Pruitt, Phillips named Bradford Award recipients
The 2025 FCA Willis Bradford Leadership awards were presented to Cade Pruitt of Prattville and ZaCarria Phillips of Autaugaville. (Contribued)
By TIM GAYLE
PRATTVILLE -- The Prattville YMCA and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes joined forces on Monday to honor Autauga County’s top high school seniors with the 39th annual Prattville YMCA-FCA Awards Banquet at the First United Methodist Church.
For only the third time in the history of the award, there were dual winners as the Willis Bradford Christian Leadership Award was presented to Prattville’s Cade Pruitt and Autaugaville’s ZaCarria Phillips.
Pruitt has played baseball at Prattville High for four years and maintains a 4.4 grade-point average in the classroom. He has been a member of the National Honors Society and FCA for three years. In FCA, Pruitt is a student leader in huddles and has led the prayer at See You at the Pole. He attends First Baptist Church in Prattville where he is a discipleship/small group leader.
Phillips has played point guard for the Eagles for the past six years and has participated in cheer, track, volleyball and soccer. She maintains a 4.3 grade-point average and is ranked at the top of her class. She has been part of the Student Government Association for four years and has served as treasurer and president and has participated in Future Business Leaders of America as well. Phillips attends Bethesda Missionary Baptist Church where she is part of the choir, a liturgical dancer and usher. She is a Girl Scout mentor and regularly volunteers at Camp Sunshine. She plans to attend the University of Alabama and pursue a degree in criminal justice.
The banquet was initially designed to honor all the senior athletes in Autauga County when it was initiated in 1987. The Willis Bradford Christian Leadership Award, named for the longtime director of the Prattville YMCA, was first presented to Marbury’s Jonathon Seamon in 1991 and aims 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.
The banquet honored each school’s nominee of a student-athlete for Bradford Award, presented to the top Christian athlete in the county. The other four nominees for the award were:
• Gavin Stinard of Autauga Academy participated in football, basketball and golf and was selected as team captain. He maintains a 3.59 grade-point average and attends the Gathering Place, where he is a part of the parking lot team and meets everyone with a smile that can change the atmosphere. He is planning to attend the University of Alabama for athletic training and to obtain a degree in kinesiology in hopes of becoming a physical therapist.
• Landon Jones of Billingsley has played football and baseball for four years, basketball for three years and has thrown the javelin in track and field this season. He was captain of both the Bears’ football and baseball teams. A baseball signee at Coastal Alabama Community College-North, he maintains a 3.7 grade-point average and has been a member of SADD and the Beta Club for the past three years.
• Madison Thomas of Marbury, has played soccer for the last four years and was a member of the Bulldogs’ inaugural flag football team this past season. She has served as captain of the soccer team and maintains a 3.8 grade-point average while serving on the National Honors Society and Beta Club the past three years. She plans to play soccer at Southern Union State Community College and major in kinesiology to become a physical therapist.
• Micah Newsom of Prattville Christian Academy, a member of the soccer team for the last six years and the football team for the last two years, served as captain of the soccer team and was awarded the Most Valuable Defensive Player Award. He maintains a 4.2 grade-point average and is a member of the National Honors Society, Mu Alpha Theta and the Spanish Honors Society.
In 2021, the event added a new award as the retiring Otis Reeves, who had spearheaded the first 34 banquets and had coached most of the sports provided by the Prattville YMCA over his 49-year coaching career, was the recipient of the Otis Reeves Outstanding Coaches Award. This year, Reeves was on hand to present the award to Prattville High’s Virginia Powers.
The T.O. McDowell Christian Leadership Award was presented to Ellie Majors, a student at Prattville High and a member of the Prattville YMCA’s Leaders Club
For the 18th year, schools selected up to five student-athletes for the YMCA-FCA Christian Leadership Circle. The selections included:
Autauga Academy -- Hayden Causey, Chloe Davis, Sophie Hallman, McKinley Hester and Cody Tornow.
Autaugaville High School – Taliyah Howard, Jermaine Motley, Kamara Owens, Kennedy Perry and
Marissa Seabon.
Billingsley High School – Kyle Boice, Kayden Bland, Kaden Cotton, Alana Jones and Hudson Manning.
Marbury High School – Alex Brown, Marrell Hollon, Jacob Rawlinson, Nora Spires and Grant Thompson.
Prattville High School – Brooks Amos, Jailey Erler, Sarah Grace Pughsley, Mark Sergey and Leah Sowell.
Prattville Christian Academy – Ryan Kiefer, Megan Masters, Easton Miller, Spencer Perkins and Baylee Rogers.