High school athletes recognized

 

By Shelly Wiebe

An evening of recognition took place at Valley Heights on Wed., June 12 when local high school athletes and their families gathered to celebrate team and individual achievements from the 2018-19 school year.
The Athletes of the Year were Noah Hamm (Senior Boy) and Meika Van Wynsberghe (Senior Girl) as well as Shawn Knelson (Junior Boy) and Emma Driedger (Junior Girl).

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Above: Valley Heights recognized its athletes on June 12 with a special Awards Night. Shown above are Shawn Knelsen Junior Boy; Noah Hamm Senior Boy; Emma Driedger Junior Girl; Meika Van Wynsberghe Senior Girl.                              Photo by Marianne Wesseling

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The Athletic Banquet has been a long-standing tradition as a way to showcase the effort and dedication it takes to excel, not only in the classroom but also on the field or the court. Valley Heights offers a large number of sports in which students can participate. It is always a cause for celebration when our local athletes receive pendants, championships and trophies each year.
“I just love that our Valley kids can go so far,” says Marlena Driedger, mother of Emma Driedger. “We go up against athletes and schools that outrank us as double A or triple A schools in population and size, yet we can compete and compete well… I’m very proud of our Port Rowan kiddos!” she said.
Other awards and special recognitions handed out during the banquet included:
Pype Family Sportsmanship Award winner was Paige Wiggans.
Cross Country winner was Jack Soares.
Golf — Matthew Smithson.
Cheerleading — Kaylee Kozak.
Football: Cary Myny Award — Harrison Cowan
Offensive MVP — Jeremy Van Wynsberghe.
Defensive MVP — Tanner Lammens.
Mike Nikin Award — Michael Ecker.
Martin McNeil Award — Peter Klassen.
Junior Girls Basketball — Emma Driedger.
Senior Girls Basketball — Kennedy Penelton.
Junior Boys Volleyball — Shawn Knelsen.
Senior Boys Volleyball — Carter Jacobs.
Junior Girls Volleyball — Jillian Hamm.
Senior Girls Volleyball — Kennedy Penelton.
Junior Boys Basketball — Shawn Knelsen.
Senior Boys Basketball — Brandon Kozak.
Badminton — Paige Wiggans and Emma Driedger.
Girls Soccer — Meika Van Wynsberghe.
Boys Soccer — Harrison Cowan and Ben Wernaart.
Boys Hockey — Noah Hamm.
Track and Field — Paige Wiggans and Emma Driedger.
o o o
At the OFSSA West Regionals (all of western Ontario) held in Cambridge in early June, the following qualifiers are all Port Rowan Public School graduates. They included Emma Driedger in Discus finishing 11th with 25.54m, Javelin finishing 10th with 28.06m
Paige Wiggans in Javelin finishing 2nd with 35.11m.
Faith Stewart in Shot Put finishing 14th with 9.72m.
Shawn Knelsen in High Jump finishing 2nd with 1.80m.
Hannah Bridges qualified for Javelin but was unable to compete.
At the All-Ontario competition held at University of Guelph, Paige Wiggans and Shawn Knelsen competed for OFSSA (all Ontario) where Paige brought home third place in the Junior Girls Javelin with a personal best throw of 37.62 m.