Awards reward awarding performances at West Holmes

When West Holmes volleyball coach Jim Park handed out the last of his post-season awards on Wednesday, Nov. 23, it was only hours away from the Thanksgiving holiday.

An appropriate way to cap off the fall sports awards season, perhaps, as Knights and Lady Knights coaches thanked their student athletes for the kind of sacrifice, commitment and effort it took to produce a State singles champion on the tennis court; a return trip to State for a boys cross country runner, who also became the Ohio Cardinal Conference (OCC) Runner of the Year in 2011; the OCC Runner of the Year in girls cross country, who also finished as District runner-up and left herself only seconds away from the school’s all-time record; the first OCC championship and District title in the short history of the girls soccer program; a sweep of the OCC cheerleading championships by the freshman, jv and varsity squads; a five-win season on the football field, which included the school’s first-ever win over Ashland since joining the OCC; a six-win season on the golf course despite the departure of both last year’s head coach and leading scorer just prior to the season-opener; one of only two sophomore All-Ohioans on the volleyball courts in the entire state, who also became only the second 10th-grader in school history to ever achieve the honor; and the emergence of some up-and-coming young talent on the boys soccer team, including a freshman who finished second in points for the Knights, after driving home five goals and serving up four assists.

Cheerleading (Megge Boals and Ashten Truit, coaches)

First-year awards: Jordain Bellville, Chloe Dial, Taylor Nussbaum

Second-year awards: Kiana Austin, Olivia Boley, Kristin Doretich, Felicia Messner, Tiffany Mullet, Amber Stutzman

Third-year awards: Caity Monter, Kori Weber

Boys Cross Country (Kevin Beachy, head coach)

First-year awards: Nate Ewing, Seth Morrison

Second-year awards: Drew Alexander, Sam Boyd

Third-year awards: Cully Gordon, Matt Stonebrook, Tim Young

Runner of the Year: Cully Gordon

Coach’s Knight Award: Drew Alexander

Girls Cross Country (Kevin Beachy, head coach)

First-year awards: Alexis Kandel, Makayla Patterson, Felicia Schlabach

Second-year awards: Alexis Eliot, Emily Molnar

Third-year award: Miranda Hostettler

Fourth-year award: Nichole Peterman

Runner of the Year: Emily Molnar

Coach’s Knight Award: Emily Molnar

Football (Kevin Maltarich, head coach)

First-year awards: Alex Brantley, Josh Carsner, Lukas Geib, Sloan Le, Loghann Lanchman, Randy Martin, John Miller, Andrew Rose, Colton Shane, Tyler Singleton, Clay Stutzman, Justin Wahl

Second-year awards: Brady Arnold, Tyler Butler, Tylor Grant, Grant Hay, Drew Judson, Keaton Leppla, Brock Macaulay, Garrett Mackey, Quinn Martin, Layne Perone, Barry Phillips, Mitch Sheely, Gabe Snyder

Third-year awards: Joey Gonzalez, Mason James, Dustin Shaffer, Daryl Starner

Boys Soccer (Nic Fioritto, head coach)

First-year awards: Wyatt Black, Chase Campbell, Devin DeHass, Fernando Floriano, Logan Gallion, Austin Johnson, Deric Roll, Nick Vaccariello

Second-year awards: Tyler Brown, Trent Grassbaugh, Sloan Le, Marshall Overholt

Third-year award: Collin Galbraith

Fourth-year awards: Andrew Vaccariello, Justin Wahl

Coach’s Award: Marshall Overholt

Golden Boot: Collin Galbraith

Most Improved: Wyatt Black

Hustle Award: Tyler Brown

Girls Soccer (Josh Wengerd, head coach)

First-year awards: Alex Brown, Mallory Wahl

Second-year awards: Jordan Buchanan, Abby Callahan, Joy Edinger, Shelby Harris, Mariah Oswalt, Alexis Rolince, Ashten Spencer

Third-year awards: Rebecca Chamberlin, Brynley Conway, Courtney Kozak

Fourth-year awards: Amy Boyd, Schuyler Jones

Offensive Player of the Year: Jordan Buchanan

Defensive Player of the Year: Amy Boyd

Player’s Player: Mariah Oswalt

Coach’s Award: Rebecca Chamberlin

Volleyball (Jim Park, head coach)

First-year awards: Haley Judson, Kendra Martin, Rachelle Morrison, Maria Straits, Paiten Strother

Second-year awards: Alysia Brillhart, Laina Snyder

Third-year award: Morgan Hawkins

Fourth-year awards: Hannah Boals, Emily Ditmars

Best Offensive Player: Morgan Hawkins, Laina Snyder

Best Defensive Player: Hannah Boals

Most Improved: Maria Straits

Coach’s Award: Emily Ditmars, Laina Snyder

Golf (Dustin Geitgey, head coach)

First-year awards: Kevin Huebner, Caleb Stein

Second-year awards: Jason Biltz, Korey Martin, Andrew Schlabach

Third-year award: Alex Lytle

Scoring Title: Jason Biltz

MVP: Jason Biltz

Grinder Award: Brandon Conn

Coach’s Award: Cody Starr

Most Improved: Braden McDowell

Tennis (Jason Otto, head coach)

First-year awards: Marki Hogle, Morgan Wagers, Savannah Yoder

Second-year award: Chelsea Black

Third-year awards: Hannah Frank, Miranda Huebner, Rachel Nelson, Jenna Polen

Fourth-year award: Brittany Polen

MVP: Rachel Nelson

Best Competitor: Marki Hogle

Most Improved: Morgan Wagers