McQuiston wins 2020 Bradford Leadership Award
Prattville High School’s Will McQuiston was named the 32nd recipient of the Willis Bradford Christian Leadership Award.
By TIM GAYLE
PRATTVILLE – The 34th annual Prattville YMCA-Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Christian Leadership Banquet was unlike any in the previous history of the event.
There was no banquet and no featured speaker, both canceled by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of holding the event at the First United Methodist Church – site of the previous 33 events – the winners were invited to a press conference at the Willis Bradford Branch of the Prattville YMCA on Tuesday afternoon.
Two of the seven Leadership Award winners selected by their schools were unable to attend. A third, Prattville’s Will McQuiston, thought the event was on Wednesday and was planning to take an Advanced Placement test in calculus when repeated calls from event organizers changed his plans.
“As Christians, I don’t believe we work for rewards here on Earth, I believe we work for rewards in Heaven,” McQuiston said. “This is a great honor and I’m very thankful to the YMCA and everyone that is involved but I know there’s a greater reward when I die and go to Heaven. All the awards and all the accomplishments that they talked about with my ACT and in football and extracurriculars, those are temporary and they’ll fade away. This is an amazing honor, but it’s not what I work for every day.”
McQuiston became the 32nd recipient of the Willis Bradford Christian Leadership Award on Tuesday at a gathering limited to the award recipients and their parents. A defensive end at Prattville High, McQuiston was president of the senior class for the Student Government Association with a 4.73 grade-point average and a 36 on his American College Test. He will attend Harvard in the fall with plans to concentrate on neuroscience and computer science.
The award was first presented to Marbury’s Jonathon Seamon in 1991 (there have been dual winners twice) and McQuiston is the ninth winner from Prattville High and the third in four years. The purpose of the award is to promote the mission of the FCA and the YMCA to impact young people for Jesus Christ and to honor the student-athletes of Autauga County high schools that have demonstrated Christian leadership in their school and community.
When the banquet started in 1987, it was designed to honor all of the senior athletes at each of Autauga County’s five schools, but it added East Memorial and Prattville Christian when they opened in later years and changed its format to honor up to five athletes at each school as members of the Christian Leadership Circle. Starting in 1991, an overall winner was selected from the school’s nominees for the Willis Bradford Christian Leadership Award, which includes a $1,000 scholarship.
The other six nominees for the Willis Bradford Award were:
Tripp Glass played basketball, baseball and football at Billingsley. He plans to attend college and major in engineering.
Dontrell Wilson played basketball at Autaugaville. He was valedictorian of his class and plans to attend Troy this fall to pursue a career in nursing.
Spencer Goss played soccer and football at Marbury. He was heavily involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for the Bulldogs and plans to attend UAB this fall and pursue a career in software engineering.
Emma Wendland is an accomplished soccer player at Autauga Academy but turned a few heads this fall when she won the job as the Generals’ placekicker in football. She maintains a 4.05 grade-point average and plans to attend nursing school at Samford.
Keelan Bowers plays basketball and runs track at East Memorial Christian Academy. This was his first season playing both sports and he plans to attend college and major in physical therapy.
Ben Miers plays football and soccer at Prattville Christian Academy, is the president of the school’s Student Government Association and is a member of the National Honor Society. He plans to attend Auburn University at Montgomery.
Since 2008, the Prattville YMCA has presented the T.O. McDowell Christian Leadership Award to an athlete who has displayed servant leadership through the YMCA and community activities. This year, Prattville High senior Madeline Lewis was the recipient after becoming an integral part of the YMCA Leaders Club, captain of the Lions’ majorette squad, a member of the tennis team, a Junior Civitan and a member of the National Honor Society.
For the 13th year, Autauga County schools selected up to five student-athletes for the YMCA-FCA Christian Leadership Circle. The selections included:
Autaugaville High School – Myla Brown, Ariel Parker, Elisa Golson, D’Amber Fikes and Jeremiah Taylor.
Billingsley High School – Tori Hilyer, Laney Acreman, Randriquis McCary, Audreyiona Wright and Ashlon Harrison.
Marbury High School – Lillian Graham, Cedric Calloway, Kalee Seamon, Kaileigh Harrison and Tristan Merrick.
Prattville High School – Bryant McCann, Ally Cobern, Caroline Mills, Shelby Narramore and Isaiah Causey.
Autauga Academy – Katie White, Tucker Gibbons, Octavious Palmer, Kensley Genebacher and Austin Robbins.
East Memorial Christian Academy – Lauren Swofford, Myra Manley, Brayden Collins, Sara Paige Baggett and Rebekah Williams.
Prattville Christian Academy – Andrew Raife, Emily Kamykowski, Ella Jane Connell, Nicholas Stephenson and Madison Thweatt.