Photo: Emily Owens Friday became the new athletic director at Center Hill High School. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Mar 21, 2025- Center Hill High School late Friday afternoon announced the appointments to three positions in the athletic department, led by the naming of a new athletic director.
Emily Owens leaves the girls’ basketball bench and leaves the whistle for assistant Traci Hoggatt to take care of as new head girls’ basketball coach. Owens departs the bench to assume the position of athletic director for the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs. The additional announcement made Friday was the appointment of Harrison Daniels, who moves from assistant girls soccer coach to lead the girls soccer program.
Owens, who came to Center Hill after the 2017-2018 season, said an ultimate goal has been to get into administration in some way.
“Having an opportunity to do it here at a place I love and love what’s been built here is exciting for me,” Owens said. “It’s a good place for me to start.”
Owens was a graduate assistant and assistant coach at a number of colleges, including the University of Memphis under former coach Blair Savage-Lansden from 2005-2008. Prior to Memphis, she was an assistant basketball coach and senior women’s administrator at Kentucky Wesleyan College for two seasons. Owens came to Center Hill from a business career, but had last coached at St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis.
She was an assistant athletic director at Center Hill for departing AD Alan Peacock for two years.
“I think he’s done a great job,” Owens said of Peacock. “I think I’ve learned a lot from him and I’ll probably continue a lot of what he’s done.”
The new athletic director says she’s excited to see what new girls’ basketball coach Traci Hoggatt will do with the program. Hoggatt came to Center Hill as Owens’ assistant three years ago after being a head coach at Marshall Academy and Falkner.
“She’s very knowledgeable, so it’s going to be a smooth transition,” Owens said about Hoggatt. “I think her intensity will be a good thing to push the girls to the next level.”
A Tupelo native, Daniels was girls soccer coach at Southaven before moving over to Center Hill to be an assistant coach for both boys’ and girls’ soccer programs.
“When I got here as an assistant, I thought if anything ever happens, I might have an opportunity to step up and be the head guy,” Daniels said. “It’s an exciting thing, I’m really blessed to be here.”
Look for the Lady Mustangs to be an aggressive side on the pitch next season, Daniels said.
“One thing that is sort of my philosophy is one word, and that word is ‘attack,” Daniels said. “We want to be fast, we want to be athletic. We want to create a lot of attacking chances.”
SCOREBOARD
Friday, March 21
Prep baseball
Lewisburg 15, Southaven 1 (6 innings)
Lewisburg: 7-run sixth inning put the game away. Caden Nelson-3 runs. Garrett Latham-3 hits, 2 doubles. Pitcher Cooper Bierman-7 strikeouts.
DeSoto Central 12, Oxford 2 (5 innings)
DeSoto Central: Jack Willis-3 runs. Carter Dawson-3 RBIs. Pitcher Aiden Steht-3 strikeouts.
Hernando 11, Horn Lake 1 (6 innings)
Hernando: Pitcher Jackson Nations-4 strikeouts.
Grenada 17, Lake Cormorant 0
Grenada: 12-run second inning.
Center Hill 10, Olive Branch 0 (5 innings)
Center Hill: Ryan Brunetz-double, 2 RBIs; JaMaryan Warren-double. Pitcher Mac Atkins-6 strikeouts.
Magnolia Heights 4, Bob Jones, Ala. 1 (at USA Stadium)
Prep softball
Lewisburg 3, Itawamba AHS 2
Lewisburg: Leona Klaire Stokes hits walk-off double in bottom of the seventh for the win. Stokes also scored two runs for Lewisburg. Pitcher Emma Abrams struck out five.
Southaven 4, Center Hill 1
Hernando 7, Clarkdale 4
Hernando: Callie Desmond- home run, 2 runs. Katelyn Kirkpatrick-2 hits. Macie Dever Boaz-home run, 2 RBIs. Madison York-double, 2 RBIs.
Northpoint Christian 14, Lake Cormorant 1 (5 innings)
Northpoint: Ada Woodruff-4 hits, 4-RBIs. Katy Bobo-4 hits. Trinity Garvin-triple. Pitcher Ada Woodruff-12 strikeouts.
JUCO men’s tennis
Northwest 9, Holmes 0
NBA G League basketball
Valley Suns 139,, Memphis Hustle 125
Memphis Hustle: Armando Bacot-24 points, David Johnson-22 points
SPORTS ETC.: Two senior members of the Olive Branch boys’ basketball, which made the 6A state championship game this year after winning the title the previous season, Friday, March 21 signed offers to play junior college basketball season. King George has signed to play at Mississippi Gulf Coast while Reece Garrison signed for Pearl River Community College.
(Photos courtesy Mandy Shackelford, Olive Branch High School)
