BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

A quintet of all-round athletes were recognized with Athlete of the Year awards when Northeast Kings Education Centre handed out its year-end athletic awards June 10.

Marco Visentin was named Senior Male Athlete of the Year and Jacobi Vanderweit was Senior Female Athlete. The choices for Junior Athletes of the Year were Jeff Longaphy, Rhianna Nicholson and Jessica Mahaney (co-winners of the junior female award).

Visentin starred in football, was a valued member of the hockey team and also competed in track and field. Vanderweit, a nationally-known singles player in badminton, was a provincial team and individual champion in that sport, and also played volleyball and basketball, ran cross-country and competed in track and field.

Nicholson played junior girls’ volleyball, senior girls’ basketball, softball and did track and field, where she was a two-time district champion. Mahaney played soccer, volleyball, senior girls’ basketball and softball and also did track and field. Longaphy played basketball, hockey, softball and golf.

Recognized as Sportspersons of the Year were Michelle Trenholm and Garrett Pearson at the junior level and Leah Beveridge and Keegan Wood at the senior level.

NKEC athletic director Dave Morton noted that 2007-2008 had been another successful year for athletics at the school, with several district and regional championships and provincial banners in Tier 2 football, badminton and table tennis.

This brought to 19 the number of provincial banners won by NKEC teams in the seven-year history of the school (not including individual championships in badminton and track and field).

The full list of NKEC winners for 2007-2008 is as follows:

Football (provincial Tier 2 champs) – Rookie: Logan VanBlarcom. Offensive Lineman: Hattem Morse. Defensive Lineman: Alex Sarsfield. Defensive Player: Alex Pearl. Coach’s Award: Steve Arbuckle. MVP: Marco Visentin. (All six players were league all-stars, and VanBlarcom and Sarsfield also won major league awards).

Junior Girls’ Soccer – Coach’s Award: Danielle Visentin, Michelle Trenholm.

Junior Boys’ Soccer – Coach’s Award: Garrett Pearson. MVP: Jeremy Graham.

Senior Girls’ Soccer – Coach’s Award: Jenna Connell, Emily Kehoe. MVP: EmmaYoung.

Senior Boys’ Soccer – Coach’s Award: Ian Manning. MVP: Matt French.

Cross-Country – Girls’ MVP: Britany MacArthur. Boys’ MVP: Nick Sine.

Junior Girls’ Volleyball – MVP: Rhianna Nicholson, Marina Rennie.

Senior Girls’ Volleyball – Coach’s Award: Mishelle Melvin, Kelsey Hake. MVP: Leah Beveridge.

Senior Boys’ Volleyball – Most Improved: Ian Manning. Coach’s Award: Joe Huyer-Upton. MVP: Blake Brown.

Junior Girls’ Basketball – Most Improved: Leah Creaser. Leadership: Danielle Visentin. Coach’s Award: Sarah Brown. MVP: Marina Rennie.

Junior Boys’ Basketball – Coach’s Award: Jeff Longaphy. Most Improved: Charlie Hewitt. MVP: Garrett Pearson.

Senior Girls’ Basketball – Coach’s Award: Jacobi Vanderweit, Emma Young. Rookie: Mackenzie Ellsworth. MVP: Laura Roy.

Senior Boys’ Basketball – Defensive Player: Weston Gerritts. Most Improved: Jeff Zwicker. Sixth Man: Jesse Benjamin. MVP: Trinton Parker.

Senior Girls’ Hockey – Coach’s Award: Brittany Moore. MVP: Jenny Muggah.

Junior Boys’ Hockey – Unsung Hero: James Lyons. MVP: Jeff Longaphy.

Senior Boys’ Hockey – Rookie: Brandon Whitney. Coach’s Award: Josh Porter. Cory Chapman Memorial: Marco Visentin. Dedication: Keegan Wood.

Senior Girls’ Softball – Coach’s Award: Emma Young. MVP: Leah Beveridge.

Junior Boys’ Softball – Coach’s Award: Cody Kennie. MVP: Jeff Longaphy.

Junior Girls’ Softball – Team Award: Emily Gale. MVP: Rhianna Nicholson.

Badminton (eight individual provincial titles; two provincial team titles) – Junior Awards: Gillian Tetlow and Sarah Bennett. Intermediate Awards: Joe Harper and Claire MacDougall. Senior Awards: Blake Brown and Ian Manning.

Table Tennis (one provincial team title) – Captain’s Awards: Mark Trenholm, Deanna Huntley, David McBurnie, Todd Everett, Annie MacDuff.

Track and Field – Junior Girls: Gillian Tetlow (provincial bronze medalist). Junior Boys: Eric Rand (regional champion and record-holder). Intermediate Girls: Britany MacArthur (provincial gold medalist). Senior Girls: Rebecca D’Eon, Christine Manning.

Cheerleading – Most Dedicated: Christina Odell. Positive Leader: Shelby Dodge. Spirit Award: Kara Hill.

NSSAF Ambassadors of School Sport – Hattem Morse, Emily Kehoe, Rebecca Bentley (coach).

Athletes of the Year – Junior Male: Jeff Longaphy. Junior Female: Rhianna Nicholson, Jessica Mahaney. Senior Female: Jacobi Vanderweit. Senior Male: Marco Visentin.

Sportspersons of the Year: Junior: Michelle Trenholm, Garrett Pearson. Senior: Leah Beveridge, Keegan Wood.