Alumni Update: Westside, FPD, Northside, Houston County and Dublin

Former Westside receiver Shannon Smith is moving, again, and he’s getting a little closer to home.

Smith signed with Middle Tennessee in 2013 and redshirted. He was dismissed from the team after the 2014 season, in which he had nine catches for 73 yards. That spring, he was named the team’s most improved wide receiver for strength training.

He then attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in 2015, joining Northside alums Isaiah Johnson, Tyree Williams and Willie Jordan (who has since transferred to Highland Community College in Kansas after a coaching change at NEO). Smith caught 34 passes for 559 yards and four touchdowns for the Golden Norsemen.

In December, he signed with Southern Miss, making it more official on National Signing Day in February and going through spring practice with the Golden Eagles. But last week, the Sun-Herald in Biloxi, Missisissippi, reported that Smith was now transferring to West Georgia, a Division II member of the Gulf South Conference.

“It wasn’t nothing to do with football or the school,” Smith told the paper.“I just had to make a grown man decision to be closer to my daughter and support her.”

He’ll join a few other Middle Georgians on the Wolves’ post-spring roster: wideout Qa Walker of Westside, place-kicker Hunter Heck of Houston County, offensive lineman Quentin Stanford of Northside. West Georgia signed Macon County’s Malik Walker, Lamar County’s LJ Smith and Veterans’ Devin Wingate in February.

Burroughs at her best: If Jessica Burroughs’ senior year at Florida State can top her junior season, the former Houston County softball standout won’t complain. The junior helped the Seminoles to a 55-10 record, the season ending with an 8-7 loss to Auburn in the Women’s College World Series.

Burroughs threw nearly 250 pitches in three days at the tournament, and finished the season 29-5 with a 1.86 ERA and a save, striking out 235 batters in 203 innings with 60 walks. Opponents batted .168 against her.

Her ERA was 41st nationally, and she ranked 32nd in strikeouts per seven innings. Burroughs tied for fifth in wins. Burroughs, who is 65-12 with a 1.99 ERA in three seasons, was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America third team, which was announced just before the WCWS began.

Tinkey still going: Former FPD cross country standout Grace Tinkey completed her first season at Adams State, a Division II school in Colorado, last spring.

Tinkey, who graduated from FPD in 2013, originally signed with Air Force but began her college career at Furman.

After two seasons at Furman, she transferred to Adams State and earned Division II U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-America honors last fall while helping the Grizzlies to the national cross country championship.

Tinkey finished 21st in the national meet. In the spring, Tinkey made the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first team in the 10,000 meters. She was listed as a sophomore at Adams State for 2015-16.

Getting a shot: Former Dublin standout Cedric O’Neal will have his chances to make the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster once training camp starts. The Eagles are looking at running back by committee, and O’Neal has to battle Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles, Wendell Smallwood, Kenjon Barner and Byron Marshall.

Sproles is 33, Mathews battles health issues, and Smallwood is a fifth-round pick from West Virginia who is under a microscope for a variety of notable tweets, including how much he hated the city of Philadelphia.

O’Neal rushed for 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns to help Valdosta State win the Division II national title in 2012 and finished with 4,115 yards and 49 touchdowns, school records for the Blazers.

This story was originally published July 24, 2016 at 9:41 AM with the headline "Alumni Update: Westside, FPD, Northside, Houston County and Dublin."