ASWA: Track Athlete Lillie Meeks Named Jimmy Smothers Courage Award Award Winner

For anyone else, running a milestone race in the pouring rain would add an extra layer of challenge.But for Lillie Meeks, a downpour was fitting.

That day marked her first race back after recovering from Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that forced her to endure therapy, rehab and determination. Any weather would have been enough for her — but the rain just made sense.

“It was horrible race conditions to anyone else, but I love running in the rain,” she said. “It was amazing. I ran it so slow, but I was just happy to be running.

“There’s like so many pictures of me throughout that race, and I don’t think I ever stopped smiling the whole entire time.”

Now, the Whitesburg Christian standout and University of North Alabama cross country and track signee will be honored statewide as the 2026 Jimmy Smothers Courage Award winner by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.

She’ll receive the award, named for longtime Gadsden Times sports editor Jimmy Smothers, on Sunday at Jacksonville State University.

Early in her junior year at Whitesburg Christian, Meeks was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, the autoimmune disorder in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the peripheral nervous system.

The condition can cause tingling, numbness and muscle weakness, usually beginning in the legs. In severe cases, it can progress to temporary paralysis.

Meeks’ first symptoms began on a Tuesday, when she had headaches and numbness in her upper lip. Her family has a history of migraines, so she initially dismissed it.

Within days, things escalated.

“I woke up on the Friday morning after that Tuesday, and the backs of my legs were numb. I couldn’t swallow very well and some other stuff, like the rest of my mouth, was numb,” she said. “We decided to go to the doctor, and we’re turning out on the street out of my neighborhood, and then I noticed at the end of the street, there were two stop signs instead of one. I was like, ‘Okay, well now I have double vision.’”

Meeks and her family initially went to the family doctor but were told to go and get a sinus x-ray and a steroid shot. She was then referred to the emergency room, where she had a three-hour MRI and a spinal tap.

Even in that time, she turned to her love of running to pull her through.

“They let me watch whatever I wanted on the TV,” she said. “Of course, I threw Parker Valby running the 10k in the Olympic trials on TV, because that’s what I wanted to watch.”

By the end of the night, Meeks struggled to walk. After her diagnosis the next day, she struggled to eat, walk, talk and smile. She struggled to breathe on her own and was almost put on a ventilator.

She was also told at one point she may need treatment through a port in her neck — similar to dialysis — but doctors eventually decided it wasn’t necessary.

“I was at Huntsville Hospital for five days,” she said. “I didn’t eat for that amount of time. I did treatment for a couple of nights, and it got worse before it got better. But eventually, I was making a comeback, and so they transferred me to Birmingham.”

Meeks spent about two weeks in Birmingham, where the rebuilding process began. She began physical therapy for three to four hours a day, which also included occupational and speech therapy as she worked to regain basic functions.

One of the first milestones came through food. After working with her speech therapist, Meeks could swallow again. She graduated from a puree diet to a semi-solid diet as she was “working her way up the food chain,” before she finally passed her final swallow test.

“I could eat anything I wanted, so I had my dad go get me a steak,” she said. “I ate a steak just to prove that I could eat it.”

After physical therapy, recovery and a total of five weeks from her first symptoms — three of those spent in the hospital — she tried to start running again. Meeks described it as a “miracle,” as doctors told her it can take 8 months to 2 years for a typical recovery.

“When I got back, they were patient with me, because I couldn’t necessarily race all out the minute I got back,” she said of her Whitesburg Christian teammates. “You’re eager to start winning stuff. It did take time to get back and whatnot, so they were very patient — I was more impatient than they were. They had to try extra hard not to be impatient, so that I would feel like it was okay.”

Whitesburg Christian won a Class 4A cross country championship the season she returned, where Meeks placed sixth with a time of 19:46.67 as a junior just months after her return.

The Warriors won a triple crown this year with Meeks as a senior, winning championships in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field.

At the Class 3A state tournament in May of 2025, Meeks won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:17.78, just under two seconds ahead of the second-place winner. She also placed sixth in the Class 3A 800-meter run and third in the 3,200-meter run.

“She just won’t accept no,” Whitesburg Christian coach Mark Marshall said. “She’s determined, she’s headstrong in a good way, but she’s very compassionate and caring. She was a team captain this year; she’s a good leader, leads by example, works hard as far as practices.

“She’s given it everything she’s got, and really is leading by example. She’s not going to ask anything of her teammates that she wouldn’t go out and do herself. She’ll gut it out, she’ll gut-check somebody. You may beat her, but you’re going to have to earn it.”

Even beyond her time at Whitesburg Christian, she’ll have the opportunity to continue her athletic career at the University of North Alabama with the cross country and track and field team under head coach Connor Callahan.

“I honestly wasn’t too sure in the beginning of the process,” she said. “Through visiting and meeting with coach Callahan, I just had a very peaceful feeling about if I go here, he’s going to take care of me, build me into the athlete that I want to be and actually care about me as an athlete, and not just numbers on a paper.”

But through it all, she’ll always turn back to her journey of overcoming Guillain-Barré syndrome as a part of her story.

“I was definitely very positive, and I was never too discouraged. I had a clear vision of what was going to happen,” Meeks said. “Part of that is the Lord leading me through that, giving me peace throughout that whole situation.

“How you approach a situation mentally definitely affects the outcome very greatly, so whether that be in running or through a tough situation like I had. The way you think is who you become.”

— Story by Thomas Ashworth, AL.com

Jimmy Smothers Courage Award Winners

2026: Lillie Meeks, Whitesburg Christian (cross country and track)
2025: Sid Hobbs, Fruitdale (baseball)
2024: Yancey Young, Sumiton Christian (baseball)
2023: Alex Haddock-Thomas, Deshler (baseball)
2022: Jada Roberts, Pike Road (basketball, soccer)
2021: Emma Dempsey, Belgreen (softball, basketball, volleyball)
2020: Isaiah Causey, Prattville (football)
2019: Scott McAlpine, Haleyville (football, baseball)
2018: Anna Bryant, Pleasant Valley (volleyball)
2017: Ethan Hearn, Mobile Christian (football)
2016: Alex Wilcox, Brantley (softball)

Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral is the online home of the Alabama Sports Writers Association.

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