Sacred Heart High School (SHHS) recently held its annual fall sports awards evening at St. Mary's Cultural Centre, celebrating achievement by athletes and teams involved in the school's athletics program.
M.C. Trent Senger, SHHS vice-principal, says all students involved in sports and extra-curricular programs are family. Families always celebrate together. "We celebrate our successes and we also celebrate our not so successful things. But we celebrate as a family," he continues.
The sports awards celebrate the school's athletic family, recognizing students who put in the time, have academic success and participate on the school's sports teams. Some athletes are involved in three athletic programs which takes up a lot of their time and commitment. Senger says the school staff are proud of their student athletes. "Whether you're an award winner, makes no difference to us. We are proud of Sacred Heart's program. We are proud of what we do. We are proud of our coaches and we're also proud of one of the most successful fall seasons our school has ever had," he declares.
Darcy Todos, head coach of the SHHS junior football team opened by introducing his fellow coaches, including quarterbacks coach Chad Holinaty, offensive coach Mike Cristo and defensive coach Evan Wasyleniuk.
The junior team carried 32 players in grades eight and nine this season, Todos reports. The team completed a great season, posting a record of five wins and one loss, he continues. "I just reminded them that this was their team and they took it seriously. They just kept working as the season continued to unfold," Todos adds.
He expressed his appreciation for the booster club started by a number of parents to promote Sacred Heart football. Todos closed by thanking Chad Holinaty and Trent Senger for their support which allowed the junior football program to grow.
Junior Saints football awards went to: Offensive MVP - Matt Kustra, Defensive MVP - Justin Guy, Lineman of the year - Cameron Peepeetch, Saint Sebastian Award - David Boroto.
Junior boys' volleyball coach, Curtis Moen, presented the junior volleyball awards: MVP - Jaedon Pellat, Most Improved Player - Nicoli Ochitwa, Saint Sebastian Award - Justin Poirier.
SHHS golf team coaches Garret Karcha and Scott Musqua presented the golf awards. In his remarks, Karcha noted the team had a very successful season, with both boys' and girls' teams winning districts. The girls' team was made up of Kylie Chupa, Brittany Ayres, Kyra Brown and Elizabeth Blenner-Hasset. The boys team consisted of Jonathan Bell, Phil Johnson, Troy Wegner and Adrian Lehky, Karcha lists.
Chupa placed second at districts while Bell won districts, Karcha reports.
At provincials the boys finished seventh out of 15 teams while the girls finished seventh out of eight teams, Karcha continues. Ayers placed 29th out of 53 and Bell 24 out of 82 competitors.
Ayers was awarded the Top SHHS Female Golfer Award. Bell was named Top SHHS Male Golfer.
SHHS cross country team coach Rachel Sterzuk reports the cross country team won three gold medals, seven silver medals, six bronze medals and had one district champion this year.
At provincials the SHHS cross country team earned a team bronze medal, Sterzuk notes.
Cross country award recipients were: MVP - Brooke Mentanko, Most Improved - Dakota Mitchell, Saint Sebastian Award - Emily Kruger, Rookie of the Year - Rita Fetsch.
Coaches Laura Dean and Jeanne Fetsch presented the girls' soccer awards. In her opening remarks, coach Dean noted early morning practices in the rain were a testament to the players' commitment. The girls played their hearts out and were not beaten by any 2A team but one in their quest for the provincial title. Each individual on the team was hard working, dedicated and enthusiastic. "Each girl on this team played an integral part in our success, contributing in her own special way," Dean adds.
SHHS girls' soccer award winners included:
Offensive MVP - Rita Fetsch, Defensive MVP - Katie Woitas, Most Improved Player - Emily Kruger, Rookie of the Year - Kaylee Ford, Saint Sebastian Award - Brooklynn Lechmann.
The senior girls' volleyball awards were presented by coaches Perry Enns and Lindsay Saurer.
Coach Enns says the team had one of its most successful seasons ever, bringing home hardware for the school's trophy case. "Every single one of you were committed to our team, always worked hard and most importantly we were a happy team," Enns comments.
Senior girls' volleyball awards were presented to: MVP - Skylar German, Most Improved Player - Alex Thompson, Rookie of the Year - Mariel Kotyk, Saint Sebas-tian Award - Kelsey Greene.
Senior boys' volleyball awards, presented by coach Dean Depape, went to: MVP - Tyler Pindus and Mark Kuem--per, Most Improved Player - Azrell John-ston, Rookie of the Year -- Colin Shewchuk, Saint Sebastian Award - Anthony Fetsch.
Coaches Brian Chis-holm and Tracy Malayney presented the junior girls' volleyball awards. Chisholm says the players hard work and dedication and commitment to the team and the school, made the coaches' jobs very enjoyable. "You each had an important part to play in the team's success this year and it is truly a pleasure to be associated with such an outstanding group of young people," Chisholm declares.
Coach Malayney adds the season will be remembered for the overall positive experience rather than simply wins and losses. She highlighted the teams record as claiming second place in the home tournament, second at the Yorkton Regional High School tournament, second place at the Melville tournament and crowning the season with a district championship. "Perhaps even more important than the wins, we learned that we played best when we were able to stay positive and focused as a team," Malayney suggests.
Junior girls' volleyball award winners were: MVP - Kirsten Jonassen, Most Im--proved Player -- Hanna Hansen, Saint Sebastian Award - Allison Kruger.
The largest coaching staff, that of the Senior Saints football team, headed by coach Trent Senger included assistant coaches Chad Holinaty, Scott Musqua, Dwayne Todas, and trainers Trevor Hove and Taryn Romanovich.
Coach Senger says the coaches were very proud and very excited to be a part of the team this season and to be able to help the players accomplish some of the goals they set out to accomplish.
The season began August 16, nine wins and two losses ago, says Senger. He continued to outline the early days, adding a touch of humor by admitting he thought the team looked small and scrawny, hoping that they were fast.
He summed up the season, "Opening game, Melville - we won. The rest of the season can be summed up real easy, the rest of the league games - we won them all." That brought the team to the last game of the season against Lumsden. Senger and his coaching staff decided to play all team members. Sacred Heart faced Melville in the first home field playoff game in a long time. The Saints won, claiming two wins over Melville in the same season. The win resulted in a road trip to Maple Creek. "Twelve or fourteen hours on a bus with Nathan Ortynsky. Life doesn't get any better than that," Senger jokes.
A win over Maple Creek proved the Saints deserved to be in the playoffs and resulted in the second home playoff game, possibly for the first time in the school's history or according to Senger, "I don't think that's happened in the written knowledge of man." Despite the eventual loss, he says it was the school's best season ever.
Senger expressed his thanks to parents, players coaches and alumni for the best season ever. He's not done however, and promises, "There's always next year."
Senior Saints football award recipients were: Team MVP - Dakota Ger-man, Offensive MVP - Preston Liebrecht, Defensive MVP - Nathan Ortynysky, Saint Sebastian Award - Ryan Shumay, Lineman of the Year - Cody Leclerc, Rookie of the Year Lyndon Shea.
The SHHS boys' soccer team awards were presented by community coach Alfredo Bermudez and coach Tricia Trach. Bermudez, who has possibly the best winning record as coach in Yorkton, notes the Saints boys have claimed the provincial 2A high school title twice in four years. Bermudez says it was an honor to coach such a great team.
SHHS boys soccer awards were claimed by: MVP - Preston Lie-brecht and Robert Okeny, Most Improved - Player - Elias Giannoulis, Rookie of the Year - Carter Ruff, Saint Sebastian Award - Anthony Fetsch.
In his closing remarks, school principal Chad Holinaty expressed appreciation to all athletes who participated in and contributed to the school's athletic program. He acknowledged the important role played by all graduating athletes.
Athletes' characters are revealed in the way they approach practices, in the way they commit their time to balance school, work, and family team commitments, says Holinaty. A number of athletes are part of two or three programs. They maintain good academic standards and remain in good standing in their community. He congratulates them for being able to balance those things.
"As coaches we put in a lot of time and effort into the fundamentals of the sport and seeing the success you have makes us want to become better," Holinaty states. Team successes encourage coaches to look for ways to improve programs to provide athletes a better service and provide athletes with a better experience, he continues.
Though he was disappointed with the Roughrider loss at the Grey Cup, Holinaty was impressed with Alouette coach Mark Tressman who spoke of being in the "people business not the football business." In the same way the school athletic program isn't about developing football, volleyball, soccer and other sports. It's about the business of developing young men and young women, Holinaty states. "To me the measurement of the success of our program isn't by just looking at our win-loss record. It's also looking at the young men and women who participated in our programs. In my mind, our programs must be about more than just the sports themselves."
Holinaty thanks parents, coaches and school board and all the school's community partners, including all those who do so much for Sacred Heart's programs behind the scenes. He urges players and athletes to thank those people who take care of all the little but important things that make the programs run smoothly.
Holinaty closes, "Expressing our appreciation to our Heavenly Father for the gifts and the abilities we've been given. We come together in the spirit of thankfulness."
