Four-sport athlete becomes the first Hollis Stacy winner from New Hampstead High

Gianna Brown of New Hampstead was named the winner of the 32nd annual Hollis Stacy Award recognizing the most versatile female high school athlete in Savannah on Thursday by Stacy Award director Leslie Moses.

To be eligible for the award, voted on by local athletic directors and media members, an athlete must play three sports. Brown went one better than that as a standout in four sports for the Phoenix. She became the first New Hampstead athlete to win the honor.

Brown, a junior, was an All-Greater Savannah first-team selection in flag football and basketball and was also an All-Region first-team pick in volleyball and soccer for the Phoenix.

"I was shocked when I heard I won and really excited," Brown said. "It means a lot to me because there aren't a lot of public school athletes who win these kind of awards, and I'm the first from New Hampstead. It shows that the work I've been putting in is paying off."

Brown starred on both sides of the line of scrimmage in flag football as a center and linebacker. She had 13 touchdown catches and 513 yards receiving, while pulling 117 flags and picking off three passes, one she returned for a touchdown for a Phoenix, who reached the Division I State semifinals.

In just her second year playing basketball, the 6-foot standout showed she was a quick study as she averaged 20.6 points per game and 11.0 rebounds per game.

She was also an All-Region first-team pick as a middle blocker in volleyball and as a goal keeper in soccer. She was named the MVP of her teams in each of her four sports this season at New Hampstead.

"What impresses me most about Gianna is that she is such a hard worker in every sport she plays, but she is also very intelligent in the way she goes about things," said Trey Lanier, who coaches Brown in flag football and basketball at New Hampstead.

"She just loves learning and loves the process of getting better, and she's a great person and teammate."

Brown said flag football and basketball rank as her favorite sports, and said that playing multiple sports is important to her.

"It gives you more exposure as an athlete and helps you develop different skills," Brown said. "And you get to have different teammates and share different experiences. It was just my second year playing basketball — and it wasn't easy, but it wasn't hard once I got into the flow. Some of the things I learned in basketball cross over to flag football, so it helps to play all the sports."

Hollis Stacy Award winners

1993 — Joy Brown, Beach

1994 — Susie Kleinpeter, Calvary Day

1995 — Catherine Booker, Savannah Country Day

1996 — Booker, SCD

1997 — Kamesha Mabry, Jenkins

1998 — Arden Wilson, SCD

1999 — Brooke Cornwell, Savannah Christian

2000 — Erin Shields, SCD

2001 — Caroline Griner, Calvary

2002 — Anne Carson, SCD; Kristen Kelly, SCPS

2003 — Lizzie Sprague, SCD

2004 — Sprague, SCD

2005 — Lisa Gray, St. Vincent's Academy

2006 — Haley Reese, SCD

2007 — Christine Phan, Windsor Forest

2008 — Katherine Dotson, SCD

2009 — Katie Covington, Calvary

2010 — Sonny Canady, Calvary

2011 — Jasmine Perrett, Jenkins

2012 — Alicia Lawton, Savannah High

2013 — Chandler Ewaldsen, SCPS

2014 — Ewaldsen, SCPS

2015 — Amari Oliver, SCD

2016 — Sarah Stewart, SVA

2017 — Stewart, SVA

2018 — Anna Bolch, SCD

2019 — Basia Peragine, CDS, and Elizabeth Winders, SVA

2020 — BryAnn Pound, Jenkins

2021 — Veronica Sierzant, Islands

2022 — Sierzant, Islands

2023 — Sierzant, Islands

2024 — Gianna Brown, New Hampstead

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: New Hampstead's Gianna Brown named winner of Hollis Stacy Award