By St. George Leader, Special to the Message
BATON ROUGE, La. (SGL) — It’s quite a story! Anna Richerson led Parkview Baptist School to two state championships and was named most valuable player in both games. But these honors are just the tip of the iceberg in the storied high school career of this amazing senior.
Her stats include 2,300 career points, 430 assists, 850 rebounds, 400 steals! Plus, she was selected to all-state and all-tournament teams. On top of that, she is a member of Parkview’s state championship track and cross-country teams.
Amazingly, she does not attend Parkview. Instead, she is a homeschooler who has been permitted under LHSAA rules to compete for the Lady Eagles.
She is the daughter of Lewis Richerson, pastor, Woodlawn Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, and his wife, Erica, and sister to four siblings.
HEAVENLY HIGHLIGHTS
Richerson has been homeschooled her entire life and completed her junior and senior years as a dual enrollment student with Northwestern State University.
She developed a passion for both basketball and serving Christ at a young age, she said, noting that her love for basketball began through Woodlawn’s Upward Basketball program, which taught her the game. Today she enjoys giving back to the
ministry by serving as both a coach and referee for younger players.
Those same passions have shaped much of her life and service, Richerson told the St. George Leader. Through her church she has participated in mission efforts in India, Nepal, and Canada, as well as in Baton Rouge, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. She also has helped lead Vacation Bible Schools and basketball camps as opportunities to share the Gospel and serve others.
Meanwhile, she is active in Woodlawn’s student ministry.
Richerson said she plans to attend Loyola University New Orleans, where she has received a full athletic scholarship to play basketball, and she intends to major in nursing.
Meanwhile, she said, in her free time she enjoys spending time with her family.
Above all, Richerson said her greatest desire is to faithfully follow Christ and one day be a godly wife and mother, adopting Romans 1:16–17 as her life verse. “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is
written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
