On Thursday evening, May 27th The evening was a combination of celebration and reflection of the year that was in Panthers sports.
AMS
Avery Middle School Director of Athletics Marilynne Phillips 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 guest speaker Amanda Yates Delp, former standout athlete at Avery Middle School as well as Avery High School, who went on to run cross country at the collegiate level at UNC-Greensboro and is currently pursuing a nursing degree.
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 2009-10. The Robin Carver Austin Scholar Awards were also presented in an unprecedented manner to three students who excelled in the classroom as well as on the athletic field. This year’s award recipients included the following:
Football: MVP – Chase Buchanan; Big Hitter – Luke Price; Players Award- Hunter Johnson; Defensive – Scott Wiseman; Offensive – Ty Polsgrove
Cheerleading: MVP Football Season– Hannah Walrath; MVP Basketball Season – Tiffani Gibbs; Coach’s Award – Kristen Calloway; Coach’s Award – Jordan Thomason; Most Improved – Kasey Greene; Most Spirited – Laura Walters
Soccer: MVP – Carson Williams; Coach’s Award – Gerardo Urbina; Most Improved – Austin Robin; Defensive – Liamm Lafone; Offensive – Daniel Zartman
Volleyball: Coach’s Award – Ashlie Yoder; Most Improved – Juanita Guzman;
Defensive – Jessica Ramsey; Offensive – Lauren Burleson
Girls Basketball: Hustle Award – Jessica Ramsey; Rebounding Award- Haley Woody;
Defensive – Shannon Smith; Offensive – Breanna Heaton; MVP – Lauren Burleson
Boys Basketball: Hustle Award – Chase Buchanan; Coach’s Award – Kobe Pittman; Most Improved – Dalton Tennant; Defensive – Ty Polsgrove; Offensive – Chance Watson
Softball: MVP – Ashlie Yoder; Coach’s Award – Ginny Leaman; Most Improved – Kylie Polsgrove; Defensive – Ellie Lecka; Offensive – Shannon Smith
Baseball: MVP- Ty Polsgrove; Coach’s Award- Luke Wotell; Most Improved- Nick Wotell; Defensive- Chance Watson; Offensive- Daniel Childress
Golf: Best All Around- Daniel Childress
Track:Boys MVP- Carson Williams; Girls MVP- Shannon Smith; Coach’s Award – Ty Polsgrove; Coach’s Award – Lauren Burleson
Wrestling: Most Valuable Wrestler- Luke Price; Most Outstanding- Harley Rash;
Most Improved- Zack Freeman; Rookie of the Year-
The final awards given during the evening were the Robin Austin Scholar-Athlete Awards. The award is usually given to the boy and girl who has played in at least two sports and has the highest grade point average academically. The female recipient was Shannon Smith, who was named All-Conference in all four sports she participated in.
Since the race for the boy’s award was too close to call with almost identical GPAs between two students, Avery Middle School awarded two Scholar-Athlete Awards, one to Ty Polsgrove, a multiple sport award winner in track, basketball, baseball, and football, and another to Carson Williams, who was named the Toe River Conference Track Athlete of the Year and the MVP on the Avery soccer squad.
“I am excited to death with our school year. We were within two points of the Carolina Mountain Bank Trophy, awarded to the Toe River Conference school who receives the most points for the regular season contests in all sports besides soccer, wrestling, and golf,”
