Six girls vie for Scrappy Long record of success common to finalists

photo Best of Preps
photo Emily Boyd
photo Samantha Caswell
photo Brooke Copeland
photo Kalei Kimbrell
photo Selena Popp
photo Lydia Triplett

Four of the six finalists for the Scrappy Moore Female Athlete of the Year award excelled in more than one sport and the two that didn't dominated their chosen sport.

The finalists are Northwest Whitfield's Emily Boyd, Baylor's Samantha Caswell, Bradley Central's Brooke Copeland, Gordon Lee's Kalei Kimbrell, Baylor's Selena Popp and Polk County's Lydia Triplett.

The award winner will be announced at the annual Times Free Press Best of Preps banquet Monday at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Former Atlanta Braves slugger Chipper Jones is the guest speaker.

Boyd is a rare four-time Best of Preps softball pick -- and two-time Player of the Year. She ended her prep career as one of the school's most decorated athletes and led the Lady Bruins to the Class AAAA state championship by again dominating in the circle. The Ole Miss signee finished with a 0.65 ERA and 295 strikeouts in 193 innings, allowing just 82 hits to finish with a 28-2 record.

Caswell went 18-2 on the tennis courts in 2013, with both of her losses coming on forfeits due to injury in the Division II-AA East/Middle region tournament. That led to a fourth-place finish for the second straight year, but she quickly overcame that as she won her second consecutive state championship. She will enter her senior campaign as a highly sought NCAA Division I prospect.

Copeland averaged 19 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks per game and was the District 5-AAA player of the year in basketball, helping her team reach the state sectional round. She was also the District 5-AAA co-MVP in volleyball and led her team with 502 kills and 303 digs and was second with 78 blocks.

Kimbrell is a two-time Class A state pitcher of the year and is headed to Shorter after winning 21 games with a 0.73 ERA while batting .347 with a team-high 40 RBIs to lead the Lady Trojans to the Class A state championship. She was also a starter on Gordon Lee's state championship basketball team.

Popp won the Division II state pentathlon by one point, then added state titles in the 100-meter hurdles and high jump and was second in the 300 hurdles and third in the triple jump. She was also a key contributor for the Lady Raiders' basketball team.

Triplett is headed to Tennessee Tech on a golf scholarship, having won medalist honors in this year's Region 4-A/AA tournament and finishing fifth overall at the City Prep tournament. In softball, she hit .453 with an area-leading 23 doubles to go with 37 runs scored, 25 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.

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