GPS Inducts Five into the Athletic Hall of Fame

 

While Girls Preparatory School is known for academic excellence, our students' and coaches' athletic performances have led to a higher than average entrance into the college athletic arena. On average, 20 percent of GPS student-athletes will go on to compete at the collegiate level; the national average is roughly 7 percent for male and female high school athletes.

Each year, GPS recognizes a select number of alumnae and coaches for their outstanding accomplishments in and contributions to athletics and who made a significant impact on the GPS athletics program for induction into the GPS Athletic Hall of Fame.

On Friday, GPS inducted five into its Athletic Hall of Fame. Head of School Megan Cover welcomed attendees to the event and introduced Director of Athletics Jay Watts, who served as emcee. His assistant, Susan Davidson, who coordinated the event, was also present.

Watts addressed the crowd and stated, “Induction into the GPS Athletic Hall of Fame represents the highest honor we can bestow upon our athletes and coaches who have represented our school with class and with excellence during their time on campus. These women have earned numerous accolades at the local, state, and even national levels throughout their careers.”

This year, inductees were welcomed into the prestigious organization by loved ones, who spoke about their accomplishments. 

Dr. Lindsey Martin VonCannon is a pediatrician working outside of Denver, Colorado, where she lives with her husband and two young daughters. She graduated from Davidson College with a B.S. in physics and then Wake Forest Medical School with her M.D. 

During her time at GPS, VonCannon competed in crew, track and field, and primarily, swimming. She received four individual All American awards, eight relay All American Awards, and was Academic All American her senior year. Through the swim team, she was awarded the Sarah Burns award in 2004 and 2007, the MVP award in 2004, 2005, and 2007, and served as captain her senior year. She won the 100 freestyle and was second in the 50 freestyle at the Tennessee State Championship meet in 2007. She received GPS’s Freshman Cup award in 2004 and was Cum Laude and a National Merit Finalist her senior year. 

While at Davidson College, she was the first swimmer to ever qualify for and attend the NCAA Division I Championship swim meet and received Academic All American and Collegiate Mid-Major All American Awards as well as Davidson’s Most Outstanding Freshman Athlete Award and the Rebecca Stimson Award for the most accomplished senior female athlete (named for a fellow GPS alumna, Becca Stimson ’73).

Simone Busby was a standout in numerous sports during her time at GPS. A goalie, she was twice named to the TSWA All-State Soccer Team, was named All-City Soccer MVP in 2011, and was awarded Chattanooga Best of Preps Tournament MVP in 2011 and 2012. With track and field, she won the state championships for both shotput and discus and was twice named to the All-State Track team. Busby played two sports—softball and basketball—under fellow 2022 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Coach Susan Crownover.

Busby attended the University of Evansville, where she continued her soccer career. While there, she was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team, MVC First Team, and MVC Goalkeeper of the Year, in addition to making the MVC Honor Roll, all in her first year. She continued to build her impressive résumé throughout the remainder of her time at Evansville, earning scholar-athlete accolades, being named to the MVC-ALl Tournament Team and NSCAA/Continental Tire All-Great Lakes Region Third Team, earning the MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award and MVC Goalkeeper of the Year for a second time. She remained on the honor roll every year.

Today, Busby attends the Cumberland School of Law, where she has made the Dean’s List each year and is a member of the Black Law Student Association. She also serves as a legal clerk for the Honorable Judge Clyde Jones of the 10th Judicial Circuit Court of Alabama. In addition to her studies, Busby is an entrepreneur. She is owner of Scenic City Notary CHA, LLC and co-owner of Balloon Boss, LLC.

Dr. Chadarryl Silguero-Clay made a name for herself on the basketball court while at GPS. She was the varsity starting point guard all four years of high school and was also named All-Region each year. She was named All-Team her sophomore, junior, and senior years. 

She was a member of the 2011 and 2012 State Basketball Championship teams and earned Regional Player of the Year honors in 2011 and was named MVP of the tournament in 2012. Both years she was also named Miss Basketball for the state of Tennessee, Chattanooga Times Free Press Player of the Year, a Venus Lacey Award recipient, and Chattanooga Times Free Press Best of Preps champion.

By her junior season, she had scored 1,000 points, and her jersey number was retired following her senior season in 2012, when she was also named a McDonald’s All-American nominee, ranked as the number 6 point guard in the nation and named to the ESPN Hoopgurlz “Top 100 Watch List” for the Class of 2012. 

Her success helped her earn a full scholarship to play basketball at Auburn University in 2012. In 2013, she transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University to finish her career, also on full scholarship. She had the highest GPA on her team each year and was awarded the Student Athlete Scholar Award all four years. 

Today, after graduating from the Independent Pharmacy Ownership Residency at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2021, Silguero-Clay lives with her wife, Maria Magdalena Silguero-Clay, in Durham, North Carolina, where she serves as the Pharmacy Manager at Harris Teeter Pharmacy. 

Tory Kemp Howard was a star on the track and field team while at GPS, participating on the team as competing in the TSSAA track and field championship as an eighth-grader. She set school records in the trip jump and 300m hurdles and earned a state championship six times—for pentathlon, long jump, triple jump, 100m hurdles, and 300m hurdles. Her senior season she went undefeated and was named the Scrappy Moore Female Athlete of the Year.

Though she was recognized as a standout for track and field, she was also an integral part of other GPS teams. In 2009, she was on the state championship volleyball team and was named a Best of Preps honoree. She was also top five in the city for assists and kills. In 2011 and 2012, she was a member of the state championship basketball team.

Additional accolades were bestowed to Howard, including the NAACP Berry White Female Student Athlete Award in 2011 and the GPS Senior Student Athlete Award.

She committed to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill as a heptathlete and earned First Team All ACC Honors at the Track and Field Championships four times. She was the second all-time scorer for UNC pentathlon, as well, and was awarded ACC All-American Indoor and Outdoor Team and ACC Academic Honor Roll four times. Twice she earned NCAA First Round Qualifier in high jump.

While attending UNC, Howard was one of the first two student-athletes to be actively enrolled in the school’s nationally ranked nursing school while participating in a D1 sport. She graduated with honors.

Today, Howard resides in Atlanta with her husband, Johnathan, and their two sons, Taj (5) and True (2), and works as an ICU nurse at Emory University Hospital.

As Crownover’s career at GPS comes to a close and her retirement draws near, it becomes evident we are losing a legend. She has taught and coached at GPS for 31 years, 29 as head softball coach and nine as head basketball coach. From 2004–13, she coached both sports back-to-back.

During her 28 seasons as head coach of the softball program, her teams made 23 state tournament appearances and earned eight state championships—in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2014—and 12 state runner-up titles. Over the course of the decades, she never had a losing record and even coached 21 20+ win seasons. Her regular season record to date is 668 wins and 237 losses, and her state tournament record is 63-30. Thirty-four of her softball players continued their playing careers in college.

As head basketball coach for nine seasons from 2004–13, Crownover earned a record of 171-69, won two state championships, and had five 20+ win seasons. Four of her athletes continued their playing careers in college.

A career as long and impactful as Crownover’s comes filled with accolades. In 2007, she was named the NFHS State Softball Coach of the Year and TWSA Softball Coach of the Year, which she earned again the following year. In 2012, she was named TSSAA AF Bridges Award - Female Coach of the Year, and in 2016, she was inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Coaches Hall of Fame. That same year, she earned the Allan Morris/Jim Morgan Award, which is given to an athlete or person involved in athletics that has overcome great physical challenges or through diligent persistence has accomplished goals that most people in their situation would not even attempt. She has also earned the Scrappy Moore Softball Coaches Award and the Chattanooga Times Free Press Coach of the Year three times.

Crownover, who was diagnosed with kidney disease in her 20s (and later received a kidney transplant) and stage 3 endometrial cancer in 2020 before returning for her final season as head coach this year, is looking forward to retirement, alongside her husband, David. The couple plan to devote time to spoiling their grandson, Andrew.