IVHS athletes receive awards
From our weekly issue dated March 17, 2010
Nearly 100 people were present to honor student athletes at Illinois Valley High School during the annual Winter Sports Awards gathering in the cafeteria Thursday evening, March 11.
Matt Knight, junior varsity boys basketball coach, presented awards for his squad. Freshman Jovany Sanchez was selected as Most Improved by his teammates and coaches. The 2009-10 winter season was the first time Sanchez had played basketball.
Sophomore Tyler Robbins was named Most Valuable for the JV squad.
Jeff Winters, varsity boys basketball coach, said that his team“s goal at the beginning of the year was to improve its defense and rebounding. Both those feats were achieved, Winters said.
The team traveled to California twice this season and spent five days at Gonzaga University in Spokane last summer as part of its preseason training.
“They did quite a bit of bonding as a team,“ Winters said.
Prior to this season, only two of the 10 players had any varsity experience. Winters praised his young squad for its “character and heart.“
“That“s something a coach likes to see in his team,“ he said. “I feel this team came a long way.“
Four varsity basketball players were honored for being Scholar Athletes by earning grade-point averages (GPA) of 3.5 or higher. They are Robbins and junior Roger Hults with a 3.8 GPA and s o p h omore Andrew McLaughlin and junior Jesse Bethke, each with 4.0.
Bethke also was given Honorable Mention for the All-Conference Awards for his first year of playing varsity basketball. Roger Hults was named to Second Team All-Conference, and his brother, sophomore Fred Hults, attained second team.
Roger Hults was named Most Valuable for the squad.
McLaughlin was named Most Inspirational; senior Ben Kendall was named Best Defensive Player; and senior Tobin Mikels was named Most Improved.
Among IVHS cheerleaders, coach Heather Merrill proudly declared that five out of nine squad members attained Scholar Athlete status.
Freshman Miranda Stiles and junior Sabrina Van Tas-sel maintained 4.0 GPAs.
Sophomore Angelina Heath and junior Amy Weaver each had 3.8, and sophomore Sierra Heikka had a 3.6.
Junior Hailee Parker was named Most Improved, and junior and co-captain Brittney Mosley was named Most Inspirational. Van Tassel, also a co-captain, was named Most Valuable.
Cathy Pope, girls JV basketball coach, bestowed honors upon some of her players. Freshman Natalie Wellen was named Most Valuable; and freshman Caitlyn Jones was named Most Improved.
Four members of the girls varsity basketball team were named Scholar Athletes.
Wellen and sophomore Megan Householder maintained 4.0 GPAs. Sophomore Kristen Vidales had a 3.6 GPA and junior Kara Tyler had a 3.5.
Junior Laurissa Tausaga received Honorable Mention for the All-Conference team.
She also was named Most Valuable, and Householder was deemed Most Inspirational.
Junior Kayla Johnson was named Most Improved.
Three IVHS wrestlers achieved Scholar Athlete recognition. Sophomore Jesse Orndoff maintained a 4.0 GPA, junior Matt Coultas had a 3.8, and freshman Brandon Parker 3.6.
Orndoff and freshman Gabe Miller each gained Most Valuable honors. Miller was named Most Outstanding Freshman. Parker got the nod as Most Improved Freshman, Coultas was cited as Most Improved and Orndoff as Most Inspirational.
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