McDaniel, an Atlanta native, attended Clarkston High School before earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia in 1972. She received a Masters and Specialist in Education from Georgia State University in 1976 and 1984.McDaniel started her teaching career in health and physical education at Lakeside in 1972. Four years later, she became the Varsity Gymnastics Coach and would lead the team to seven DeKalb County Championships and four State Championships during her 14-year career. Her coaching achievements earned her the NHS Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year award in 1977 and again in 1980.In 1986, McDaniel left teaching to work with the Teacher’s Assessment Program at the State Department. She returned to teaching in 1991 in Gwinnett County until her retirement in 2002.During her 30 years in education, McDaniel was also involved with the GHSA Officials Association as both a gymnastics and competitive cheerleading judge. She served as president for both associations for several years. She received the Official of the Year award in 1993 for gymnastics and again in 1999 for cheerleading.
Church, Class of 1979, earned four varsity letters for her time on the gymnastics team. During her sophomore season, she was the State All-Around Champion at the GHSA State Meet. Her senior year, she was awarded both the Carnation Prep All-American Athlete Award and Lakeside’s Viking Award.Following her days at Lakeside, Church attended the University of Alabama where she was briefly active with the gymnastics team.Church remains active in sports, spending time volunteering for the ALTA Wheelchair Tennis spring and fall leagues, as well as the Georgia Special Olympics tennis venue. She is a member of the volunteer committee for the Premier Live Atlanta Challenge, and spends time with the ALTA Foundation program Serve and Connect that focuses on incorporating tennis intothe inner city.Together with Stacey, her husband of 28 years, she has one son, Jonathan. Church spends her time volunteering for various political campaigns and being an avid photographer. Church also creates many paintings that she donates to the Shepard Center, an organization she has volunteered with for six years.
Morrison, Class of 1974, earned three varsity letters for the Lakeside gymnastics team under head coach Dan Key. He was paramount in helping lead the boys’ program to its first state team championship his junior year and took the podium for state-runner up performances in the Parallel Bars and Rings, while earning a third-place finish in All Around. After graduating from Lakeside in 1974, Morrison attended Georgia Tech until 1979. There, he competed on the Yellow Jackets gymnastics team for four years and also served as team co-captain. In 1986, Morrison was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame. Jerry competed with his identical twin brother Jeff (made inaugural HOF Class) during his time at Lakeside, and also throughout their college years. Their coach at Georgia Tech, Bill Beavers, saw the Morrison brothers lead what he considered to be the strongest team in the program’s 31-year history. In 1979, Georgia Tech placed third in the prestigious Peachtree Invitational. The Morrison brothers and their younger teammates Richard and George Suero gave Tech two sets of twins at the time. Interestingly enough, Jerry’s older brother Art also went to Lakeside where he got both Jeff and Jerry interested in gymnastics due to a gymnastics PE class he took there. Morrison likes weightlifting, traveling, reading novels, and bowling. He is married with one son, Bradley.
The Lakeside High School Sports Hall of Fame is dedicated to honoring the rich history and achievements of high school athletes who graduated from Lakeside High School in Atlanta, Georgia.
.png){kind=small}