"Pride in the Green," referring to the school colors, was on full display Thursday during the "Best of the Best" Bob Shay Most Inspirational awards banquet in the high school commons area.
Top Wood River High School students in extracurricular activities accepted accolades and plaques in front of their teachers, coaches, family and friends at the Hailey school.
Athletic/activities director John Rade presided over the three-and-a-half-hour program and introduced guest speaker Curt Hecker, a former Boise State University football player and banker from Sandpoint.
Hecker advised the students to "think beyond the scoreboard and really study relevant lessons to your life," from participation in activities.
He suggested it won't be difficult for today's young people to relinquish the notion of "certainty" in dealing with current and future situations. He said, "Today's young people are used to change, and the speed of change isn't going to decrease in the years to come."
"What will set you apart is the ability to plan ahead and take responsibility for the consequences of your decisions," Hecker said.
Here are Thursday's awards:
Judged by a vote of coaches as the "Outstanding Senior Athletes," for the 2010-11 school year were Jessica Hamilton and James Paris.
This was the 14th year WRHS honored three-activity letter winners who are backbones of the extracurricular programs.
Honorees were Kevin Jensen, Jade Glenn, Hunter Thompson, Alex Padilla, Alex Thomas, Ben Williams and Cheyenne Swanson.
Allan Lee Patterson Memorial Awards were presented to two outstanding senior. Selected by the coaching staff, Patterson honors were given for the 34th time in memory of Hailey's Allan Patterson, a 1975 Wood River High graduate and alpine skier who died in 1977.
The winners were Madison Gove and Kevin Jensen.
U.S. Marine Corps Distinguished Athlete awards went to Taylor Hayes and Kasey Barker. Receiving U.S. Army Reserve Scholar/Athlete honors were Allie Hesteness and Alex Padilla.
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Ashton Lupton earned the Rose Bergin Memorial Award. It was given for the 31st time to the Wolverine girl who possesses the qualities of Bergin, a 1977 WRHS grad and runner who died of cancer.
Andrew Pfeiffer received the sixth annual Monte Brothwell Unsung Hero Award honoring the Bellevue runner and 1972 state cross country champ for Wood River who has completed 46-plus marathons.
Given 2010-11 "Wolverine Awards" were Hunter Thompson, Jake Miczulski and Laura Kunz for spirit; Jake Glenn, Alison Levy and Zachary Israel for leadership; and Alex Thomas, Shanniece Hall, Sarah Hope and Tanner Dredge for tenacity.
Nicole Lichtenberg accepted the Tim Neville Award named after the Wood River speech arts teacher who enjoyed great success at winning state championships. Outstanding Seniors of Performing Arts award winners were Mariah Davis and David Fox.
Bob Shay "Most Inspirational" awards were presented to athletes in each of the school's varsity sports and to participants in activities like drama, cheerleading and band. The awards, once called Rick Hawkes Memorial, were given for the 21st time in honor of legendary coach Shay.
Shay award recipients were:
Fall sports—Jessica Hamilton for a third straight year in volleyball; Alison Town for a second straight year, Laura Kunz and James Paris in cross country; Alexander MacMillan for a second straight year in boys' soccer; Madison Gove in girls' soccer; and Kasey Barker in football.
Winter sports—Kevin Jensen in boys' basketball; Cheyenne Swanson in girls' basketball; and Kasey Barker in wrestling.
Spring sports—Ben Stout in boys' track; Cheyenne Swanson in girls' track; Jessica Hamilton for a second straight year and Bryan Donoso in tennis; Jake Freeman in baseball; Charlie Evans and Jennie Williams for a second consecutive year in golf; and Madison Gove in softball.
Other activities—Shanniece Hall in cheerleading; Wyatt Caccia in debate and speech; Sarah Hope and David Fox in drama; Cassandra Regalado and Isaiah Garza in band; Morgan Brunker and Kevin Ferry in choir; and Emily Parker and Alex Lochard in orchestra.
Presented for the 22nd time was the "Bob Shay Cup" to outstanding Wood River coaches in Shay's name.
This year's winner was girls' basketball coach Mendy Benson, who guided the Wolverines to their best-ever season on the hardwoods and second place in the State 4A tournament. She was also named the 4th District 4A Coach of the Year.
Past "Bob Shay Cup" winners:
Tennis coach Vicki Johnston; cheerleading and track coach Jeannie Bradshaw; cross country and track coach James Foster; football coaches John Blackman and Mike Glenn; baseball coach Lars Hovey; softball coach Chris Cey; softball coach Dale Martin (twice); tennis coach Nancy Williams; cross country coach Joel Zellers; boys' soccer coach Brian Daluiso (twice); and band and choir teacher Bart Bailey;
Speech arts coach Tim Neville (three times); volleyball coach Dave Neumann; wrestling coach Tom Goicoechea; boys' basketball coach Norm Cook; girls' basketball/track coach J.C. Nemecek; girls' soccer coach Tizz Strachan; cross country/track coach Bill Martell; and boys' soccer coach Erik Larson.
Principal Peter Jurovich thanked outgoing boys' basketball coach John Radford and cross country coach Shari Kunz for their hard work and commitment to athletics.
