5-12-10 —     Wayne County recently honored its athletes as part of the Cardsby

Awards. The purpose of this the Cardsby Awards is to showcase all student

athletes and their talents.

    It is modeled about the ESPY awards from ESPN Sports and from UK's

CATSBYS. This is an opportunity to see all of the WCHS athletes at one time

and recognize their achievements as a school.

    Rookie of the Year‹Rookie of the Year awards are given to freshmen

athletes who have exemplified excellence in their given sport.

Female Rookie of the Year

    Jessica Hardin (basketball)‹In her short career Jessica has hit a game

winning shot to win the 48th District Title and is second  all-time in

single game scoring with 33 points in a single season. Jessica started every

game in the 2009-2010 season averaging 15 points and 5 rebounds per game

while carrying a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. She is well respected among her

teammates and coaches. 

Male Rookie of the Year

    Dagan Shelton (basketball, football, baseball)‹No freshman has had the

impact on the boys' sports teams as Dagan. He became a starter on three

teams‹basketball, football and baseball‹and was instrumental in the success

of all three.



    Play of the Year‹This category of awards is to represent a specific play

which was a game changer, a winning shot, run, etc. or an individual record

setting achievement.

Female Play of the Year (tie)

    Jesslen Upchurch (softball)‹The game against Clinton County was in extra

innings, in the bottom of the eight with two outs. Jesslen was at bat with a

pitch count of 2 strikes and 2 balls; she hits the ball off the top of the

left field fence to score the winning run from second base. In extra innings

in softball your last out from the inning before becomes your base runner on

second base. 

    Sharline Bertram (volleyball)‹Sharlene had winning serves to bring

volleyball the win on senior night against Danville.

Male Play of the Year

    Shawn Dishman (cheerleading)‹Shawn is an awesome athlete. Shawn

possesses every skill necessary to excel in cheerleading and football as

well. Shawn is willing to work outside of practice to better himself and in

return better his team.

    FCA Award‹This award goes to an individual athlete who set an example

for their teammates and others with his or her Christian attitude and

values.

    Diamond Dick (soccer and tennis)‹Diamond was the team captain and

on-field spokesperson for the Wayne County soccer team. She led vocally and

by example, and was the first to suggest that we needed to incorporate

prayer into our practices and pre-game warm up. Diamond is a member and

officer of the FCA, is deeply involved in her church and even went on a

mission trip to Guatemala. Her spiritual leadership combined with all other

leadership qualities makes her a perfect person for this award.

    Spirit Award‹Spirit is a necessary element in any sporting event. This

person was selected for her continual support of WCHS sports by her

attendance and encouragement at sporting events.

    Leah Phipps‹Leah was at every sporting event that she could possibly

attend. She was the videographer for the girls' basketball team and a true

fan. She was also the manager for volleyball as she encouraged the girls and

the team as a whole. Leah tried to find a way to be at all the games

possible and truly does love all WCHS sports and loved to see her team win.

    Community Service Award‹This award goes to the athlete who also does

exemplary work in helping others in the community by volunteering their time

and energy to make life better for others and our community as a whole.

    Emily Eicher (volleyball and cross country)‹Emily has a "truck load" of

community service. She has been a bell ringer for the Salvation Army, worked

with PRIDE litter collection (through JROTC, church, Roger's Scholar program

and Beta club) collected Cans for Camp (4-H), volunteered at the county fair

(Kiwanis Club), been a 4-H Teen leader at camp, been a mentor (Project FACE

Mentor Program), participated in making Christmas boxes (Operation Christmas

Child), helped with the community Thanksgiving Dinner (JROTC and FCA), and

been involved with numerous community programs through YEN (Youth

Empowerment Network), 4-H, BETA and JROTC.

    Comeback Award‹This athlete, as the name implies, has encountered injury

or adversity and has fought their way back to be an active member of their

team. This type of athlete has gone the extra mile‹not only physically and

mentally giving of themselves, but going beyond to battle through their

adversity to come back and help their team.

    Dagan Shelton (football, baseball and basketball)‹Dagan was injured in

both football and basketball, but came back to finish season in both sports.

Coach of the Year

    Tony McCracken‹Based on the fact that soccer is a sport that has never

been played at Wayne County, winning 5 games in the first season is very

successful for a new program. It was quite an accomplishment to do all of

that with a group of girls playing, many of whom had never played any

sport. 

 

    Next Steps‹The awards for these students will come in their next step,

which is playing on the college level in their sport.

    DJ Hall has a scholarship to play football at Lindsey Wilson College.

    Tenacity Awards‹The Tenacity Awards are a new award this year.  These

athletes are versatile athletes who participate in more than one sport.

    The Tenacity Awards for athletes who participate in three sports are:

    € Malcolm Gehring‹baseball, basketball and football

    € Dagan Shelton‹football, basketball and baseball

    € Kyle Hopper‹baseball, football and basketball

    € Ryan Hopper‹baseball, football and basketball

    Two sports:

    € Travis Bell‹baseball and basketball

    € Austin Shearer‹football and basketball

    € Shawn O. Dishman‹football and cheerleading

    € Alex Petrenko‹golf and tennis

    € Dillon Staples‹golf and tennis

    € Dustin Dodd‹football and cheerleading

    € Konager Parris‹football and cheerleading

    € Tyler Pace‹football and wrestling

    € Lina Mouritsen‹soccer and tennis

    € Molly Vinsant‹soccer and tennis

    € Jesslen Upchurch‹volleyball and softball

    € Alvik Ibisate‹cross country and tennis

    € Austin Kirksey‹tennis and golf

    € Steven Hall-baseball and golf

    € Hallie Gillespie-basketball and soccer

    € Diamond Dick‹soccer and tennis

    € Monica Muse‹tennis and volleyball

    € Pedro Ruiz‹football and cheerleading

    € Ryan Cravens‹baseball and basketball

    € Makayla Campbell‹tennis and volleyball

    € Taylor Cravens‹soccer and tennis

    € Annika Hopfner‹soccer and tennis

    € Judy Lim‹soccer and tennis

    € Milica Ugrenovic‹tennis and soccer

    € Sierra Swift‹soccer and softball

    € Nicole Davis‹volleyball and tennis

    € Jesse Lowe‹football and tennis

    € Emily Eicher‹volleyball and cross country

    € Carlotte Jauegui-dance and tennis

    € Brandon Roysdon-cross country and tennis

    € Whitney Spencer-volleyball and tennis

Academic Awards

    Best Academic Team‹Girls Basketball

    Outside the auditorium, on the wall, there are plaques for each team and

each year if the team has a 3.0 GPA or better they have a plate added to

their Principal's Academic Award plaque. Ms. Shearer is very pleased to

announce that this year, all 14 of the sports teams at WCHS earned that

honor. When you hear the term student-athlete, the word student is first and

WCHS obviously has students who excel in both areas.

    Male and Female Scholar Athlete of the Year‹This is a tough category as

26 of these athletes have a 4.0 which is straight A's. However, we have some

students who take Advanced Placement classes which earns bonus academic

points and allows for better than a 4.0 GPA. This year's winners are:

    Male Scholar Athlete of the Year (three way tie)‹Kyle Hopper, Ryan

Hopper and Blake Adams all have a 4.05 GPA.

    Female Scholar Athlete of the Year is Emily Eicher who has a 4.1 GPA.

    The next group of awards is voted on by their peers.

    Heart Award‹This award is who their teammates believe to be the heart of

their team. 

    € Baseball- Tyler Joe Dishman

    € Boys Basketball-Jesse Gregory

    € Girls Basketball‹Samantha J. Sexton

    € Cheerleading-Konager Parris

    € Cross Country- Alvik Ibisate

    € Dance-Chelsy Lemaster

    € Football-Zackarie Stephenson

    € Golf-Alex Petrenko

    € Soccer-Diamond Dick

    € Softball-Samantha G. Sexton

    € Tennis-Matthew Neal

    € Volleyball-Emily Eicher

    € Wrestling-Lucas Troxell

    The People's Choice Male and Female Athlete are the athletes' choice as

the best athlete at Wayne County High School.

    Peoples' Choice Male Athlete-Emily Eicher

    Peoples' Choice Female Athlete-Gavin Dunagan

    The final awards for the night are culminating awards which reflect

athletic performance for the year and for their athletic careers.

    Female and Male Athlete of the Year‹This award recognizes students who

represent what an athlete truly is‹hard working, dedicated, school spirited

and is exemplary at their sport.

    Female Athlete of the Year: Casi Clark (tennis) Casi won 1st place in

the Berea Invitational Tournament. Casi is undefeated this year and is one

of the best singles players in the region and very competitive.

    Male Athlete of the Year‹Gavin Dunagan (boys' basketball) was named

all-district, all-region and was top vote getter for the 12th Region Junior

All-Star team. He had an outstanding season averaging a double-double (first

since David Phillips in 1996) with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Gavin became

the school's all-time leading rebounder with 1193, passing Noah Rice (1133).

He is currently the school's second leading scorer with 2,175 points, behind

Jack Upchurch (2,441).

    Miss and Mr. Cardinal‹This award will be for a  male and female student

who is an exemplary student athlete. This includes the student's athletic

ability, their academic ability, their citizenship and involvement in the

school as a whole.

    Miss Cardinal‹Emily Eicher In her career at WCHS Emily has run cross

country, played volleyball and tennis. She is very competitive in every

sporting event, is noted for her sportsmanship and her team spirit. She is

an impressive representative of WCHS. 

    Mr. Cardinal ‹Tyler Pace (wrestling) won the 285 lb. weight class in

wrestling this season to become Wayne County's ninth state champion. He

finished the season with a perfect record of 35-0. He was a three time state

medal winner with an overall record of 172 wins and 43 losses. Tyler was

also a three year starter for the football team. Tyler is also an impressive

supporter of other athletes as he attends other events and supports his

school in every way. He is definitely a perfect example of Mr. Cardinal.