” Jones, Lady Cat Makenzie Grant signed to continue her athletic career at the collegiate level.
Grant signed with the Alice Lloyd Eagles Thursday, but to play softball, not basketball. “I feel very blessed, and proud of myself,” she said of the opportunity. “I’ve always dreamed about what it would be like to get to go to the next level.”
Although Grant at one time considered specializing in only basketball, she said that she is now very glad about her decision to also compete on the softball field. That decision, she explained, was partly due to the encouragement of Coach Jones, who helped to instill in her the importance of being involved in different sports and activities during her high school career.
As for what she has been able to accomplish as a softball Cat, Grant has helped the team make history by appearing in five straight 13th Region tournaments since her eighth grade year. Lynn Camp has won two 51st District titles in that time, and this past spring they finished with the second-best overall season record in the region with 25 wins and 12 losses.
Even after all this success, Grant wasn’t sure about her future in athletics. “I didn’t know for sure if I wanted to continue playing sports,” she said. “But when you graduate and realize that it’s over, you want it to continue. So, I decided to give it a try.”
Grant added that she has been on campus at Alice Lloyd recently to workout for the Eagles’ coaches. While they obviously liked what they saw from those workouts, she was equally impressed with what the school had to offer.
“I love the campus,” said Grant. “It’s beautiful.”
While Grant hopes for a successful softball career at Alice Lloyd, her main focus will be to attend classes and study to hopefully one day become a veterinarian.
