Male Athlete of the Year: Elizabethton’s Russell excels in football, baseball
Published 1:37 pm Friday, June 8, 2018
- Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Elizabethton's Corey Russell, due to his contributions in both football and baseball, is the 2017-18 Elizabethton Star Male Athlete of the Year.
On the 2017 Elizabethton football roster, in the column that lists a player’s position, for Cyclones Corey Russell, it just simply said “athlete.”
And that is because Russell is a Mr. Do-It-All for the Cyclones football squad. Russell’s athletic abilities, however, are not narrowed down to just football. The upcoming senior’s skills also transfer over to baseball where Russell is a major contributor for the ‘Betsy ball club.
It is Russell’s MVP-worthy performance in both sports that has earned him the 2017-18 Elizabethton Star Male Athlete of the Year honor.
The Cyclones football team moved up to the Class 4A classification for the 2017 season and fought to a second-round appearance in the TSSAA football playoffs. Elizabethton finished with a 9-3 mark overall and a 5-1 record in the region. As a running back, Russell racked up over 1,100 yards of rushing while recording 18 touchdowns for the Cyclones.
“First off, Corey is a top notched kid,” said Elizabethton head football coach Shawn Witten. “He is a coach’s dream regardless of the sport. The only way I can describe him is that he is a jack of all trades. There is just nothing he can’t do or is willing to help the team. He is a running back, quarterback, receiver, defensive back, linebacker, I mean, he is a holder, a punter. He just does it all, and I am just fortunate as a coach to get to coach a young man like that. They don’t come through too often.”
The movement up to 4A put Cyclones football in the same conference as Greeneville, which went on to win the 2017 state championship. The Greene Devils only beat Elizabethton 24-10 in the regular season, which was the least amount of points Greeneville score all season. Russell said he feels that the Cyclones adjusted well to the new classification.
“It is always tough just moving either way you are going,” said Russell about the Cyclones’ move to 4A. “We moved up and walked into Anderson County and Greeneville there. They are two tough teams. Our competition stayed the same conference wise, expect for Greeneville they are always tough. We held our own and did really good. We competed like we always do.”
It was a season to remember for the Cyclones baseball club in 2018. Elizabethton topped Gibbs County 3-2 in a state-sectional classic inside Cardinal Park to send the Cyclones to the TSSAA Class AA State Tournament. Elizabethton picked up two state tournament wins as they finished in the final four in the state. In 2018, Russell was crowned the District 1-AA Tournament MVP. Over the season, Russell recorded 50 RBIs (highest on the team) and 39 runs for the Cyclones while maintaining a .389 batting average and a .503 on-base average. Along with his batting, Russell also played a key role on the Cyclones defense at shortstop where he recorded a .914 field percentage. Russell also saw some time on the mound for ‘Betsy.
“He is one of those guys that can absolutely take a game over,” said Elizabethton head baseball coach Ryan Presnell. “He is always putting himself in positions to succeed. He has a ton of talent. But I think one of the things that a lot of people doesn’t see is how much work he puts in off the field. He is the guy you want to see your daughter date. He is the guy you want to see hitting in the middle of your lineup, and he is the guy you want to see in the middle of your defense.”
After the Cyclones made it to a state sectional game in 2017, Russell said that making it the state tournament this season wasn’t just a dream, it was the expectation.
“We had a really good year the past year,” said Russell. “We were wanting to build onto that. We were expecting a lot of ourselves. We finished third in the conference, then rolled through the district tournament. We went through the region and then beat Gibbs, which was really good. They were ranked really high in the state. I honestly think they were the best team in the state.
“Going down to state was really good, and hopefully next year we can do better than that,” added Russell.
