Jeremy Harper and Nancy Session are Bainbridge High School’s male and female senior athletes of the year for the 2009-2010 school year.

Harper and Session received their awards during a Monday morning school honors day program at the school cafeteria.

Harper was a starting running back running back on the football team and starting point guard on the basketball team. He is the son of Sheila Mango and Juan Harper.

Session was a sprinter on the girls’ track team and a guard on the girls’ basketball team. She is the daughter of Janet Session and the late Nathaniel Session Sr.

Bearcats Head Football Coach and Decatur County School System Athletic Director Ed Pilcher talked Tuesday about both athletes and their contributions to their sports and Bainbridge High School.

“Both of our senior athletes of the year continued to improve throughout their careers,” Pilcher said. “They are both good kids and good student athletes.

“Jeremy Harper was probably the most improved player on the football team and the basketball team,” Pilcher said.

“He was definitely our most improved player,” added Bearcats head basketball coach Rickey McCullough. “He had a very good average of six assists to two turnovers a game and helped lead us to the State Class AAAA Final 4.”

As a senior Bearcat running back, Harper carried the ball 127 times for 498 yards, for an average of 3.9 yards per carry and five touchdowns. He racked up an average of 45.3 yards per game and had 13 carries of 10 yards or more.

He also had a long carry of 26 yards and nine pass receptions for 207 yards, and two touchdowns. He had a long reception of 46 yards.

Harper lists Coach Kelvin Cochran who coached him in football and basketball as a major role model. Harper also had 10 kickoff returns for 174 yards, a 17.4 yards per return average and a long return of 52 yards. He had two punt returns for eight yards.

He averaged 88 all-purpose yards per game. For the season, he had 888 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns.

Session helped lead Coach Tandria Phillips’ Lady Cats track team to the Region 1-AAAA championship and a strong seventh place finish among 48 teams in the State Class AAAA Meet. Both the girls’ region and state track meets were held at the Hugh Mills Memorial Stadium Track in Albany, Ga.

She also helped lead Coach Latreisha Moon’s Lady Cats basketball team to a perfect Region 1-AAAA regular season record.

Session calls Coach Phillips a major role model in her life. Session was first in the 400-meter run in a time of 56.60, and first in the 200-meter run in a time of 24.93.

She was also on the Lady Cats first place finishing 4-by-400-meter relay team with Khadeeijah Cooper, Diamond Bouie and Jerisha Sutton. Their winning time was 4:07.96.