The Covington News Athlete Alumni Check-In is a space to highlight former Newton County student athletes while also providing updates on where they are in their respective careers.

Tierra Hodges, Elija Godwin and Natalie Ray are the athletes featured in this week’s edition.

Tierra Hodges

Hodges graduated from Alcovy in the class of 2016 and played basketball for the Lady Tigers.

As a senior, Hodges averaged 24 points a game, 11 rebounds per game and was named the Region 2-AAAAAA Player of the Year.

Following her senior season, Hodges went on to sign to play basketball at Furman University.

Hodges played in all 31 games as a freshman before sitting out the 2017-18 season as a medical redshirt.

In 2018-19, Hodges had a season-high 17 points against Samford in the SoCon Tournament and was named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll.

Hodges was voted First Team All-SoCon by head coaches and was a Second Team SoCon All-Tournament selection. In that season, Hodges averaged a double-double (11.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game).

In 2020-21, she led the conference in rebounding (10.4 rebounds per game) and ranked third in scoring (16.2 points per game).

Hodges ended the 2020-21 season ranked 21st in Furman history in scoring (1,122) and fifth in rebounds (914) along with her third SoCon Academic Honor Roll selection.

Elija Godwin

Godwin graduated from Newton High School in 2018.

Prior to his graduation, Godwin signed his national letter of intent to continue his track career at the University of Georgia.

In 2021, Godwin ran his personal best time of 44.61 seconds at the SEC Outdoor Championships to meet the Olympic qualifying standard.

Later that year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Godwin finished fourth in his heat with a time of 46.18 seconds.

Godwin qualified for the USA Men’s Olympic Trials in the 400-meter with times of 44.81 and 45.10.

At the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, Godwin earned a bronze medal in the Mixed 4x400-meter relay.

In the 4x400-meter relay at the 2022 SEC Indoor Championships, Godwin anchored the winning 44.95 leg. At the NCAA Championships in the same year, Godwin placed fourth in the event.

At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Godwin took home bronze in the mixed 4x400-meter relay and won gold in the men’s 4x400-meter relay.

Natalie Ray

Ray graduated from Eastside as part of the class of 2022.

The former Lady Eagle committed to the Ole Miss Lady Rebels in October 2020 and officially signed in November 2021.

At Eastside, Ray was named First Team All-Region each of her four years on the team and was awarded Region Player of the Year as a freshman and sophomore.

As a senior, Ray batted .512 and belted nine home runs.

Ray appeared in 23 games as a freshman for Ole Miss.

In her first season, Ray posted a .323 average with 10 hits, five runs and four runs batted in.

The first collegiate hit for Ray came against Oregon in February 2023.