University of Georgia Athletics
‘Time Flies And You’re Here For 40 Years'
October 27, 2020 | Women's Tennis, Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Sabina Horne came down to Athens and the University of Georgia in the fall of 1981 without having ever set foot on campus or met in person with her new coach. A talented runner from North Bay, Ontario, Canada, Horne had been offered a scholarship by then-Georgia women's track and field coach Bill Katz, and she decided to give it a shot.
"I talked to my parents, and we decided that I'd go ahead and take this opportunity, and if I didn't like it at Christmas, I'd just come back home. So that was it," she said. "And I loved it."
Not only did Sabina love it, going on to have a great Georgia career, but she's been an Athens resident ever since.
"I never thought I'd be that far from home because our family was really close and I didn't imagine it being that way, but one thing led to another," Sabina said, adding that running here is much better than running through the snow in a Canadian winter. "I can't imagine going back up and being in that weather. It's been great."
Jeff Wallace first visited Athens when he was playing tennis for Utah in the early 1980s. The Utes came to town for the NCAA men's tennis tournament and he immediately fell in love with what he saw at Henry Feild Stadium and everything else about UGA and Athens. Jeff, from Portland, Ore., transferred to Georgia soon after, sitting out the 1981-82 season before playing for the Bulldogs his final two years. And he's been here ever since.
"I've been here longer than any place in my entire life, so this certainly is home," said Jeff, who was the SEC champion at No. 6 singles in 1984 and a year later was hired as Georgia's women's tennis coach.
Jeff and Sabina both arrived in Athens in the fall of 1981, from distant lands, and both wound up living on campus in what everyone calls O-House, Oglethorpe House. Jeff was on the ninth floor and Sabina was on the seventh. They were in the same chemistry class and would walk to and from class together.
"That's how we met and got to know each other," Jeff said. "I always joke that what I learned in chemistry was the chemistry between Sabina and I was perfect."
They went on runs together, they talked and laughed, and they enjoyed many a trip to Dunkin' Donuts, Jeff said. And they've been together ever since.
"We just found out we had such common interests in so many different things," Jeff said.
Because Jeff and Sabina Wallace met in Athens, fell in love, got married and had two children here, Jarryd Wallace grew up in Athens alongside his older sister Brittany. Those of us lucky enough to grow up here know how great a place it is to be a kid.
"The campus was my playground," Jarryd said. "I remember growing up and running under the (Henry Feild Stadium) bleachers during matches and going and finding tennis balls all over the place, and just being at the courts with dad during their practices and matches; tailgating and football games and baseball games.
"That was just life."
Jeff is now in his 35th year as Georgia's women's tennis coach. He's already one of the greatest collegiate tennis coaches of all time. Jeff has led the Bulldogs to six national championships and has earned 714 career wins, the most among active women's coaches. In hindsight, Jarryd said, he didn't realize when he was young "how special it was to experience" the stability their family has enjoyed.
"As the son of a collegiate coach, I should have traveled to five or six different cities over my childhood because coaches typically don't last at the same university for 35 years," he said. "To have that experience and to be a part of the Georgia family for my entire childhood and my college career and now my professional training career, it's pretty special."
Jarryd was a talented and driven runner and tennis player, very much following in both of his parents' footsteps, and he was going to run for the Bulldogs. But he never got the chance.
Some pain in his right leg during his junior year at Oconee County High School was initially diagnosed as a stress reaction, but when it kept coming back — he still went on to win state titles in the 800 and 1,600 races that year — it was ultimately diagnosed as compartment syndrome, a serious condition. It was an injury Sabina knew well having had it in both of her legs while running for Georgia.
"I was fine, it was a successful surgery, and I've never had a problem since," Sabina said.
Jarryd had surgery to fix his leg but it wasn't successful. What followed were a couple of years of extreme pain and very difficult times, before, finally, in 2010, the life-changing decision was made to amputate the leg.
"It was kind of to the point that, because of everything that led up to the amputation, by the time the amputation happened we all were pretty much good with that because the life that was being lived pre-amputation was full of pain medication and the inability to do anything," Jeff said.
"We all realized that this would give him an opportunity to go on and live a different but way more normal life than somebody that's addicted to pain meds and just can't really do much of anything."
"I think that they did a really great job," Jarryd said of his parents, "of being supportive in the fact that I was just so ready to do this thing."
After the surgery, Jarryd was helped tremendously by Georgia's sports medicine and strength and conditioning staff. Rehab coordinator Mike Dew "did a phenomenal job of really learning how to help an amputee recover," he said, and assistant strength and conditioning director Josh Rucci "built an amazing program for me" during his recoveries throughout the process "to help me functionally move again."
Of course, Jarryd did more than just move again — 17 months after the surgery he was racing. The young man that was going to be a Bulldog distance runner has become one of the fastest Paralympic sprinters ever. He's set world records, won world championships and competed in the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, he was gearing up to try to represent the United States again in Tokyo at the 2020 Paralympic Games, and now he's back working toward getting there for the rescheduled Games in 2021.
"At first it was like, dang, this opportunity to wear the 'G' has been taken away and it's not going to happen," Jeff said. "I had such a great experience here wearing the 'G' as did Sabina, and we were certainly thrilled for Jarryd that he was about to enter that same experience."
Instead of competing for Georgia, Jarryd has competed for Team USA. He still trains on Georgia's track and works with track coaches Petros Kyprianou and Althea Thomas.
"The fact that he had the opportunity to do that and still train here and be like a Georgia athlete, it almost seemed like he was a Georgia athlete," Jeff said.
"The most amazing thing to me," Sabina said, "I remember being a distance runner myself and knowing that he was a distance runner, and for him to change from being a distance runner to now a being not just a sprinter but a world-class sprinter, and running at the level that he was running at and beating some able-bodied college guys in sprints, it's almost unheard of.
"That to me is the greatest thing I think I've experienced in watching him do this. I've been in awe of the whole thing."
Jarryd attended the University of Georgia and earlier this year was named a member of the 2020 class of 40 Under 40 alumni. He and his wife, Lea, have a 1-year-old son, Levi, and though the pandemic has disrupted his training and racing career, as well as some of his work with the company Xiborg, which makes racing blades for amputees, being able to spend so many months at home with his family has been a joy.
"We're so grateful because we got to have a little one during the pandemic and spend so much time with him," he said.
Jeff and Sabina's daughter, Brittany, played sports when she was younger but Jarryd was the major jock among the siblings. Brittany played tennis, ran cross country and did cheerleading until a back injury kept her from competing.
Brittany and her husband, Chris Sjogren, have a young daughter, Collins, and they recently moved back to Athens from Atlanta. Brittany is a style blogger with more than 550,000 followers on Instagram.
"We always joke in our family that she's our internet athlete because she does really well in her job on the internet," Jeff said.
When Sabina came down from Canada, she had no way of knowing what was in store for her. Despite some injuries, she became an All-SEC runner and her name can still be found in Georgia's record books. She was part of the quartet that in 1987 set the school record in the distance medley relay.
Jeff also credits her for helping him tremendously during his coaching career, offering great advice on working with Georgia's young women. And it was through his mom that Jarryd developed his love of running, first as a passenger in the baby jogger and then running beside his mom when he was old enough to go out with her.
Sabina and Jeff came to Athens at the same time. He knew some of what he was getting into and she had no idea, and they've been here and been together for more than 35 years, having two bright and accomplished children and now two grandchildren. If you travel around Five Points, you might still see them out exercising together, waving to all the people they know in this place that's been home for a long time.
"It's definitely home now," Jeff said. "You get here and you're here as a college student and you don't know what's going to happen. All of a sudden, you get a job here right after college and you go, 'Wow, I could be here for a while.' And then time flies and you're here for 40 years."
Georgia has been great for them and they've been great for Georgia.
Staff Writer
Sabina Horne came down to Athens and the University of Georgia in the fall of 1981 without having ever set foot on campus or met in person with her new coach. A talented runner from North Bay, Ontario, Canada, Horne had been offered a scholarship by then-Georgia women's track and field coach Bill Katz, and she decided to give it a shot.
"I talked to my parents, and we decided that I'd go ahead and take this opportunity, and if I didn't like it at Christmas, I'd just come back home. So that was it," she said. "And I loved it."
Not only did Sabina love it, going on to have a great Georgia career, but she's been an Athens resident ever since.
"I never thought I'd be that far from home because our family was really close and I didn't imagine it being that way, but one thing led to another," Sabina said, adding that running here is much better than running through the snow in a Canadian winter. "I can't imagine going back up and being in that weather. It's been great."
Jeff Wallace first visited Athens when he was playing tennis for Utah in the early 1980s. The Utes came to town for the NCAA men's tennis tournament and he immediately fell in love with what he saw at Henry Feild Stadium and everything else about UGA and Athens. Jeff, from Portland, Ore., transferred to Georgia soon after, sitting out the 1981-82 season before playing for the Bulldogs his final two years. And he's been here ever since.
"I've been here longer than any place in my entire life, so this certainly is home," said Jeff, who was the SEC champion at No. 6 singles in 1984 and a year later was hired as Georgia's women's tennis coach.
Jeff and Sabina both arrived in Athens in the fall of 1981, from distant lands, and both wound up living on campus in what everyone calls O-House, Oglethorpe House. Jeff was on the ninth floor and Sabina was on the seventh. They were in the same chemistry class and would walk to and from class together.
"That's how we met and got to know each other," Jeff said. "I always joke that what I learned in chemistry was the chemistry between Sabina and I was perfect."
They went on runs together, they talked and laughed, and they enjoyed many a trip to Dunkin' Donuts, Jeff said. And they've been together ever since.
"We just found out we had such common interests in so many different things," Jeff said.
Because Jeff and Sabina Wallace met in Athens, fell in love, got married and had two children here, Jarryd Wallace grew up in Athens alongside his older sister Brittany. Those of us lucky enough to grow up here know how great a place it is to be a kid.
"The campus was my playground," Jarryd said. "I remember growing up and running under the (Henry Feild Stadium) bleachers during matches and going and finding tennis balls all over the place, and just being at the courts with dad during their practices and matches; tailgating and football games and baseball games.
"That was just life."
Jeff is now in his 35th year as Georgia's women's tennis coach. He's already one of the greatest collegiate tennis coaches of all time. Jeff has led the Bulldogs to six national championships and has earned 714 career wins, the most among active women's coaches. In hindsight, Jarryd said, he didn't realize when he was young "how special it was to experience" the stability their family has enjoyed.
"As the son of a collegiate coach, I should have traveled to five or six different cities over my childhood because coaches typically don't last at the same university for 35 years," he said. "To have that experience and to be a part of the Georgia family for my entire childhood and my college career and now my professional training career, it's pretty special."
Jarryd was a talented and driven runner and tennis player, very much following in both of his parents' footsteps, and he was going to run for the Bulldogs. But he never got the chance.
Some pain in his right leg during his junior year at Oconee County High School was initially diagnosed as a stress reaction, but when it kept coming back — he still went on to win state titles in the 800 and 1,600 races that year — it was ultimately diagnosed as compartment syndrome, a serious condition. It was an injury Sabina knew well having had it in both of her legs while running for Georgia.
"I was fine, it was a successful surgery, and I've never had a problem since," Sabina said.
Jarryd had surgery to fix his leg but it wasn't successful. What followed were a couple of years of extreme pain and very difficult times, before, finally, in 2010, the life-changing decision was made to amputate the leg.
"It was kind of to the point that, because of everything that led up to the amputation, by the time the amputation happened we all were pretty much good with that because the life that was being lived pre-amputation was full of pain medication and the inability to do anything," Jeff said.
"We all realized that this would give him an opportunity to go on and live a different but way more normal life than somebody that's addicted to pain meds and just can't really do much of anything."
"I think that they did a really great job," Jarryd said of his parents, "of being supportive in the fact that I was just so ready to do this thing."
After the surgery, Jarryd was helped tremendously by Georgia's sports medicine and strength and conditioning staff. Rehab coordinator Mike Dew "did a phenomenal job of really learning how to help an amputee recover," he said, and assistant strength and conditioning director Josh Rucci "built an amazing program for me" during his recoveries throughout the process "to help me functionally move again."
Of course, Jarryd did more than just move again — 17 months after the surgery he was racing. The young man that was going to be a Bulldog distance runner has become one of the fastest Paralympic sprinters ever. He's set world records, won world championships and competed in the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, he was gearing up to try to represent the United States again in Tokyo at the 2020 Paralympic Games, and now he's back working toward getting there for the rescheduled Games in 2021.
"At first it was like, dang, this opportunity to wear the 'G' has been taken away and it's not going to happen," Jeff said. "I had such a great experience here wearing the 'G' as did Sabina, and we were certainly thrilled for Jarryd that he was about to enter that same experience."
Instead of competing for Georgia, Jarryd has competed for Team USA. He still trains on Georgia's track and works with track coaches Petros Kyprianou and Althea Thomas.
"The fact that he had the opportunity to do that and still train here and be like a Georgia athlete, it almost seemed like he was a Georgia athlete," Jeff said.
"The most amazing thing to me," Sabina said, "I remember being a distance runner myself and knowing that he was a distance runner, and for him to change from being a distance runner to now a being not just a sprinter but a world-class sprinter, and running at the level that he was running at and beating some able-bodied college guys in sprints, it's almost unheard of.
"That to me is the greatest thing I think I've experienced in watching him do this. I've been in awe of the whole thing."
Jarryd attended the University of Georgia and earlier this year was named a member of the 2020 class of 40 Under 40 alumni. He and his wife, Lea, have a 1-year-old son, Levi, and though the pandemic has disrupted his training and racing career, as well as some of his work with the company Xiborg, which makes racing blades for amputees, being able to spend so many months at home with his family has been a joy.
"We're so grateful because we got to have a little one during the pandemic and spend so much time with him," he said.
Jeff and Sabina's daughter, Brittany, played sports when she was younger but Jarryd was the major jock among the siblings. Brittany played tennis, ran cross country and did cheerleading until a back injury kept her from competing.
Brittany and her husband, Chris Sjogren, have a young daughter, Collins, and they recently moved back to Athens from Atlanta. Brittany is a style blogger with more than 550,000 followers on Instagram.
"We always joke in our family that she's our internet athlete because she does really well in her job on the internet," Jeff said.
When Sabina came down from Canada, she had no way of knowing what was in store for her. Despite some injuries, she became an All-SEC runner and her name can still be found in Georgia's record books. She was part of the quartet that in 1987 set the school record in the distance medley relay.
Jeff also credits her for helping him tremendously during his coaching career, offering great advice on working with Georgia's young women. And it was through his mom that Jarryd developed his love of running, first as a passenger in the baby jogger and then running beside his mom when he was old enough to go out with her.
Sabina and Jeff came to Athens at the same time. He knew some of what he was getting into and she had no idea, and they've been here and been together for more than 35 years, having two bright and accomplished children and now two grandchildren. If you travel around Five Points, you might still see them out exercising together, waving to all the people they know in this place that's been home for a long time.
"It's definitely home now," Jeff said. "You get here and you're here as a college student and you don't know what's going to happen. All of a sudden, you get a job here right after college and you go, 'Wow, I could be here for a while.' And then time flies and you're here for 40 years."
Georgia has been great for them and they've been great for Georgia.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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