Jones, Hankins are 2022 McMillan Award winners

May 28—Courtney Jones was on the stage at Terre Haute South's Senior Awards Day, waiting to stand and be recognized as one of the many scholarship recipients from her class.

Mark Hankins was at graduation practice at Terre Haute North.

And a few moments later, both senior athletes were recognized Friday morning as the winners of the 2022 McMillan Awards as Vigo County's top high school athletes.

"I was extremely surprised," Jones said later Friday about her morning experience. "They started reading off the accomplishments [of the McMillan Award winner] and I realized it was me. My heart started pounding. It's a great honor."

Hankins' notification came with even less fanfare, although at least his entire class was there to see him win.

"All of a sudden, our athletic director [Kris Painter] walked up on stage and turned the mic on and started speaking," Hankins said Friday afternoon. "I wasn't expecting it at all, but it was a neat surprise."

Both of the 2022 winners excelled in two sports, Jones in volleyball — she'll play that sport at Lipscomb University — and track and Hankins in tennis and basketball.

Jones was practicing for next Friday's state girls track finals when she was interviewed, in fact, and will be competing at Bloomington in the 100-meter dash, long jump and as the anchor of South's 4x100 relay.

Hankins was at his part-time job at Rose-Hulman on Friday afternoon, a job he may keep for awhile because he'll be attending that school in the fall. His basketball participation for the Engineers is up in the air right now, Hankins indicated, as the school goes through a coaching change.

The person who becomes the new coach at Rose-Hulman might want to check out the skinny 6-foot-5 kid working at the school's Sports and Recreation Center. In Hankins' last game as a Patriot, he led all scorers and rebounders as North lost to eventual Class 4A state champion Indianapolis Cathedral. It was the closest tournament game the Irish had to play, and Hankins was a long way from being the biggest player on the court (he may have been the lightest, however).

And Hankins' skill level was probably not the key factor in the success of his team.

"Mark was a great leader and teammate both on and off the court," North coach Todd Woelfle said. "He was unselfish and sacrificed personal glory for the betterment of the team.

"Mark worked hard in the classroom and in the weightroom and spent countless hours working on his game when no one was watching," the coach continued. "He was an extension of the coaching staff on the floor and kept everyone calm under pressure. He represented Terre Haute North, our program and our community well."

Hankins was a two-time first-team all-conference player in Conference Indiana in basketball and also excelled in tennis for the Patriots, earning all-conference honors as a senior and a two-time regional qualifier while playing either No. 1 singles or No. 1 doubles.

Jones was an immediate star in volleyball at South and was recognized in the fall as one of the all-time greats at a school with more than a little tradition in that sport. She was a Junior All-Star and a Senior All-Star and a three-time all-Conference Indiana player.

Jones' senior year included an awkward coaching change that could have gone badly. Jones helped make sure it didn't.

"She set the tone for that changeover," said former South star Madison Minnick, who finished the season as an interim coach. "You could just tell her leadership by how the team looked up to her. She has lots of skills to play all the way around and play well."

Josh Lee has coached the South girls track team for the past two years, when Jones more often than not contributed to 40 team points in every meet by being part of four wins.

"She definitely was beneficial to our team score . . . and will leave a little bit of a gap. With elite athletes, your main job [as a coach] is not to screw up and do anything to negate their athletic ability," Lee said jokingly.

"Her personality is really pretty bubbly," the coach added. "Very coachable, light-hearted . . . the kind of person you want on the team."

Both winners were humble in considering their place in Vigo County sports history.

"I wasn't expecting [the McMillan Award] but I know it's been given to amazing athletes," Jones said. "It's an honor to be recognized with them."

"I'd heard about the award and thought maybe it was something I could win," Hankins said, "but there are lots of good athletes in our school and even more in the rest of the county. To even be nominated was an honor itself."