Every spring, when the birds start to sing and grass begins to grow, the Grier community holds a special event for the girls playing Varsity sports: the Sports Banquet. This annual event honors varsity athletes who have shown remarkable improvement over the year and have made the greatest contributions to their teams.
Students and coaches dressed up and came together at the Blair County Convention Center to enjoy a catered dinner. This was followed by a video and photo time where the players and coaches looked back on the year together, allowing everyone to remember and reflect on what their sport meant to them and how it affected their lives throughout the year.
Each sport gave out awards to athletes. Even if students did not receive an award, everyone received a certificate along with a small pin as a symbol of their passion and commitment during the year. This year, there were 7 varsity sports in total, including tennis, fencing, riding, soccer, archery, volleyball, and dance.
Demi Alade, a 12th grader, said that she was surprised by her award in volleyball but was very happy about it. She recalled the joy of the season, including her favorite memory of beating Mercersburg Academy on Senior Night. She also mentioned that she will miss the team when she graduates. Emily Ding, an 11th grader, said her best memory from this year for riding was the time when Alisa Lu won first place at the last IEA show before winter break started. Her pride in her teammate shows how connected students become on Grier’s teams. Ding was grateful to receive the “most-improved” award for dressage riding and was also quite surprised.
Sports are an effective way to increase social skills and cohesion among people, and this is definitely something that was obvious at the Sports Banquet this year.
The Awards Winners Included:
Tennis
Sportsmanship: Marcela Baeza
Most Improved: Lucy Buchanan and Serena Li
Teammate: Daniela Guerrero
MVP: Eva Kozeska
Fencing
Senior awards: Chloe Nguyen and Kylie Willier
Rookie of the Year: Kaylie McCabe and Ariana Carrasco
Simply the Best: Josie Filan
Heart and Soul: Katie Payne
Captains: Lucy Buchanan and Natalie Kelsey
Honorable Mention: Katie Payne
Hunt Seat Riding
MVP: Holly Baxter and Emerson Pollack
Rookie of the Year: Isabella Maroko
Most Improved: Natalie Townsend
Dressage Riding
MVP: Violet Gutberlet and Marian Pownall
Rookie of the Year: Zoe Piekarski and Emily Ding
Western Riding
MVP: Nina Rhodes
Rookie of the Year: Sera Yearick
Most Improved: Olivia Lowry
Sportsmanship: Logan Faison
Soccer
Captains: Angelena Mack and Natalie Kelsey
Most Valuable Player: for Della Huang
Rookie of the Year: Jojo Coker
Sportsmanship: Katie Payne
Most Improved: Emily Frantz
Archery
Top Shooters: Quinn Stewart, Josie Filan, and Sandy Chen
Seniors: Chloe Nguyen, Quinn Stewart and CJ Wagner
Volleyball
MVP: Stella Adler
Offensive Player: Zara Dawodu
Defensive Player: Cassie Solow
Most Improved: Demi Alade
Coaches Awards: Jalynn Partner and Cayetana Redel
Dance
Pre-Professional Program: Jada Moyer, Lexi Bickley, Isabella Trabucco, Elayna Hess, Roberta Lopez Flores, Natalia Domingez Lopez, Sarah Papi, Ava Beiswenger.
Intermediate Advanced: Olympia Rock, Palmer Kellogg, Camila Corral and Rebeca Villanueva Aquino.
