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The ADVANCE, Morch 17, 2021 /Page 2B
Ricky Etienne. CEO
Kourtney Owens, CTO
EVANCE Tech Inc.
PAY TO THE
ORDER OF .
Vidalia High School Athlptirc [
Ten Thousand Dnllart
MEMO Sponsorship parlram.
Photo by Evan Riekhof
(L to R): VHS Athletic Director Tommy Dailey, EVANCE CEO Ricky Etienne, EVANCE CTO
Kourtney Owens, and VHS Principal John Sharpe.
EVANCE Donates To VHS
The Vidalia High
School Athletic Depart
ment was the recipient of
a large donation last
week as EVANCE Tech
nical Inc. presented Vi
dalia High School Ath
letic Director Tommy
Dailey and Principal
John Sharpe with a check
for $10,000. The gift was
made during the Indian
Invitational Track Meet,
with CEO Ricky Etienne
and VHS Alum, and
EVANCE Chief Techni
cal Officer Kourtney
Owens doing the presen
tation.
The donation will
help several athletic pro
grams in the school along
with the Audio/Visual
Department at VHS. Ac
cording to Etienne, “It
just made sense to help
Vidalia High School and
the student-athletes, as
Kourtney is one of their
alum. We are just happy
that we can give back to
the Student-Athletes and
bolster the programs and
give them the opportuni
ties that we didn’t have
when we were younger.”
Etienne, who was
born in Boston and lived
in New York while grow
ing up, said that while as
a family they struggled,
their Mom always taught
them that the American
Dream was alive and
well. “Even though we
struggled and didn’t have
much, our Mom taught
us at a young age that
you have to go out and
get what you want. The
American Dream is
there, but it is built on
one’s own shoulders and
work. So, I had to pick
myself up out of the
grind and make my
dreams come true. And
now that we are where
we are, I feel like it’s a
Blessing to give back and
hopefully change some
lives that may not have
had the opportunity oth
erwise.
Etienne also owns a
Medical Supply Com
pany that has become
the largest in Atlanta and
one of the countries’
largest. When asked to
what he attributes his
success, Etienne is quick
to point out a motto he
lives by, “Humility be
fore Honor.” “It keeps me
grounded and lets me
know I am doing things
for the right reasons.”
And the advice he
would give to those who
may be about to venture
out on their own?
“Dream on! No matter
your age or what you
deal with in life, hold on
to your dreams. Because
the day you quit dream
ing is literally the day
you stop living. You have
to have a goal, a dream, a
vision. And every day,
you have to work toward
it. But you also have to
know that there will be
adversity along the way,
but it’s not about getting
knocked down; it’s about
whether you get up or
not and what you do
once you get back up.
For her part, Owens,
a 2014 graduate ofVida-
lia High School and for
mer point guard on four
Lady Indian Basketball
teams that made the
State Playoffs, says it
feels good to give back to
a school and community
that gave so much to her.
“It feels so amazing that I
can come back to a com
munity that helped make
me who I am today.
Through sports, the
coaches, and community
leaders who helped me
along the way, I am very
grateful. Now I can come
back and love on my
community and Bless
them, just as I have been
Blessed. I look forward
to being able to do it
even more in the future.”
Vidalia Athletic Di
rector Tommy Dailey,
who taught Owens at Vi
dalia High School, ex
pressed his gratitude for
the partnership with
EVANCE Tech, “Our
athletic department is
extremely excited about
the partnership with
EVANCE Tech. For a
relatively new company
to step up and offer this
kind of support is a little
overwhelming. Kourt
ney Owens, the CTO of
the company, had a ma
jor part in putting this
together, and that in it
self makes this special.
To have a former athlete
and alumna give back
says a lot about Vidalia
HS and what this place
means to her.”
Photo by Mike Branch
Logan Knight took the mound forTCHS during their game against Bleckley County,
Bulldogs Take Two Wins
By Mike Branch
Sports Editor
sports 7 advance@gmaii. com
The Toombs County
High School baseball team
played three nonregion
games last week and came
away with wins in two of
them. The Bulldogs lost to
Coffee County on Tues
day, but bounced back with
wins over Bleckley County
on Thursday and then over
Tattnall County on Friday,
vs. Coffee
If it wasn't for the third
inning, the game would
have been a battle for the
win, but the Trojans of
Coffee exploded in that in
ning to blow the game
open.
TCHS got the first run
of the game in the top of
the first inning. Toombs
held Coffee scoreless for
the first two innings, but in
the bottom of the third the
Trojans got a lot of help
from the TCHS defense as
they scored seven un
earned runs to jump out to
a 7-1 lead.
Toombs added a run
in the top of the fourth, but
Coffee answered with two
more in the bottom half of
the frame. Both teams
scored one in the sixth in
ning, but Toombs fell short
10-3 to the Tojans.
vs. Bleckley
Toombs took the early
lead with a run in the first
inning when Gray Ste
phens drove in Chandler
Lynn to put TCHS up 1-0.
That lead did not last long
as the Royals of Bleckley
put five on the board in the
top of the second inning to
jump into the lead, 5-1.
Toombs closed the
lead to 5-3 with two in the
third inning. Lynn and Ste
phens both walked and an
RBI hit from Jason Dukes
plated one run. Stephens
came in to score on a error
to close it to 5-3.
Toombs loaded the
bases in the bottom of the
fourth. Alex Gordy scored
on a wild pitch and an RBI
single by Chase Mussel-
man brought in two more
runs to put Toombs on top
6-5.
Toombs added two in
surance runs in the sixth
inning with Musselman
coming in on a ball hit by
Stephens, and then Bryson
Stanley got an RBI as
Toombs took the win 8-5.
vs. Tattnall
Toombs got a run in
the second inning to take
the early lead when Dukes
drove in Stephens for a 1-0
lead. Toombs added a run
in the third inning when
Musselman came through
with an RBI double that
scored Lynn for a 2-0 lead.
Toombs added one
more run in the sixth in
ning, when with the bases
loaded Gordy hit a shot to
third that was misplayed to
bring in Stephens. That
gave Toombs a 3-0 win
over the Warriors.
TCHS is now 7-3 on
the year and have yet to
enter Region play. This
week is the last week of
nonregion ball. They
played Coffee County on
Tuesday after presstime
and will be back in action
on Wednesday at Portal at
5:30 p.m. and then on
Thursday at Washington
County at 5:30 p.m. They
will wrap up the week on
Saturday in Savannah at
Benedictine at 1:30 p.m.
SP0RTSTWE
Weekday mornings at 7:35 A.M.
• Local sports with Bob Roberts
• Sports from around the state from GA News Network
• National Sports from ABC
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