CROSS COUNTRY/TRACK AND FIELD

Scott Stewart, Class of 1971, was a multi-sport athlete for the Vikings competing in basketball and on the track and cross country teams. Under Coach Alvin Sharpe, he won the 1970 Track State Championship, setting a new state record in the 2-mile. His efforts earned him the prestigious Viking Award for cross country and track as a junior, and again as a senior in cross country. Stewart attended Georgia Tech on an athletic scholarship. He ran for a short time under the legendary George Griffin and Buddy Folkes before shifting his focus to his education. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1975 with a degree in Industrial Management and continued his education at Emory University where he received his MBA in 1977. Stewart still enjoyed distance running after schooling, completing the New York and Houston marathons. Stewart is currently an owner, partner, co-founder and angel investor in businesses focused on engineering, medical and energy. He is an Elder at Roswell Presbyterian Church and is married to his bride of 44 years, Mary Ann Welch/Stewart. Together, they have three wonderfully married children: Caroline, Allison and Jay along with six running grandchildren. Some of Stewart’s favorite athletic memories are running the Lakeside trail around Echo Lake, testing his speed on the roads around Lakeside, the Atlanta Waterworks, and his Dad, Mom, and Brother in the stands at DeKalb Stadium with their stopwatches.

James Timmerman, Class of 1971, became interested in pole vaulting at the Georgia Military Academy during his sixth and seventh grade years. When he finally arrived at Lakeside and joined the track and field team, he quickly excelled at the sport. Timmerman lettered in track during his junior and senior seasons and set the Georgia state pole vault record in 1971 at a height of 14 feet, ¾ inches. He was the first person to clear 14 feet in the state of Georgia, which earned him 14 scholarship offers. Ultimately, he chose to take his talents to Cumberland College. At Cumberland, he set the school record and won an NAIA District 24 championship in pole vault, while placing third in javelin in what he admits was the first time he’d competed in the event. In 1973, he was voted one of the most outstanding college athletes in America. Jim spent two years at Cumberland before joining the Army for a two-year travel and training enlistment that turned into a 23-year career in uniform. He retired in 1997 as Sergeant Major in the signal corps. He has two children, a daughter Terrie and a son, James III. In 2016, Timmerman was diagnosed with Stage 2 prostate cancer and following 40 radiation treatments, he is cancer free. He spends his time now doing whatever suits him and life is good, he says.