SALLY, MOM CAROLINE MCKENZIE, AND GRANDFATHER DICKY GRIEDER AT THE YELLOW JACKET RELAYS
On a chilly, overcast Saturday in Shreveport, Dicky Grieder and his wife, Sally, sat bundled up on the first row of Lee Hedges Stadium watching their granddaughter--Byrd's Sally Mckenzie compete in the Yellow Jacket Relays.
As Mckenzie, a sophomore, ran past her grandparents in the 300m hurdles, both stood up and cheered her on as she finished with a time of 53.21, which currently ranks No. 15 in Louisiana among sophomore girls.
Mckenzie also had someone cheering her on in the infield.
It was her mom, Caroline, who was a swimmer at C.E. Byrd in 1996 before she was recruited to join the cross country by Byrd head coach Juan Plaza in his first year of coaching. In the Spring, Plaza encouraged her to come out for track and field where she was a distance runner and javelin thrower for the Lady Jackets.
Now a Byrd Track & Feild mom, Caroline Mckenzie volunteered to work Byrd's Yellow Jacket Relays last Saturday passing out medals and T-shirts to athletes making the podium.
For this family, C.E. Byrd--and the track and field program--is a family tradition.
It's a tradition which started with Grieder, who a half-miler for legendary C.E. Byrd Coach Woodrow Turner before earning a scholarship to Louisiana Tech, where he ran for yet another Louisiana legendary track coach-Louisiana Tech's late, great Jim Mize.
When speaking of the coaches, who were so instrumental in his life, Grieder also brought up Coach Larry Kahlden, who coached Grieder during his senior year at Byrd.
"You've got to mention him in there, too," Grieder said. "He was a loyal Yellow Jacket coach who was a member of National Championship at LSU blocking for the legendary Chinese Bandit team and running back Billy Cannon."
When his track and field career ended, Grieder took what he learned in school and athletics into business, where his hard work and dedication helped him become even more successful than he was in the athletic arena.
"Never give up," Grieder said when asked how track and field helped him to become a successful in business. "You are going to make mistakes. You got to pull your way through it all."
Now, when he isn't purchasing real estate and restoring it to make Shreveport a better place to live for his grandchildren, he is at a sporting event supporting his grandkids at their athletic events.
"She is new at it," Grieder said of his granddaughter, Sally, who was named after his wife. "To watch her develop, it's going to be fun to watch."
Mom agrees.
"It's exciting," Caroline Mckenzie said. "I'm happy she is carrying on the family tradition competing in track for C.E. Byrd."
A little over two weeks ago, Sally Mckenzie was in Hammond competing in the LHSAA Division 1 Girls' State Soccer Championship. While the Lady Jackets fell short (2-1 to St. Scholastica) in a bid for a state title, it was a season Mckenzie will never forget.
"It was an experience," Mckenzie said of the championship match. "It was so fun. We played our hearts out. It was really good."
Mckenzie said the transition from the pitch to track was not that difficult.
"We do a lot of running so it wasn't that hard," Mckenzie said.
Soccer and track and field are not Sally Mckenzie's only sports. She is also an accomplished equestrian rider.
Just last week, she won second place in her individual high jumping class at the Interscholastic Equestrian Association, which included contestants from six states.
When his track and field career ended, Grieder took what he learned in school and athletics into business, where his hard work and dedication helped him become even more successful than he was in the athletic arena.
"Never give up," Grieder said when asked how track and field helped him in his successful business career. "You are going to make mistakes. You got to pull your way through it all."
"Always deep within our hearts--the purple and the gold" is the last line of the C.E. Byrd alma mater. It signifies the lifelong memories that the "citizens" of The City of Byrd make during their time at 3201 Line Ave. It's even more special when those memories, life-lessons, and love for track and field, can be shared passed down three generations.
