NATCHEZ — Tuesday’s athletic awards banquet at Natchez High wasn’t about its athletes and their accomplishments, but about what they can achieve in the classroom with will and determination.

Several coaches and administrators made a point to mention the dedication and will it takes to be a student-athlete.

“As a whole, we have a lot of work to do,” Natchez High athletic director Fred Butcher said following the banquet. “(We’re) in the process of trying to pull the program up to where we need to be –—we want all of our athletic programs, as well as the academic programs, to be among the elite in the state.

“I think we have a good idea of what we need to do, it’s a matter of putting people in the right place and it’s a matter of motivating our students.”

To hammer home the message, former NHS and Mississippi State football player Jonathan Hamilton spoke as the guest speaker.

The former Bulldog preached about being studious and getting an education because you never know what can happen.

Speaking from experience, Hamilton blew-out both his knees training for the NFL draft and as a result wasn’t sure what the future would hold.

Thanks to his pending graduation this upcoming fall with a degree in teaching and coaching, Hamilton has something to fall back on.

Among the award winners at the banquet was graduating senior Kendall Logan, who won the Exavier “Nook” Logan Award as the baseball team’s MVP.

“We’re going to miss the seniors that are leaving,” Butcher said. “Kendall is a young man who kids around a lot, but Kendall’s a very good athlete and very good academic student and that’s hard to find.”

“It’s real,” Logan said after the banquet trying to get a grasp on what it meant to receive an award named after his cousin. “It’s a real big honor…I don’t know what to say.”

Logan went onto say that he expects next years team to be very successful.

“They’re going to be good – in the years to come they’re going to be real good because they do everything together.

“They play basketball and football together, which makes their bond stronger.”

MVP’s:

Baseball — Kendall Logan

Fast-Pitch Softball — Markenzi Taylor

Tennis — Cagney Brown, Lakeisha Washington

Track & Field — Wesley Pendleton, Alicia Wimley

Powerlifting — Johnny Griffin

Golf — Royal Hill