Senior Antojuan Woody Steps up for Fallen Friend
It’s been a tough month for Dadeville High School’s Chris Hand. As the school’s principal, he oversaw a graduation ceremony that was missing two students he knew very well. In addition to being the school’s top educator, Hand is also the Dadeville track coach. Three of the four shooting victims in last month’s Sweet 16 birthday party were current and past members of that team.
Phil Dowdell, 18, and Shaunkivia “Keke” Smith, 17, were two seniors who should have been receiving their diplomas last week. They were members of the Dadeville track team, and Dowdell was a 2022 state champion in the 100M and 200M events. Smith was the team manager, and she also played volleyball at Dadeville. Corbin Holston, 23, was on the team in 2017 and 2018, and was a member of the Dadeville High Class of 2018. All three perished during the April 15 birthday party for Dowdell’s sister.
According to Hand, Phil died while protecting his sister at the party after shots rang out. The fourth shooting victim was 19-year-old Marsiah Collins, an Opelika High football player. Twenty-eight other shooting victims survived, but one of those, Kendarrius Heard, was paralyzed after being shot in the back as he attempted to flee. He is a member of the Dadeville football team.
In an interview with ITG Next Alabama, Hand remembers his former Dadeville students and track athletes, and recalls the last time he spent with Dowdell and Smith.
“This whole thing has been unreal,” Hand says. “Keke was our track team manager and Phil was our track team leader. He had won the state championship in the 100M and 200M last year, and he was on his way to winning it again and likely leading us to our first state championship in track.”
Hand was among the last people who spent time with KeKe and Phil.
“We had a track meet the night before the shooting, on April 14 in Troy,” he says. “Phil had a great meet that day. He won the 200-meter and finished second in the 100-meter.”
“We got back to Dadeville around 12:30 that Saturday morning,” Hand continues, “and when we all got off the bus was the last time I saw KeKe and Phil. The shooting happened later that day.”
Coach Hand caught a flight out of state to visit with friends. He was at that friend’s home when he got the news.
“The phone rang, and it was our athletic director telling me there had been a shooting,” he says. “Then one of my teachers called, and then another call. I was calling trying to get my flight changed so I could get home. It was such a mess. I was just in shock. I have been [an educator and coach] for 27 years, but I have never been through anything like that. It has changed my life.”
Hand says both Phil and KeKe were getting ready for college: “KeKe was going off to school and Phil had signed a scholarship with Jacksonville State University to play football.”
Track Team Bounces Back
The Dadeville track team took a week off before Hand got everyone together to see if they wanted to continue the season.
“I gave everyone the option of continuing or calling the season off right there,” Hand says. “Everyone on the track team except for one, and it was completely understandable, voted to keep going.”
One team member, senior Antojuan Woody, stepped up in place of Phil Dowdell. Hand says Woody was determined to win the same events Dowdell had won the year before. At the Alabama High School Athletic Associations’ Class 1A-3A State Track and Field Championships at Cullman High School, Woody took his spot at the starting blocks. By the time he had cleared the finish line, Hand couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Woody just took over,” Hand remembers. “He won the 200 meters by at least a couple of meters over the next closest competitor.”
Woody then repeated the feat, this time in the 100M. Woody had won the 100M and the 200M state championship – just like his friend and teammate Phil Dowdell had done a year earlier.
“It was like seeing another individual out there,” Hand says.
Maybe there was another individual out there – one who helped Woody run the race of his life.
