Collierville High athletes, unified team and arts department honored at board meeting

Principal Jones opened the school board meeting by recognizing Collierville High School students, coaches and faculty for recent athletic and arts achievements.

The board and audience were presented with honors spanning the trap shooting team, the unified track program, the girls track and field team and the high school fine arts department. The recognitions highlighted individual state finishes, team championships and an arts education award.

Principal Jones introduced Mark Ray, Collierville High head trap coach, who said the trap team finished close to repeating as state champions. Ray singled out senior Tucker Smith, who he said has shot with the program since seventh grade and “saved his best for last” with a 100-straight performance at the state meet. Ray said Patrick Michields, a recently graduated senior, also shot a 100 and won the state title in a shoot-off that placed Michields first and Smith second among three athletes, out of about 300 competitors.

Coach Taylor, Collierville High athletic director, described the school’s participation in TSSAA Unified Sports — a program that pairs students with and without disabilities — and credited coach Alyssa Seymour and other staff with recent success. Taylor said Collierville placed first in the unified long jump, naming Soumay Lewis and partner Peyton Ali, and placed second in the mixed 4x100 relay, with runners including Jaden Jackson and two underclassmen who were not present.

Alyssa Seymour, girls track coach, reviewed the girls team’s state meet results. Seymour said the team won the state championship with 155 points, surpassing its own 2024 total of 131 points. She listed multiple individual placers and event winners who contributed to the team total, including state champions in the 4x200 and 4x400 relays and an individual state champion in the pole vault as a tenth grader. Seymour and Principal Jones also noted national- and state-level coaching honors she received, including recognition from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Principal Jones closed the recognition remarks by calling up the fine arts department to announce that Collierville High had earned designation as an Arts Rich School from the Tennessee Arts Academy. Jones said the award recognizes whole-school arts programming and credited band, orchestra, theater, speech and visual arts staff and students for the nomination and the video submission used in the application.

The board and attendees took photos following the presentations.