Edwin Parr Composite’s student athletes were celebrated at the annual athletic banquet last week.
With another year of hard work behind them, the young and talented students were finally able to sit back, relax and reminisce about their favorite moments from the 2010-11 school sports year.
There was no shortage of those, as plenty of EPC athletes made their mark on the provincial athletic scene.
Some of the notable accomplishments included Mikkel Holt and Amy Kobzey both nabbing gold at the golf zones competition; winning the cross country zone championship as a school; the senior girls volleyball team winning silver in Fort Saskatchewan; the JV girls volleyball team winning silver in Morinville; and the JV girls basketball team winning second at zones, to name just a few.
Each EPC team had its moment in the spotlight with the coaches speaking to the crowd about what (and who) made the season special.
To Chad LeMessurier, who coached a number of teams this year, it was a school year to be proud of.
“There are some fantastic athletes here,” he said. “Remember that they’re student athletes; they’re students first.”
Their commitment to their studies obviously didn’t hamper their ability to win big awards both individually and collectively.
Of course, that success would not be possible if not for the many volunteers who help make high school sports happen.
“A lot of credit is due to the coaches, the volunteers, and the athletes for doing what they do,” said LeMessurier.
At the banquet, individual awards were given to members of each team, whether for being the most valuable player, the player with the most heart or simply for being the most improved player. But only two students in each grade received the honor of being named ‘student athlete of the year’.
In grade eight, it was Alex Flynn and Rebecca Weber who received the honors as male and female athlete of the year, respectively. In grade nine it was Mitchell Snow and Amber Chrunyk. The grade 10 awards belonged to Neil Topola and Brooke Padlewski with the grade 11 trophies going to Ben Shopland and Sarah Windeler. Finally, the grade 12 student athletes of the year were Jesse Snow and Heather Maki.
Winning the award was a thrill for all the students, including Padlewski, a volleyball, basketball and badminton player.
“It feels good,” she said. “(The athletic year) was lots of fun. I really enjoy sports.”
