On Thursday evening, May 28th Avery Middle School held its annual end-of-season athletics banquet for fall, winter, and spring sports. The evening was a combination of celebration and reflection of the year that was in Panthers sports.The Avery Middle School family recognized the life and contributions of former coach Chris Buchanan as Susan Clark presented a memorial in honor of the late coach. A memorial display was prepared in front of the speaker’s podium in recognition of the coach’s life. Coach Buchanan tragically passed away earlier this year and his memory was on the minds and in the hearts of all who knew him, including all the athletes, coaches, and administrative personnel whose lives he touched.
Avery Middle School Director of Athletics Marilynne Phillips, as well as Principal David Wright addressed students and parents in attendance, thanking them for their participation and expressing appreciation for their sterling efforts both in the athletic and academic arenas.
The banquet was privileged to have as a guest speaker John Mark Bentley, former standout athlete at Avery Middle School who went on to become a four-time state wrestling champion at Avery High School and national high school wrestling champion.
Bentley excelled as a wrestler at the University of North Carolina, garnering ACC Freshman Wrestler of the Year honors and ACC Wrestler of the Year accolades, along with a trio of conference championships.Bentley has had a successful coaching career as a high school head wrestling coach at Watauga High School, in addition to a coaching stints at Davidson and Appalachian State University before being named head wrestling coach for the Mountaineers following the retirement of 33-year veteran coach Paul Mance.
Athletes from a total of 11 sports were honored over the course of the banquet and recognized for their contributions to the Panthers athletic success in 2008-09. The Robin Carver Austin Scholar Awards were also presented to two students who excelled in the classroom as well as on the athletic field.
This year’s award recipients included the following:
Football: MVP – Rob Wood; Coach’s Award – Scott Simon; Most Improved – Dustin Barnard; Defensive – Chase Buchanan; Offensive – Chance Watson.
Cheerleading: MVP Football Season– Megan Daniels; MVP Basketball Season – Abigail Fortune; Coach’s Award – Mikaela Daniels; Coach’s Award – Katie Hall; Most Improved – Carson Clark; Most Spirited – Micaela Gragg
Soccer: MVP – Heraclio Flores; Coach’s Award – Kelly Jiminez; Most Improved – Leonardo Ortiz; Defensive – Carson Williams; Offensive – Isauro Estrada
Volleyball: Coach’s Award – Breanna Heaton; Most Improved – Chelsy Hofman;
Defensive – Kelsie Clarke; Offensive – Megan Dellinger
Girls Basketball: Coach’s Award – Megan Dellinger; Most Improved – Taylor Hobbs;
Defensive – Sela PittmanOffensive – Kelsie Clarke
Boys Basketball: Hustle Award – Chase Buchanan; Coach’s Award – Rob Wood; Most Improved – Dalton Cook; Defensive – Ty Polsgrove; Offensive – Chance Watson
Softball: MVP – Ashlie Yoder; Coach’s Award – Carson Clark, Ellie Lecka; Most Improved – Kaitlyn Sudderth; Defensive – Paige Henderson; Offensive – Shannon Smith
Baseball: MVP- Chance Watson; Coach’s Award- Walker Carswell; Most Improved: Tyler Edwards; Defensive- Zach Dobson; Offensive- Tyler Polsgrove
Golf: Best All Around- Daniel Childress
Track:Boys MVP- Carson Williams; Girls MVP- Shannon Smith
Wrestling: Most Valuable Wrestler- Luke Price; Most Outstanding- Brennan Clark;
Most Improved- Ethan Webb; Leadership Award- Grant Silliman
Robin Carver Austin Award Winners- Scott Simon and Serina Ramos
Congratulations to all the athletes and coaches throughout the county for a successful 2008-09 campaign!
