It was a difficult choice among many eligible athletes, so Sweet Home Booster Club officials wound up naming four Booster Club Boy and Girl of the Year winners at the 2013 Senior Sports Banquet held Tuesday, May 21, at the Community Center.
Sabrina Davis and Paige Sanders were chosen Girls of the Year, while David Skeen and Quin Wise were the selections on the boys side.
Each will receive a $250 scholarship, said Booster Club President Wendi Melcher.
Davis is a four-year letterman in soccer, basketball and track, and captained the soccer team, was basketball Offensive Player of the Year, and was recipient of several other team awards in all three sports.
Sanders lettered four years each in cross-country, swimming and track. She was Rookie of the Year in cross-country and received several other awards in that sport and swimming, in which she was a state qualifier three years.
Skeen lettered two years each in football, wrestling and track and field, earning all-league honors in football as a lineman.
Wise was a two-year letterman in both football and wrestling as well, earning all-league honors as a tight end last year.
Featured speaker for the event was Athletic Director Steve Brown, who joined the staff at the high school last fall. He spoke on how making good choices can bring good results, in life, in school, in work and in social relationships.
He cited the advice of longtime Pacific Lutheran football coach Frosty Westering, one of the top college coaches at any level before he retired. Westering, who wrote “Make the Big Time Where You Are,” a book that Brown said he found highly motivating.
Westering likens people to thermometers, those who are affected by the temperature (circumstances) or thermostats, those who control it.
“Instead of having a great day, make it a great day,” Brown said, quoting Westerling.
He recited several stories of acquaintances and family members who have demonstrated the truth of that.
One he told was of a young man who was riding a motorcycle home from work in 1978 and was hit by another driver, leaving him in a coma and partially paralyzed. Acquaintances asked the victim’s wife if she planned to stay with him, given the difficulties that could play out in the situation.
“That young man was me,” Brown told the students, noting that he is grateful that his wife, with whom he will celebrate their 40th anniversary later this summer, made no bones about the fact that she was sticking with him no matter what.
“I’m just happy to tell you that anything is possible if you choose right,” said Brown, who recovered to become an 11-time age group world champion power lifter and multiple record holder. “I guarantee you, if you make good choices, good things will happen to you.”
Hall of Fame Award honorees were: Naomi Gunselman, called by Coach Doug Peargin one of the “top 10” girls swimmers in school history; Zach Gill, called by his football offensive line coaches “Pain Train” and who, Coach Steve Thorpe said, delivered many clutch performances for the wrestling team; Sabrina Davis, who earned 12 varsity letters, including track and field, in which she will leave a “huge gap,” Coach Billy Snow said; Colton Schilling, “arguably one of the accomplished wrestlers in Sweet Home history,” Thorpe said, who won 98 percent of his matches; Megan Graville, a two-time all-state softball player who shows “endless kindness” to others, Coach Tomas Rosa said; Wade Paulus, who placed third in state at what Rosa called “a man’s weight” in wrestling as a sophomore, second as a junior and first as a senior, and who came within yards of breaking the school career rushing record in football; Tyler Cowger, who broke the school record with 192 career victories in wrestling; and Taylor Thorpe, a “leader, plain and simple,” Rosa said, who also is a four-time all-state cheer performer.
Other award winners during the evening were:
U.S. Marine Corps Distinguished Athlete Award – Shantel Pitts and Nate Melcher.
U.S. Army Scholar Athlete Award – Breanna Froemke, who has signed to compete in acrobatics and tumbling at Azusa Pacific, and Christian Porter.
OSAA/Farmers Insurance Group Scholar Athlete Award – Samantha Ashlock, Megan Graville, Hailey Hummer, Zane Jackson, Sabrina Davis, Kendell Anderson, Nicole Bell, Brittani Crompton, Taylor Thorpe, Josh Wooley, Breanna Froemke, Colton Schilling, David Skeen, Drayson Scott, Carissa Sipe, Demi Stratman, Christian Porter, Paige Sanders, Nate Melcher, Kayla Daniels, Candalynn Johnson, Justin Rice, Kelli Fanning, Colton Holly, Emily Thompson, Tashana Mithen, and Kenzie Mills, who received an Activity Award.
Greg Hagle Memorial Scholarship – Sabrina Davis, Kelli Fanning, Zach Gill, Taylor Thorpe and Nate Melcher.
Spirit of a Champion Award – Trever Olson, Naomi Gunselman, Taylor Thorpe, Colton Schilling, Colton Holly, Megan Graville and Ole Olson.
John Seward Memorial Scholarship – swimmer Naomi Gunselman.
Moe Award – Trever Olson, Drayson Scott and Nicole Bell.
Larry Johnson/Bruce West Sportsmanship Award – David Skeen and Taylor Thorpe.
Husky Award – Athletes who competed in three sports a year for all four years were Sabrina Davis, Paige Sanders, Zach Gill, David Skeen and Nate Melcher. They all received a personalized blanket, covered with photos from various points in their lives, from Booster Club members Wendi Melcher and Michelle Keene.
Norm Davis Memorial Scholarship – Zach Gill.