Jesse Jernigan made school history by being the first student at Central School to sign a golf scholarship, while Brittney Amey and Courtney Arnaud look to continue their softball success at Wallace Community College. The school celebrated the outgoing senior students’ achievements with a small gathering at the school.
Jernigan, who signed a golf scholarship with Faulkner State Community College, has found a lot of success on the golf course during his tenure at Central.
“I have been to regional’s since 9th grade,” Jernigan said. “I won the district overall last year and I tied for district this year.”
Jernigan said he was just shy of making the state championship, this year.
Mike Roberts, who coached Jernigan in both golf and baseball at Central, said he is a tough opponent to face on the golf course.
“He is a little bit of everything, he can hit it a long ways,” Roberts said. “His short game is good and he is a pretty serious competitor.”
Roberts said Jernigan’s accomplishment is a rarity for the school.
“What makes him so unique at Central in getting the golf scholarship is that our demographics are not set up for golf,” Roberts said. “To have someone like this come through here, that is pretty special.”
Jernigan is looking to take a break from sports after the school’s baseball team recently concluded their season with a trip to the regional finals. He plans to start practicing for golf by the middle of the summer.
While Jernigan made his decision to play for Faulkner, fellow graduates Amey and Arnaud opted to play softball for Wallace Community College. In addition to continue playing alongside each other, both plan to become roommates when they move to Wallace Community College, later this summer.
Sitting from the left, Brittney Amey and Courtney Arnaud of Central School celebrate after both recently signing softball scholarships with Wallace Community College in Dothan, Alabama. Standing behind them from the left are Central Assistant Softball Coach Megan Holland and Head Coach Nick Golden. “It feels pretty great knowing that I won’t be alone in college and I will have someone to play (softball) with that I have known the past few years,” Arnaud said.
Arnaud is looking to make an immediate impact at Wallace in the upcoming season.
“I’m looking to being the starting catcher, showing what I’ve got and hopefully get another scholarship to a four-year university,” she said.
Her teammate Amey, who played shortstop for Central, hopes to bring the same close-knit team atmosphere to the college level.
“Central has taught me that our softball team can be more family-like than any other softball team we’ve been on,” she said. “That is something I would like to take to George C. Wallace.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Central: Jernigan signs with Faulkner, Amey and Arnaud sign with Wallace