Banquet is a Success

Additional information provided by Caitlin Garlow

Fall Sports Award Ceremony held on Wednesday in the SAC had a much higher turnout than the previous Blair banquets.

With each speech running from four to 11 minutes, the ceremony lasted from seven to nine pm.

The athletes and guests were invited to take refreshments at seven. As the crowd began to settle, Dale Miller, athletics director, thanked everyone for coming and the parents for helping out. Miller proceeded with asking the honor roll students to stand up and be applauded while he apologized for not being able to give out awards to the straight-A athletes because report cards had not arrived yet.

The fall teams then came up individually and coaches presented awards for most valuable player, most improved, most outstanding senior and the coach's award.

The girls' varsity volleyball team was the first up on the stage. Coach Anne Garrison gave Carey Bartlett the MVP award, a change from Amanda Hsiung who was given this award for the past three years.

The girls' tennis team was up next. "I don't know how I'm going to say everything in the three minute time limit.I don't know how I'm going to do this," coach Ngbea said as he began his speech. He then presented Katherine Epstein with the sportsmanship award and Stephanie Paul with the MVP award.

Girls' soccer followed with JV coach Summer Roark commenting on every player and varsity coach Bob Gibb awarding Sarah Rumbagh, Erica Pelz-Butler, Jamie Kovach and Nicole Grey with MI, MVP, MOS and CA respectively. Varsity soccer placed top in the division even with six one-goal losses.

Boys' soccer then came up to the stage. With just four returning tenth graders, JV soccer finished the season undefeated - a record of 10-0-0, outscoring their opponents 34-5. Varsity soccer coach Adrian Baez awarded Dennis Salgado, Andrew Polmeroy, Will Whitney and Chris Wilhelm MVP, MI, MOS and CA respectively.

Up next was football, where JV coach Reggie Spears presented Collin Reed, Ian Procter and Jason Merryman with CA, MI and MVP respectively. Spears commented on the team starting the season with a record of 0-3 but moving up a division after a strong finish. He also emphasized the role of Merryman in the team which had made 24 touchdowns for the season. Varsity football had a 4-6-0 season. Varsity head coach James Short gave Johnny Beckwith, Jonathan Gregory, Perry Smith and T K Kimba the MOS, MI, CA and MVP awards respectively.

The girls' JV field hockey coach Julie Nation then gave Sydney Valdez, Jordy Goldstein and Zoe Norvell the MVP, sportsmanship and MI awards respectively. Varsity coach Amy Miller presented Kamala Smith, Anna Benfield, Emily Savner and Leah Passman with MVP, MOS, MI and CA awards respectively.

The boys' and girls' cross country teams came up next. Matt Sheldon and Halsey Sinclair were awarded the MVP awards. Julia Bertaut and Anthony Guiterrez were given the sportsmanship awards.

The golf team stepped onto the stage and coach James Schafer gave Jake Reily the MI award, Danny Dillian the sportsmanship award and Zach Mellman the MVP award.

Last, came the cheerleading team, where coach Roxanne Fus gave Aynalem Geremew the MVP award.

The banquet was considered a success by most who attended.