Warrior Magazine December 2018

Hall of Fame

East Central with 233 wins, a 75 percent winning percent age, and six trips to the post season, with the 2015 team completing the most successful in the program’s history. That year the Lady Warriors advanced to the championship game of the National Junior College Ath letic Association Division II Softball National Champion ship before falling to Kanka kee Community College 5-1. The Lady Diamond War riors ended their record breaking season with a 48-14 record. In addition to finishing second at the NJCAA National Champion ship, the team also finished second in the South Division of Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges league play, second in the MACJC State Tourna ment, and runner-up in the NJCAA Region 23 Tourna ment. Her 2018 team finished the season with a No. 10 national ranking, a 36-14 record, and a trip to the NJ CAA Region 23 Tournament. The 2017 Lady Warriors finished with a 42-6 record and a No. 8 ranking in the final NJCAA Top 20 poll. Her 2016 team was 42-8 and ranked No. 11 in the final poll. Chaney resigned her posi tion as ECCC’s head softball coach last spring to accept a position in the private sector. “I had struggled with the decision for about six months when an opportu nity became available for me to be able to experience many other things in my life that I enjoy,” Chaney said. “It was an honor and privilege to be the head soft ball coach at East Central. I was able to come back and give back to my alma mater that gave me so much. I took great pride every day know ing I was able to lead a pro gram with such high stan dards that we have set here at East Central. I will forever bleed black and gold.”

NCAA Division I basketball dreams become a reality when she joined Coach Joye Lee-McNelis’ Lady Eagles at the University of Southern Mississippi. “Coach Hodge and Coach McNelis will always hold a special place in my heart be cause they made my dream come true,” Chaney said. Chaney had several Divi sion I opportunities to con sider when Coach McNelis took over the reins at USM and offered her the opportu nity to be a part of the Lady Eagle program. “I wanted to stay close to home so it was just a done deal after a trip down to see them play,” Chaney said. She was a member of the 2006 and 2007 Lady Eagle basketball teams and was selected team most valu able player both years. She also received the Lady Eagle Award in 2007 and was selected 2006-07 Female Student Athlete of the Year at USM.

She would also go on to play two years as a member of the Lady Eagle softball team while completing her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in sports adminis tration in 2008 and 2007, respectively. Following a stellar career as an athlete, Chaney got the opportunity to return to Decatur and join the ECCC coaching staff as an assis tant for both basketball and softball. “It definitely felt like coming home,” Chaney said. “Coach McNelis tried to hire me at Southern Miss, but I was ready to come home. I didn’t really know which sport I wanted to coach. Coach (Bill) Smith asked me to come be his assistant and that was also the first year they hired an assistant for Coach Hill, so I got the op portunity to see which I was better at. Both of them ran successful programs and I’m glad I was able to be a part of them both.” Eventually, Chaney became a full-time softball assistant for Hill until he stepped down as head coach in 2012 and she took over as head coach, a position she held until last spring. “I loved coaching softball. I was able to be outdoors, which I enjoyed. Coach Hill was a great guy to work for. We had a lot of fun coaching together. He let me do a lot, gave me a lot of responsi bility. He had a passion to be a winner, but he also let you enjoy the process. He is such a great person to be around and always has such a great outlook on life. We worked well together.” Chaney said perhaps the biggest challenge as head coach was making the various personalities on the team click. But it was obviously a task she was good at as her teams were consistently competitive among tough competition each year. She completed her six seasons as head coach at

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would win the Central Divi sion Championship in 2004 and 2005. Chaney said her best memory was playing Meridian during her sopho more year. “It was always a big rivalry with East Central and Merid ian. They had a very good program back then, they were always very good. We played them here that year and I got the game-winning hit to beat them.” In addition to her athletic accomplishments, Chaney was selected to the East Central Community College Hall of Fame, the highest honor a student can receive at the college, was an NJCAA Academic All-American and selected for Who’s Who Among American Commu nity College Students. After an outstanding two seasons at East Cen tral, Chaney would see her

COLE CROWNED QUEEN Sophomore Jasmin Cole (second from left) of Hickory was crowned Homecoming Queen at East Central Community College during ceremonies held Thursday, Oct. 4, at Bailey Stadium. Cole received her crown from President Dr. Billy Stewart (left). Serving as Miss Cole’s escort was Jalin Nicholson of Decatur (third from left). At right is 2017 queen Autumn Taylor of Newton who presented the new queen with a bouquet of roses.

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