Interview by Abernathy Cochran intern and Gainesville High School senior Philip Mady

Meet Cris Carpenter! Cris is a long time Hall County resident and Gainesville High School alum. He was one of eight inaugural Gainesville Athletics Hall of Fame inductees. However, that does not scratch the surface of his extensive athletic achievements. Mr. Carpenter was a dual sport athlete at the University of Georgia. On the football field, Carpenter held the position of punter for the Bulldogs under legendary coach Vince Dooley. He now holds the fourth best punting average in program history. Despite his extensive achievements on the football field, he found lots of success on the baseball field, as well. At UGA, Carpenter played on the 1987 NCAA World Series team. In 1987, he was drafted as the 14th overall pick to the St. Louis Cardinals and collected more accolades as a professional. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter share his plethora of experience at Gainesville High School as he teaches History and assists with the baseball program. 

Question: Please tell us a little bit about your family.

Answer: “I’ve lived in Gainesville since 1969. My wife, all of my three children and I graduated from Gainesville High School. I’ve been teaching there for about 20 years and also I’ve coached baseball and football.”

Q: What inspired you or led you to your current career?

A: “I‘ve always wanted to be a part of Gainesville High School.  I knew when I came through here back in the early 80s that I wanted to coach and teach here one day and luckily I was able to accomplish that. I love Gainesville, been here a long time.”

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County?

A: “I’ve got a few, of course Longstreet Café, the Collegiate and the Gainesville Coffee Shop at Lawrence Pharmacy.”

Q: How long have you lived and worked in Hall County?

A: “We moved here in 1969, so will be about 53 years of living here.”

Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?

A: “I probably tend to favor the people that work and coach and help kids. Gene Marlow being one, Durward Pennington, and Jim Smith, who used to run the Boys Club here.  People like that who have devoted their life to helping and coaching kids, to me that’s what’s important.”

Q: What advice would you give to people?

A: “Most of the time, the most successful people are the hardest working people. I think a lot of kids and people today have lost their work ethic, working hard for something and putting in the time. From what I’ve seen, if you wanna be successful, you gotta work at it.”

Q: You played for the Cardinals as a Pitcher, what did that kind of journey teach you along the way? 

A: “Perseverance, hard work, and determination.  I had a lot of goals in life and I met 99.9% of them by working through difficulties. You must keep working to achieve your goal. I mean, I’ve lived the American dream where I started a very modest and humble family and was able to work my way through all the places that I wanted to go.”

Q: What is something on your bucket list?

A: “I pretty much have done everything athletically that I obviously can’t do anymore. Probably my family’s bucket list is travel. I want to go to Alaska. I’ve been to Yellowstone and Yosemite. We’re kind of in the national park thing now. Also, I wanna be a grandfather sometime but I have to wait on that.”

Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique in Hall County?

A: “It used to be small and quaint. It is growing very fast. We have a place in Rabun County and we really love the mountains. Also, we’re close enough to Atlanta (don’t wanna be any closer) I grew up here, I’ve watched this town grow from 800 students in my school to 2300 now. This is where I live and this is where I’ll be.”

Q: What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?

A: “I’ve been lucky enough to meet President George Bush, and shook hands with Fidel Castro. I got to meet him when I played on the 1987 Pan American Team baseball, and we went to Cuba and played for a week. Athletically, I think everybody knows where I’ve been and what I’ve done. I went to a free throw shooting contest when I was nine and my name is in the basketball hall fame.”

Q: What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word home?

A: “Family, Friends and Love.”