By Rob Potter
LAKE HUNTINGTON — June 18, 2010 — The athletes who competed for the Sullivan West Bulldog and Lady Bulldog varsity and junior varsity sports teams this spring were honored on Wednesday night during the Spring Sports Awards Presentation in the auditorium of the SW High School in Lake Huntington.
In addition, some awards were presented to seniors for their achievements during the past few years.
Assistant High School Principal Scott Haberli offered some words of welcome to the athletes, coaches, administrators, family members and friends in attendance.
“It is my pleasure to be here this evening as we honor our student-athletes for their dedication, hard work and talent,” Haberli said. “Many times when I talk with administrators from other schools, they tell me what great kids we have at Sullivan West.”
Athletic Director Dave Franskevicz noted that some athletes and teams earned special recognition this spring. Brianna Kline and Gabe LaGrutta represented SW at the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Scholar-Athlete breakfast in April. The boys’ track and field and boys’ golf teams earned Scholar Athlete Awards from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association for achieving a grade point average of at least 90 percent. The boys’ golf, girls’ golf and softball teams all won OCIAA Division titles.
The coaches of each team then spoke about their season and thanked the athletes, parents, volunteers and school staff members who helped make the season successful. The coaches also presented special awards along with certificates, letters and pins.
Those teams were as follows:
Varsity Girls’ Track (Coach George Shakelton, Assistant Coach Kim Weyandt): Kendra Barker, Rachel Deppa, Rebecca Deppa, Katey Dnistrian, Rianne Erlwein, Hannah Feinman, Morgan Hawkins, Katie Manzi, Danielle Myers, Stephany Robison, Alika Simon, Kristina Sumfleth and Nicole Vasquez.
Most Valuable Field Athlete: Kendra Barker; Most Valuable Track Athlete: Morgan Hawkins
Varsity Boys’ Track (Coach Ron Bauer, Assistant Coach Kim Weyandt): Jonah Bauer, Tyler Bernitt, Angelo Bibbo, Christian Calvo, Austin Erlwein, Kyle Flynn, Tyler Glynn, Shaughn Goggin, Eric Haberli, Johnathon Haff, Brad Hemmer, Andy Kinch, Ben Kline, Gabe LaGrutta, Corey Maloney, John Masten, Chris Murphy, Anthony Nicoletti, Matt Pitz, Latii Rabii, Blain Reddish, Todd Roeder, Reed Scott, Michael Sheldon, Nick Simon, Sam Smith and Brandon Wagner
Most Valuable Field Athlete: Todd Roeder; Most Valuable Track Athlete: Austin Erlwein
Junior Varsity Softball (Coach J.P. Lang): Dana Borowski, Jamie Froelich, Oliva Grady, Victoria Haas, Kendall Menges, Brittney Milk, Bethanii Padu, Zariina Padu, Lynette Rose-Baum, Cassidy Sauer, Kristina Schwatz, Kaitlin Slater, Chelsie Stauch and Erika Stauch
Varsity Softball (Coach Mike Ellmauer, Assistant Coach Diane Staves, Assistant Volunteer Coaches Linnea O’Mara and John Reggero): Autumn Ackermann, Lindsey Bauer, Amber Cookingham, Angela DiSanto, Katerina Gaebel, Amanda Goddard, Maya Grady, Gabrielle Humleker, Danielle Meyer, Jackie Parsons, Amanda Rosenberger, Hannah Schwatz, Emma Seidl and Kaitlyn Taylor
Miss Softball: Danielle Meyer; Coaches Award: Autumn Ackermann
Junior Varsity Baseball (Coach Evan Kraack): Kitt Borowski, Sawyer Erlwein, Cody Franskevicz, E.J. Franskevicz, Bradley Gruber, Scott Herbert, Karl Knecht, Chris Lang, Richard Mirch, Tom Mootz, Andrew Parsons, Patrick Pierce and Greg Stevenson
Varsity Baseball (Coach Kurt Scheibe Jr., Assistant Coaches Pat Donovan and Anthony Durkin): Ryan Alsdorf, Lucas Bauer, Cruz Burgos, Jeremy DeGori, Michael Durkin, Mark Michel, Ryan Michel, Jimmy O’ Connor, Michael Pierce, Austin Sauer, Mark Tesseyman, Justin Zaccari and Manager Ben Mitterwager
Most Valuable Player: Mark Tesseyman; Most Valuable Defensive Player: Ryan Alsdorf
Varsity Girls’ Golf (Coach Jason Clark): Georgina Breihof, Megan Calkin, Alex Ellmauer, Jillian Fife, Daphne Muzuruk and Samantha Sedlack
Most Improved Golfer: Daphne Muzuruk; Most Valuable Golfer: Jillian Fife
Varsity Boys’ Golf (Coach Bob Fife): Kyle Barrett, Brice Billard, Drew Billard, Nick Campanelli, Brendan Creegan, Jamie Davis, Travis Doughty, Chris Ellison, Jimmy Finn, Michael Hahn, Cody Keesler, Alex Lander, Richard Lander, Eric Lovgren, Devon Muzuruk, Artie Norden, Ryan Reinshagen, Karl Schmidt, Kyle Schmidt and Nick Scott
Most Improved Golfer: Jamie Davis; Most Valuable Golfer: Artie Norden.
The special awards presented to seniors were as follows:
SW Coaches Award (presented to an outstanding graduating male and female athlete who have exemplified the ideals, standards and personal discipline which is needed to succeed in varsity athletics and life): Kendra Barker and Mark Tesseyman
Milt Gaebel Awards (presented in honor of Milt’s “determination, perseverance, dedication and loyalty to sports”): Katrina Graby and Gabe LaGrutta
Female Select Senior Athletes: Autumn Ackermann, Kendra Barker, Lindsey Bauer, Angela DiSanto, Katey Dnistrian, Katrina Graby, Morgan Hawkins, Brianna Kline, Ashley Mahoney, Katie Manzi, Danielle Meyer, Stephany Robison, Joanna Trujillo and Kim Yewchuck
Female Most Valuable Senior Athlete: Morgan Hawkins
Male Select Senior Athletes: Brice Billard, Austin Erlwein, Gabe LaGrutta, Chris Murphy, Artie Norden, Latii Rabii, R.J. Rosa, Austin Sauer, Mike Schmidt, Mike Sheldon and Mark Tesseyman
Male Most Valuable Senior Athlete: Austin Erlwein
The final award of the evening was the Billy Moran Scholarship Award. The scholarship award, which is now $2,500, is named in honor of Moran, an outstanding student-athlete at Delaware Valley Central School in Callicoon who died in April 1981 after being hit by a drunk driver while attending a spring training trip in Florida as a member of the Union College baseball team. From its inception in 1983, the scholarship was awarded annually to a Delaware Valley senior and it has been awarded each year to a SW senior since the SW district was created.
Brent Rosenberger, who was Billy Moran’s best friend growing up, announced that the winner of this year’s Billy Moran Scholarship was Autumn Ackermann.
“In all of my years of presenting this scholarship, I don’t recall coaches and teachers raving about someone as much as they did about you,” Rosenberger said to Ackermann. “From what your coaches and teachers have said, I believe you are one of the most deserving winners of this award we have had.”
Rosenberger noted that in addition to being an excellent student and athlete, Ackermann is very active in community service. Rosenberger said that one example of Ackermann’s dedication to the community was the fact that she raised more than $6,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation at the recent Memorial Day Parade in Fremont Center. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation raises money for children’s cancer research.
At the end of the evening, Richard Ross of sportsinsightsny.com presented a video presentation highlighting dozens of special moments for the SW athletes and teams during the recently completed spring sports season.