You may have heard all about Lakewood High School’s amazing track and field records; none of which would have been possible without Lakewood’s High Schools Track and Cross-County Coach Anthony Snead. . He has been coaching and teaching at Lakewood for the last 20 years.

Snead attended Hollins High School, and he played football and ran track during his High School years. He was on a football scholarship for college playing wide receiver and attending Fort Valley State University.

He teaches 3DE, Digital Design, and Entrepreneurship at Lakewood. Being a coach and a teacher is hard work because they are always so busy. As well as being one of the core teachers for the 3DE program.

Snead was friends with the Lakewood football coach when he was hired. He was the assistant coach for the football team for a year, then he went to the athletic director and asked if there was also a track coach position. There was only one position available for the girl’s track team. So that year, he coached the girls.

He finds track and field fun, and he does everything in his power to make sure it’s the same for his athletes. Snead has been driven by competition ever since he started playing sports. He loves competing, and the unpredictability of competition.

Snead’s favorite practice for the team that would have to be relays. He says that they are very unpredictable, and everyone gets a shot to prove themselves.

Snead’s favorite coaching moment was when his team won the state championship. He remembers watching his 4×4 team run across the finish line and he thought to himself, “Lakewood has arrived!”

There are many people that have an impact on someone in a lifetime. Anthony Snead has many role models throughout his years including his High School coaches, AAU coaches, and college coaches. He remembers his High School coaches, Coach Garlyn Boyd and Coach Poole. He remembers their gentleness, competitiveness, and they always had a smile on their face.

From the 20 years that Snead has been coaching at Lakewood, there has been one year that stuck out to him. They won the state championship the year of 2012-13. He specifically remembers their first meet of the year. They came in first and the kids came to him and said, “we are not going to lose this year.” The dedication that the kids showed that year was incredible, and they all made it to the state championship!