From the Sidelines: Sarah Lanton — A Bulldog through and through
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Though she donned the Purple and White, Sarah Lanton really never had to attend Unit 3 schools to be a Bulldog.
But she did, and Harrisburg athletics are better for it.
Sarah, 20, was killed late Tuesday afternoon in a automobile accident just North of West Memphis, Ark.
Lanton was reportedly returning back to Mississippi State University from fall break.
Sarah had just enrolled this fall, after serving two years as a student statistician/manager for the Southeastern Illinois College women's basketball team - first for Greg Franklin, then for Franqua Bedell.
Both coaches have since joined the MSU women's basketball program.
Sarah decided to make Mississippi State her next step as well, and was apparently back in town this past weekend for fall break.
"Unbelievable," Franklin said this morning of the tragic news, "but some things I know are true about Sarah. I don't ever remember anyone having a cross word to say about her.
"Everyone always seemed to enjoy her presence and being around her because she was such an uplifting, hard-working positive person. I know when she was with our program she worked really, really hard.
"Sarah was probably more poised and had more savvy about things way behind her age just with life situations and maturity - talking to the girls and how to handle things. Her level of maturity just helped our team become better people. And my prayers are with her family and friends," Franklin added.
And so, here we are again: when too many times, young lives are taken from us before our own eyes.
Trying to make sense of this, through the shock and pain, makes no sense at all.
Knowing her as an athlete I covered and as a person, plus being friends with her family - her father and I were best of run-arounds at HHS - makes this all the more difficult.
Simply put, Sarah Lanton had the warmest smile and personality, but to scratch beneath the surface would reveal a hard-edged determination.
You see, the night before my birthday in 2004, Sept. 14, Sarah went down with the worst of injuries during a volleyball match at Benton.
The news was not good: Sarah, then a junior, had suffered a torn MCL and ACL in the knee.
In the sports world, those are the nastiest of abbreviations, the two an athlete or coach does not want to hear.
So many would easily have turned away at the news. So many would have quit. With her senior year coming up, she may have looked to the future and not bothered dealing with the obvious pain and chance of a recurring problem.
But not Sarah Lanton.
She was scheduled to undergo the knife Oct. 27. The night before, she took the floor - damaged knees and all - at the Crab Orchard Class A volleyball regional semifinals.
Lady Bulldogs coach Dana Brewer asked trainer Tina McCabe if it were possible for Sarah to stand in the back row and serve if the substitution came up.
After getting clearance, Sarah did just that. Here's my own words from the Oct. 27, 2004 editions:
"So, with a chance for Harrisburg to serve out twice in their semifinal match against Gallatin County, Lanton smacked aces both times, highlighting the Lady Bulldogs' 25-13, 25-14 victory."
The next day, Sarah was in the hospital, and the Lady Bulldogs were in the regional championship match.
Of course, she wasn't able to play basketball that winter, but Sarah hung around the program and provided moral support for her teammates, while serving as manager.
She did play volleyball her senior year, and was all set to have a strong finish with basketball.
Save for the night before Thanksgiving, when she fell to the Davenport Gymnasium in basketball practice. The result: more torn knee cartilage, and more surgery.
So many times, it would have been easy for Sarah to turn away. But she didn't.
And she didn't walk off from basketball, either.
Fast-forward to February, in the regional finals against Massac County, Lady Bulldogs coach Steve Vinyard allowed Sarah to dress.
Lanton was instructed to stand under the basket and not move. Her teammates grabbed the rebound and threw a baseball pass down the floor.
Sarah caught the basketball and hit the shot - the final points of a trying yet rewarding career.
"Had Sarah been healthy and Lauren Wright been healthy, we may have been good enough to get to the state tournament," Vinyard recalled of the 2005-06 season. "Still, Sarah fought through so much.
"She was the ultimate teammate."
Still, Lanton's sport of choice was volleyball.
"She just loved volleyball so much," Brewer said, fighting back tears. "She was such a great kid. Sarah was with me for six years of volleyball, including the middle school. She even ran practices for me.
"She always helped out with the middle school program. She came back to officiate matches, and was on the bench with me at times.
"Sarah was even with me this summer at the camp for the younger kids. Though my current players didn't play with her, they still knew her," Brewer said.
Dana Brewer didn't go to work this morning, and understandably so. She will meet the Lady Bulldogs this afternoon during practice and decide if tomorrow night's match with Benton needs to be moved.
This is not the first time Dana Brewer has lost someone with close ties. As an Eldorado High graduate, tragedy struck close to home with the 1977 University of Evansville basketball airplane crash, which claimed the lives of former Eagles greats Mike Duff and Kevin Kingston.
"At Eldorado, I was best friends with Mary Jane Duff when Mike was killed," Brewer said. "It hurts when you lose someone that's a friend. She was just a great kid. It just breaks my heart."
But in the next few days, and in the years to come, the memory of Sarah Lanton will be revisited, with many a smile.
Though it is too early to call, you can best believe she'll have an HHS athletic award named in her honor and spirit.
And, if nothing else can be attained through this tragedy, let it be known Sarah's life ended as a student at Mississippi State.
As a Bulldog.