Prep teams work through tragedies

The student bodies at University School of Jackson, Lexington and Riverside have all dealt with tragic losses in the past week.

Lexington cheerleader Allie Henderson and Riverside football player Mason Keen were killed in a car wreck in Lexington on March 21.

Lexington, Riverside coaches recall teens killed in wreck

USJ sophomore Jacob Crenshaw, and his sister, eighth-grader Jillian, were killed in a plane crash in Alabama on Saturday with their parents, Joseph and Jennifer.

“I tell you what, times like this really puts things into their proper perspective for everybody,” said USJ softball coach Brian Dunn. “We have some sophomores on our team who were friends with Jacob and a few here at USJ who were friends with Allie when they were younger through connections with choir recitals as they were growing up, and I don’t think many people care as much about a softball game or doing poorly on a test as much as they would have a week of two ago.”

Riverside baseball coach Eric Quinn agreed with Dunn. The Panthers had a big District 15-A series last week with the defending state champion from Scotts Hill last week and a series with perennial power Jackson Christian this week.

“We still care and want to win, but neither of those series are as big a deal as we thought they were maybe a week ago or so,” Quinn said. “There are bigger things in life like family and friends, and that’s what’s important to these kids this week.”

Decatur County has been through a number of tragic events over the past few years. Quinn has dealt with the loss of someone close to his baseball program too. It was five years ago when Quinn was still coaching at Trinity Christian and Dylan Kirk, who’d graduated from TCA the year before and played baseball, was killed in a wreck.

Quinn said his mindset in both situations was the same.

“First off, it’s what can we do for the family and what do they need from us,” Quinn said. “They’ve lost a member of their family, and their lives are forever changed by this.

“What do they need from us and how can we help them? Then it’s making sure the friends and students – whether they play baseball for us or not – are getting through this.”

Spring sports seasons are a quick sprint as teams try to play an regular season of games into a few weeks in late March and all of April before district tournaments start in early May. Quinn said playing those games does provide a temporary escape for the players.

“We went ahead and played Scotts Hill on Thursday, and we still remembered Mason during the game,” Quinn said. “The guys wrote Mason’s football jersey number (11) in the dirt before they each stepped in the batter’s box. There was an ‘M’ written on the mound.”

Riverside senior Cannon Duke tweeted out an appreciation for Scotts Hill players consciously avoiding stepping on the numbers written in dirt throughout the game.

Riverside still hasn’t returned to school since the deaths as spring break was last week followed by a teacher in-service day on Monday and schools being closed Tuesday after damage suffered in the county during severe weather Monday night.

Dunn said students and teachers at USJ talked with grief counselors as needed on Monday, and there was a time of prayer at the school Sunday afternoon.

“(Football coach) Rusty Bradley shared some verses from Isaiah 55 about God’s ways not being our ways and how we don’t understand why some things don’t happen in life, but we’ve got to continue to trust God in all situations,” Dunn said. “And we’ve talked about that as a team.

“I love to win, and I want to see these girls successful. But the No. 1 priority is their relationship with Jesus Christ, and if anything positive can come from a tragedy like this, I hope it’s that.”

Quinn added prayer has been a part of the grieving process for Riverside as well. He added letting the students be there for each other has helped too.

“The night it happened, we gathered at the football field house, and it wasn’t just football players,” Quinn said. “Baseball players, cheerleaders, parents, teachers and anyone else who knew Mason or wanted to help those who knew him were there getting through it together.

“That’s what it’s going to take to get through this. Prayer and working together because live continues when we deal with stuff like this, and we need both of those to continue on.”

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon.