BRYANT-JORDAN FOUNDATION WINNERS: MA's Ashworth named top Scholar-Athlete by AHSAA

Montgomery Academy’s Rob Ashworth (right) and Eva Armstead of Hatton High School received the top honors for the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Foundation 2026 awards from executive director Heath Harmon on Monday. (Contributed)

COMBINED REPORTS

BIRMINGHAM –  Montgomery Academy’s Rob Ashworth was named as one of the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Foundation’s 2026 state Student Achievement and Scholar-Athlete award recipients at Monday night’s 41th annual Bryant-Jordan Student Athlete Awards Banquet held at the Sheraton Ballroom.

Ashworth received the Larry Striplin, Jr., Scholar-Athlete Award while Hatton  High School senior Eva Armstead was named as a recipient, earning the Ken and Betty Joy Blankenship Student-Achievement Award.

Ashworth was also chosen the Class 3A Scholar Athlete of the Year. He has excelled academically and athletically, scoring a 35 on the ACT and carries a 4.9 grade-point average overall. He has taken 16 Advanced Placement classes and serves as president of MA’s Student Government Association, Heart Club and Mu Alpha Theta chapter. A member of MA’s state championship Mock Trial Team, he said he “cannot wait for nationals” in May.

The Alabama Sports Writers Association selected him as the Class 3A All-State place-kicker last season, as the Eagles won 10 games in for the second straight year. He played on back-to-back Class 3A state basketball championship teams and helped the Eagles win the Class 7A soccer championship in 2025.
He also supported programs such as Respite for All, a Christian ministry created to help those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia disorders, as part of a partnership involving the school. The cause proved especially powerful for Ashworth, who volunteered with the charity because grandmother suffers from dementia.

Ashworth found a unique and innovative way to support Respite for All by creating Kicking for a Cause.
The idea was equally simple and powerful: As the Montgomery Academy football team’s place-kicker, Kicking for a Cause asked for donations for every extra point, touchback and field goal Ashworth made throughout the 2025 season, with all proceeds going to the charity.

Ashworth approached Montgomery Academy coach Ethan McBride last summer with the idea, who was all for it. That led to a meeting with the athletic director and the school’s administration, which wanted to ensure the fundraising idea wouldn’t run afoul of any AHSAA rules.

“He did all that on his own, which I think speaks to his passion for this,” McBride said in an interview with Al.com last year.

A website soon launched and after steady posts on social media, many media members noticed, and coverage amplified the idea and brought in additional donations.

He initially set a goal of raising $10,000 but once all the pledges arrived, Kicking for a Cause raised more than $20,000.

“The most rewarding thing was the community aspect,” he said, “I had so many people in the MA community, the Montgomery community, the state community and around the country,who reached out to me and said, ‘My mom suffered from memory loss, my grandfather suffers from memory loss.’ So many people came up and told me how much of encouragement it was that we were doing this. Obviously, the money was great, but the community we got from that from a personal level was so rewarding.”

Ashworth’s creation of Kicking for a Cause is a major reason he was selected a regional recipient in the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program’s Scholar-Athlete category.

“He is one of the most extraordinary students who has come through Montgomery Academy,” said Katie Lavelle, who serves as Montgomery Academy’s Vaughn Road Campus Director.

“Not only playing as many sports as he’s playing at the level he’s playing, the amount of academic achievement he has and continues to have is really extraordinary. We had a hard time making Rob’s schedule for him his senior year because of the number of AP classes  he wanted to take. The level of rigor of his schedule is extraordinary, not to mention he’s also president of SGA. He’s just a great kid all around.”
“God has blessed me with these gifts, and it is up to be to use them for His glory,”Ashworth added. “I am so thankful to the Bryant-Jordan Program for bringing all of us here tonight.”

Armstead, an outstanding basketball and track standout sprinter at Hatton, found out she was homeless just a few hours after clinching three individual state titles at the 2025 AHSAA Track and Field Championships in Gulf Shores, winning the 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash and long jump in Class 4A.

As soon as she returned to northwest Alabama, she learned she had been kicked out of the residence where she had been living with a family member for a year.

Confused and despondent, Armstead turned to family friend Destiny Muston, who didn’t hesitate to make room for the teen. “I was at their house two hours later,” Armstead said.

In her early years, she dealt with parents’ drug abuse, alcoholism and domestic violence, often leaving her responsible for her younger sister and handling household chores.

Authorities eventually stepped in and removed the Armstead and her siblings from the situation.

“We got taken away many times. I don’t why we kept going back,” Armstead said.

Eventually attending R.A. Hubbard School in the seventh grade, Armstead loved basketball and dreamed of playing in the WNBA. She joined the track team and immediately won the Class 1A 200-meter state title, a rarity for a seventh grader

“To watch what she overcame, she’s just rare,” said Hatton principal Amy Oliver. “We have a lot of kids with mental health issues or a bad home life, but to see a child like her overcome it is one of the most rewarding things as an educator that I’ve experienced.  Eva will go down in history at Hatton High School as an eight-time state champion. That fills my heart with joy.”

The scholarship program, named in honor of the late coaches Paul "Bear" Bryant of Alabama and Ralph "Shug" Jordan of Auburn, recognized 52 regional scholar-athlete winners selected for their excellence in athletics and academics and 52 achievement winners chosen for their ability to compete in athletics while overcoming major obstacles during their high school careers.

Eight students in each category were selected as regional winners in Classes 1A through 6A. Four  regional winners in each category were selected from school nominations in Class 7A. Each of the 104 regional winners received a $3,000 scholarship. the 14 Class winners received an additional $3,500; and for each overall state winner, the stipend received was an additional $4,000.

2026 Bryant-Jordan Special Scholarships (River Region recipients)

W. Edgar Welden Service Award: Nicholas Michael Frazier, Stanhope Elmore High School

2026 Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program Regional Winners (River Region)

4A Scholar-Athlete: Emory Causey, Trinity Presbyterian School

6A Scholar-Athlete: Hanna Burdett, Wetumpka High School

1A Student-Athlete Achievement: Kayden Bland, Billingsley High School

3A Student-Athlete Achievement: Jackson Burton-Elahiyan, Alabama Christian Academy

4A Student-Athlete Achievement: Ellie O’Conner, Catholic School

5A Student-Athlete Achievement: Kylie Snowden, Holtville High School

6A Student-Athlete Achievement: Nick Frazier, Stanhope Elmore High School