Natalie Rodgers was named Most Valuable Player for the girls soccer team at an awards ceremony held Tuesday, April 20, at Husky Stadium.
Coach Ramiro Santana said Rodgers is a player “colleges have been asking about” and said that other teammates look up to her.
In another big moment, the entire team was named recipients of the Coaches Award.
Assistant Coach Jill Wilson said that the decision was made after Sweet Home was named the top girls soccer team in OSAA’s 4A division academically, with a 3.93 cumulative GPA.
“They were second in the state overall,” Santana added. “It’s pretty neat to have that.”
Team members honored are: Meagan Baham, Brookelynn Burke, Alaina Curtiss, Ivy Dewitte, Zianna Duncan, Iris Erickson, Chloe Fairchild, Emily Farthing, Andra Gordon, Maddie Harris, Jillian Lynn, Rylee Markell, Olivia Martineau, Sicily Neuschwander, Esther Ramsey, Katie Robeck, Natalie Rodgers, Maren Weld, Crystal Wolf and Jenna Wolthuis.
“Being a state champion, academically, is nice,” Santana said. “As coaches, you don’t know how much we appreciate it when we don’t have to worry about grades.”
He said his team got off to a fast start on the season, but was hampered by injuries as things progressed.
“We have a great group of ladies,” Santana said. “Some people got hurt. It is very important as a team when we lose teammates. It makes a lot of difference when we miss just one player.”
The Huskies recovered, after a six-game mid-season losing streak, to split their final two games and finish 3-7-1 overall.
Santana particularly credited junior Meagan Baham, who was one of the injured players, for doing what she could to help out and to encourage teammates during the down weeks.
“She was not playing, but she was helping a lot on the field,” he said.
In addition to Rodgers, who was unable to be present at the ceremony, other award winners were:
Defender of the Year: senior Crystal Wolf.
Midfielder of the Year: senior Esther Ramsey.
Best Forward: junior Maddie Harris.
Rookies of the Year: freshman Rylee Markell and sophomore Brookelynn Burke, who, Santana said, “became one of the best players we had in her first year.”
Hustle Award: senior Maren Weld, whom Santana described as “a player who was always moving, running, she never stops, in practice or games. There are no questions; she just comes in and plays where she’s needed.”
Fourth-year letter recipients were Farthing, Ramsey, Robeck and Rodgers.
Third-year letters went to Fairchild, Harris, Martineau, Neuschwander and Weld.
Receiving their second-year letters were Baham, Wolf and Wolthuis.
First-year letter winners were Burke, Curtiss, Duncan, Erickson, Fairchild, Gordon, Lynn and Markell.