Local Student-Athletes Shine At Bryant-Jordan Awards
Zaevian Toney of Bob Jones won the Student Achievement Award for Class 7A and Madison Academy’s Julianne Hill was presented with the Dr. Gaylon McCullough Medical Scholarship. Both athletes attended the awards banquet as regional winners with Hill representing Class 5A.
“I didn’t expect the awards and is certainly one of the highlights of my life,” said Toney, a wrestler for the Patriots along with his twin brother, Zaderian.
Hill, a holder of six school records in track and cross country for the Mustangs, is planning on the pursuit of a career as a medical doctor. She said of her prestigious awards, “I was shocked and very honored and humbled to win and with God’s plan for me I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
The valedictorian of her senior class, which totals 79, at Madison Academy, Hill will attend Samford University before advancing to medical school. She said she’s pursuing the passion of helping others similar to how she has been assisted throughout her life. Hill was born with a severe hearing impairment and has had cochlear implants since she was eight months old. Both her older sister and brother also suffer from hearing loss and through research it was determined it was a family gene, which presented the situation with the three siblings.
Toney and his brother each received athletic scholarships to Allen University of South Carolina to continue their wrestling talents beyond high school, but both have chosen to forego further wrestling and instead, attend other schools to pursue degrees in business with thoughts of opening a business together.
Competing in the 113-pound division for his senior season, Toney finished third at the State Wrestling Tournament and posted a season record of 29-7. His brother won the 106-division state title.
Both are lucky to be elite athletes as they survived a near fatal car wreck in April of 2016 at the intersection of Highway 72 and County Line Road. To add to their whirlwind-like lives, their father, Grant Binford, died on March 1 at age 36, after being involved in a shooting in mid-February. Binford never saw his sons finish one and three in the state tourney.
“I plan on returning to wrestling in a coaching capacity,” added Toney. “When I first stepped on the wrestling mat here at Bob Jones, I had a goal, and I accomplished what I wanted to do. I will miss the competition.”
Regional winners each received $3,000 in scholarship money while each class winner received an additional $3,500. For Hill, besides being named a regional winner, she also received an extra $2,500 for her special medical scholarship.
“In the essay I submitted for the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship I wrote about my overcoming my struggle with deafness as I’ve been hearing with cochlear implants my whole life,” added Hill, who is also an accomplished artist. “I started in soccer as the running never bothered me. In the eighth grade, I was encouraged to try cross country and then moved to the track in my freshman year when the track program began at Madison Academy. The first couple of seasons fueled my love for running.”
