Tiller wins Manning Scholarship at University of Tennessee

The scholarship has been awarded annually since 1998 to a first-year student participating in UT's Honors Program in honor of Manning, the former Vols quarterback, co-captain and 1997 All-America selection.

Manning and UT Director of Financial Aid Jeff Gerkin joined Tiller and her parents, Charles and Debbie, and her brother Eric during the ceremony at the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center. The presentation took place in front of the 'Peyton Manning Study Area,' another by-product of the Manning years at Tennessee.

'There were several news and camera crews there taking pictures of Peyton and myself, me holding the plaque,' Tiller said. 'We had about 10 or 15 minutes privately with (Manning and) my family and we had a nice chat back there. He signed several items, autographs, and then he went to catch his plane.

'It was a fairly short meeting but a special one.'

Manning has returned to the UT campus each year to personally hand out the scholarship award.

'Time has a way of slipping by and it's hard to believe this is the 11th outstanding student to receive the Peyton Manning Scholarship,' Manning said. 'Elizabeth continues what has become a tradition of outstanding academic students to receive this award. She adds to that a really solid athletics background and is just a tremendously well-rounded person. I'm proud to have her as a recipient.'

Tiller graduated from ACA with a 4.26 GPA and was named Miss ACA, the highest award given in the school. She becomes the third out-of-state recipient and the first from Alabama.

She was also awarded a UT Haslam scholarship, and was captain of the varsity cross country and track teams while at ACA. She was named All-State in track five times and All-State in cross country three times. ACA won one cross country and two track and field state championships during her career.

Tiller plans to walk on to the UT track team to run cross country and track.

'It's enabling me to go to the University of Tennessee,' she said of the scholarship. 'As a part of it I don't have to pay out-of-state fees. It's an incredible deal and it offers other benefits as well. I was very pleased to be named the Peyton Manning scholar of the 2008-09 school year and it was a pleasure meeting him.'

Tiller was also vice president of her junior and senior class and a member of the National Honor Society. Tiller was a National Merit Commended Scholar and a Fox 6/Buffalo Rock Star Senior.

A speech communication major who was No. 1 in his 1997 graduating class, Manning is the career passing leader at Tennessee with 11,201 yards, a 62.5 completion percentage and 89 touchdown passes.

The Manning Scholarship is funded from gifts to UT garnered from Manning's academic awards, the UT Athletic Department's corporate matching grants program and other private gifts.

Bekah Hoppis Selected as 2008 Tuscaloosa News Spring Sports Superstar

Chloe's Best Victory

One of the best days of Chloe Rector's life — other than when she had successful heart surgery — was the day she didn't make cheerleader at American Christian Academy.

At the time it didn't seem quite as wonderful, but if she had made the cheerleading squad she never would have come to know her true love of running track.

'The coach sent me a letter inviting me to come to a practice and I just went and I liked it,' Chloe said 'I got up that Monday morning and said, ‘I think I'll go,' and put on some random tennis shoes.'

Rector — at age 12 — competes with the varsity track team at ACA and has come back from a lifetime of heart problems. Last weekend, at the Alabama High School Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Troy, she helped her team win first place in the 4x800-meter relay event. ACA also won the team Class 2A championship. Her split time was 2:47.

'She ran a great leg. She ran like I have never seen her run before. It was a time that just blew everything she's ever done away,' said ACA track coach Charles Tiller. 'She ran a good seven or eight seconds faster than she had ever run that before, even in practice. She's a completely different athlete today than she was even eight or nine months ago.'

Chloe was born with a hole in her heart that was repaired at 6 days old, but she had another hole between the ventricles of her heart. To fix that, her doctors had to wait for her to grow.

'There was always a lot of blood in her lungs,' said her mother, Tammy Rector. 'She couldn't breathe or thrive.'

So at six months old Chloe had her first open-heart surgery, and has the scar on her back left side to prove it.

Then, at 3 years old, an unexpected kind of horror took hold: Chloe, her brother, Conor, and father, Mitch, all got the chicken pox. The strain caused one of the stitches in Chloe's heart to tear a hole back into the organ. Another, final, surgery in 1996 repaired the heart once again and Chloe was, as they say, off and running. And she hasn't stopped running since.

Over the years doctors would, from time to time, reassure her parents that her energy level would improve as she healed.

'But I would tell them, ‘Her energy level is fine,' ' Tami Rector said. 'We don't need any more energy.'

Since those stays at the hospital, Chloe has come a long way and now says the teamwork keeps her motivated.

'I just enjoy running and enjoy being on a team,' she said. 'It's about the team. I like teamwork.'

Her coach agreed that she is a team player.

'Chloe is a really special kid,' Tiller said. 'What makes her special is not only her athletic talent, but her personality. She's got a wonderful personality.'

Two years ago a kidney surgery setback slowed her down, but not for long. Now the outgoing, funny girl labeled 'miss personality' by more than one classmate, is back on track. Literally.

'It's hard to believe it was me,' Chloe said after a recent track practice, reflecting on her medical past.

And although it sometimes seems like the nightmare happened to someone else, Chloe's scars and small reminders bring home the story each day. Asked if she feels like she has made it through a traumatic experience, she turns thoughtful.

'Yes,' she said firmly, yet in a spoft-spoken voice.

Chloe had to visit a cardiologist every year, but now only has to go every two years. Sitting by the track in her T-shirt and pearls, laughing with her friends, no one would know about her past problems. And if they saw her on the track, they would really have no idea what she has had to overcome.

Chloe will visit the doctor again soon, now that track season is over, and will hope for a good report. But is she really glad she didn't make cheerleader last year?

'I am,' she said flashing a bright grin. 'I really am.'

PREP NOTEBOOK: TA, ACA coaches enjoy multiple titles

ACA girls romp to Class 2A title Following the sectional meet, Tiller compared his teams results with those around the state and figured that his girls could score 141 points with Falkville getting 111.

ACA won the championship with 150 1/2 points. Falkville was the runner-up with 87.

Tiller said Carolyn Barnett won the high jump (4 feet, 10 inches) when she was projected to place fourth or fifth.

'I knew we could make up a few points in the distance events than what we had projected,' Tiller said. 'I knew one area we could improve on was the high jump.'

Bekah Hoppis two AHSAA Class 2A meet records on the first day. She won the discus with a throw of 115-8. The previous best, according to the AHSAA Web site, was 105-5 1/2 by Michelle Amos of White Plains in 1985. Hoppis set a javelin record with a toss of 135-5. The old mark was 119-4 1/2 by Kristy Barker of Priceville in 2005.

'Bekah had thrown 134-9 in the javelin earlier in the year,' Tiller said. 'I was so tickled that the threw 135-5. Once you cross 135 feet you're nationally ranked. The wind conditions were quite tough, but it made her very happy as well. In the discus she had thrown 116-4 in the sectional. She was trying to hit that, but she still threw 10 feet further than the old record.'

ACA's Caitlin Browning placed third in the shot put at 32-9 1/4. Hoppis was fourth at 31-9 1/4. Browning was fifth in the discus (88-5).

ACA's three seniors are Elizabeth Tiller, the coach's daughter, Sarah Lawler and Anne Kindred.

Elizabeth Tiller placed fifth in the 1,600 with teammates Sara Gibson and Rachel Mills finishing second and third, respectively. In the 3,200, Elizabeth Tiller was fourth with Mills third and Gibson fifth.

Barnett was second in the pole vault at 7-6. Lawler also reached a height of 7-6 to place third. Gibson tied for fourth at 7 feet.

When ACA won the state cross country title last fall, Charles Tiller was able to take a victory lap with his daughter.

'This was different,' he said. 'We had a four-hour weather delay on Saturday and didn't get finished up at the track until probably 8:30. We had to get them fed and get on the bus to come home. By that time it was not a sentimental moment. But the three seniors took a victory lap. They were laughing and joking. It doesn't always have to be a teary moment. It was an exciting time for them.'

Charles Tiller said he was proud that Rebekah Rhodes won an individual championship in the 400 meters. Last year ACA won the title as Rhodes contributed points with second places in three events.

This year she was second in the 100 and 300 hurdles and fourth in the high jump.

'The high jump was a new event for her,' Charles Tiller said. 'She had just jumped 4-6 and was waiting for the bar to be raised. But the start of the 100 hurdles was all the way across the field. She sprints all the way down the field and wears herself out. She barely has enough time to set herself in the blocks before the race starts. She finishes second, hops out of that and ends up jumping 4-8.

'Late in the day on Saturday she ran a blistering 400 meters [61.56]. I had never seen her run so hard and so fast. She finally won it.'

Charles Tiller said Gibson and Barnett went on a field trip to Dauphin Island during the week of the championships.

'Those girls got up at 6 a.m. to run while they were down there,' Charles Tiller said. 'They knew what they needed to do. That's part of the teaching.

'To whom much is given, much is expected. I try to teach them with the talent that they have. I'd say we have as many as five or six girls who could probably compete at the Division I level [in college] if they stick with the program and have the desire to move up. The talent is given to them. It's their job to fulfill their destiny through hard work. We've got such great kids that they do.'

ACA confident for girls state track meet

TUSCALOOSA - Charles Tiller didn't mind being the underdog last season when his American Christian Academy girls won the AHSAA Class 2A track championship.

The Lady Patriots are in Troy today to compete for another title, and Tiller said his team is better than it was last year.

'We are confident,' he said. 'We put ourselves in a position that we could win it again. We have virtually everybody back from last year's team. We're a deeper team. We're stronger in a lot of events.'

Tiller said Caitlin Browning could contribute as many as 11 points in the throws. Rebekah Rhodes won the sectional high jump at 4 feet, 10 inches.

'Last year she had shin splints,' Tiller said of Rhodes. 'We were trying to find a fourth event for her to jump into. With her being a dancer we wanted to put her in the high jump.'

Freshman Carolyn Barnett has jumped 5 feet in practice and went 4-6 in the sectional.

Freshman Sara Gibson will compete in the 800 meters, the 1,600, the 3,200 and the pole vault. Sophomore Rachel Mills and senior Elizabeth Tiller, the coach's daughter, will run in the 800, 1,600, 3,200 and the 4x800 relay.

Seventh-grader Chole Rector, who was member of last year's championship team, will run in the 4x800 relay.

Tiller said he expects junior Bekah Hoppis to set two AHSAA meet records.

'She's probably one of the top 50 throwers in the country,' Charles Tiller said.

Hoppis, who has qualified for a national meet, has thrown the javelin 134-9 and the discus 116-9 3/4.

Browning will join Hoppis in the javelin, discus and shot put.

Rhodes, the top seed in the high jump, is seeded second in the 100 hurdles, the 300 hurdles and the 400 meters. Last year she contributed 24 points in the state meet by placing second in three running events.

Barnett will run a leg in the 4x400 relay. She will be in the pole vault competition with Gibson and senior Sarah Lawler.

Seventh-grader Mary Roberts qualified in the 400 meters, the 300 hurdles and the 4x400 relay. Seventh-grader Chandler Dare will run in the 4x400 relay. Sophomore Caroline Cockrell will compete in the 4x400, the 4x800 and the open 400.

Homecoming Race Information and Directions

For full information on the race, click here.

Directions to Remaining Races

10/7 Jesse Owens Classic here.

10/12 ACA Homecoming Meet here.Please take the park entrance off of Ole Colony Rd.

10/21 Tupleo, MS Invitational here. Please note that these directions are to Elvis Presley Park. Veterans Memorial Park, the location of the race, is in the very vacinity of the Elvis Presley Park.

10/28 Carrollton "Save the Face" 5K here.

11/2 Sectionals here.

11/11 State Championships here.

ACA Girls Win 2nd at State 1A Track Championships!!