RCHS’ spring, year-end athletics awards

Commitment was the night’s theme at Rappahannock County High School’s annual Spring Sports Awards last Thursday (May 31) in the RCHS auditorium.

Athletic Director Jim Swindler teamed with the coaching staff and Kurt Streu’s culinary crew to host the event. Strue’s students prepared and served a fabulous meal to the estimated 350 in attendance. Swindler and the coaches welcomed the capacity crowd to the night of celebrating the athletes’ commitments to competition and sportsmanship.

In his opening remarks, Swindler highlighted all the spring sports teams: baseball, softball, track and soccer. He used the JV boys soccer team as the featured example of the evening’s theme. “They have been shorthanded from the beginning,” Swindler said, “a situation that only got worse due to the loss of two players early on and due to intermittent injuries. As a result, they have played their season with very few subs, usually against teams that had the ability to sub in most if not all of their starters. They have even played at least one game with fewer than the allowed number of players, voting as a team to play short a man rather than forfeit the game.”

To usher in the coaches who were prepared to honor athletes with specific awards, Swindler ended with a familiar quote from the beginning of the school year: “Everyone’s committed, until it becomes inconvenient.” Swindler added, “I assure you, commitment will be inconvenient, but I also assure you it will be well worth it.”

Spring 2012 Athletic Awards

Junior Panther Baseball: MVP, Michael Cook; Coaches Award, Jackson Strickler

Varsity Baseball: Coaches Award, Bradlee Frye, Dylan Hitt

JP Softball: MVP, Sara Frye; Coaches Award, Emily Way

Varsity Softball: MVP, Lyndie Paul; Coaches Award, Katie Leake

JP Girls Track: MVP, Julia Wood

JP Boys Track: MVP, Gavin Jenkins

Varsity Girls Track: MVP, Rita Clifton

Varsity Boys Track: MVP, Josh Jones; Coaches Award, Davis Sheffield

JV Boys Soccer: MVP, Daniel Schlosser; Coaches Award, Will Ubben

Varsity Boys Soccer: Coaches Award, Matt Lombardi, Clayton Hatcher; Uli Maeyer Award, Jon Letsen

JP Girls Soccer: MVP, Paige Pilkington, Julia Estes

JV Girls Soccer: MVP, Maddie Heneghan; Coaches Award, Brittany Adams

Varsity Girls Soccer: MVP, Bryn Sonnett; Coaches Award, Katie Hale

Year-End Awards

Male Athlete of the Year: Josh Jones

Female Athlete of the Year: Bryn Sonnett

Rappahannock News Scholar Athlete of the Year: Bryn Sonnett

Neil Burke Memorial Trophy: Haley Hogan

Sportsmanship Award: Katie Hale

Rappahannock County Impact Coach of the Year: Rich Hogan

Valley Health Unsung Hero: Keelee Armor

Marine Corps Award: Haley Hogan