Carr, Johnson named SEC Trailblazers
In conjunction with the Southeastern Conference's 50th anniversary of Title IX celebration, Mississippi State's Samye Johnson and Ann Carr, along with a distinguished group of individuals from all 14 SEC member institutions, will be honored during the 2022 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament, March 2-6, in Nashville, Tenn.
Known as SEC Trailblazers, this group has contributed to the advancement of women and the growth of women's athletics at their universities and within the Southeastern Conference.
Samye Johnson was a four-sport athlete and volleyball coach at Mississippi University for Women before serving as the Mississippi State volleyball coach and serving as an Assistant AD and Senior Women's Administrator. Johnson earned 506 career victories in her 15-year coaching career, which included three seasons at the helm of the MSU program from 1994-96. She ranked sixth at MSU in career victories and was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
Johnson passed the Senior Women's Administrator torch to Ann Carr in 2006 following her retirement.
Carr is a 28-year veteran in athletic administration at Mississippi State, following a solid four-year career as a student-athlete on the women's basketball team.
She started her career as an assistant academic advisor for women's basketball, volleyball, tennis, golf, and softball. After four years of helping student-athletes, Ann wanted to reach campus students by becoming an adjunct lecturer at MSU.
After a brief time away from MSU, Carr returned to Starkville in 1998 and served as an academic counselor for football, becoming the first female to hold that position. She worked her way up the athletic administration ladder, earning a promotion to Assistant AD in 2000 before becoming the Senior Associate AD in 2008. She was given oversight of sports performance, student life, and academics. She was also on committees such as the President's Commission on the Status of Minority, President's Commission on the Status of Women, sport administrator for women's basketball, volleyball, softball, housing liaison, and graduate student liaison.
Today, she serves as Deputy AD, SWA, Chief Diversity Officer, Director of Student Development, and is the sport administrator for women's basketball. While at MSU, Ann has been recognized as a Dynamic Women of Mississippi recipient, received the Council of Minority Affairs Awards and the University's Diversity Award.
Each trailblazer will be honored on court during half-time of their team's first game of the tournament, as well as with the whole group of honorees on semifinal Saturday.
The SEC will have a year-long celebration of the anniversary of Title IX, the landmark legislation enacted half a century ago that has had a dramatic and lasting impact on opportunities for women in collegiate athletics.
Under the banner of "50th Anniversary of Title IX: Creating Opportunities," the SEC's celebration will include recognitions at Conference championship events, commemoration of achievements through online and social media channels, commemorative memorabilia and a collaboration with the SEC Network highlighting the advancement of women's sports.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.
Kelly Shipp | HailState.com
