– CHHS Vikings honour top athletes –
The Crescent Heights Vikings took their awards banquet online Thursday night via Zoom.
With the high school’s inperson athletic banquet cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff opted to host a video conference to honour the accomplishments of Crescent Heights’ student athletes.
Kennedy Galloway and Julia Forsyth were named the school’s top female athletes of the year, while Heyden
Harrison earned the nod for male athlete of the year, and the Lyle Flynn Memorial Award for sportsmanship was shared by Landon Scholly and Ben Simmons.
“Even though it wasn’t the way that we hoped, it feels amazing to be recognized like this by coaches and other players,” said Scholly, who will study honours biomedical sciences at the University of Calgary’s School of Medicine in the fall. “The opportunities I’ve had as a Viking have made a lasting impact that I’ll cherish for a very long time.”
Scholly says he couldn’t think of a better person to share the Lyle Flynn Memorial Award with than Simmons. The fellow Viking was unable to compete this season due to injuries, but Scholly says that didn’t stop him from supporting his school every step of the way.
“Still coming to practices and games and tournaments and being nothing but supportive of everyone around him, it speaks volumes of his character and who he is as a person,” said Scholly. “He’s going to do amazing things in his life, I just know it.”
It was a similar situation in the top female athlete category, as Forsyth says she and Galloway were nearly inseparable through their athletic careers.
“It’s great having the recognition from the school, and then being able to win the award with one of my best friends was a great experience. Not a lot of people get that,” said Forsyth. “We’ve been friends ever since Grade 7 and during any sport we’ve always pushed each other to become better, or pushed each other if we’re having a bad day. We’ve always been there to support each other.”
Galloway says she got a kick out of sharing the award with Forsyth, as they seemed to be battling for the title for the better part of a decade.
“Since we walked in the gym, we’ve stuck by each other’s side, but it’s funny that we’re sharing this award because we are so competitive with each other,” said Galloway. “We always push each other to the next level. Now we can’t compete anymore, but it’s awesome to actually share that honour with her and that both of our names are going to be beside each other on a plaque that’s in the school.”
Adding a bit of extra emotion to the evening, Galloway says the award was presented by her father and volleyball coach, Scott.
“It was really heartwarming for me,” said Galloway who will enter the university transfer science program at Medicine Hat College next season while playing volleyball with the Rattlers. “He always says no crying in volleyball, yet he was just the one to cry in front of everybody and that made me cry.”
Scholly also picked up Viking Awards in both senior boys basketball and volleyball, while Forsyth was named senior girls basketball MVP and earned the Viking Award in volleyball. Harrison took home the title senior boys volleyball MVP and Galloway earned MVP status in senior girls volleyball.
“I’m just so thankful for everything that Crescent Heights has given me, the chance to play sports and everything like that,” said Harrison, who will also join MHC’s volleyball program next season with plans to move into an engineering program at U of A in 2021. “I’d just like to thank all my teammates and my coaches, and mostly my parents above anything. They’ve worked so hard to get me where I am today.”
Forsyth says student athletes present in the Zoom conference were still dressed up in their formal attire as though it were an in-person banquet, which brought a bit of added cheer to the event.
“Everyone had a nice top on at least. I didn’t see if anyone was wearing sweat pants or not,” said Forsyth, who will play volleyball at Camosun College in Victoria next year while studying athletic therapy. “It’s great that the teachers are still willing to put stuff on like this. It shows that they really care about us and that they truly value us athletes.”
It may not have been the same as the annual in-person banquet, but Harrison says it was a nice way to look back on their athletic careers at CHHS.
“It was great that they could actually do something this year,” said Harrison. “I was thankful that we could just have a banquet in general.”