Sportsmanship Awards Cap M-W's Fine Winter

MADRID - The Madrid-Waddington Central School District was delighted to recognize a winter season full of outstanding achievements by its student-athletes at Wednesday's Winter Sports Awards Night.

Athletic Director Gary Tischler started an evening to accentuate accolades by putting first things first. He recognized what could be a feat unprecedented in Northern Conference Basketball History.

The M-W Boys and Girls Basketball programs were both recognized with the prestigious sportsmanship awards presented by the NNY Boys and Girls Basketball Officials Boards. The M-W Boys team, coached by Aaron Jones, received the Glenn Bissell Award and the M-W Girls, coached by Tischler, received the Ed Bush Memorial Award.

"To win both of these awards in one season is truly special. We are displaying both banners in the front hall of the school but they will be put up in the gym very soon," said Tischler.

"We had a lot of great nights in "The Hive" and winning these awards is a tribute to our coaches, players and fans. And at this time I would like to recognize the Biddy Basketball coaches and the fine group of volunteer assistants who work with our basketball teams: Millard Rogers with the Girls JV, Brad Knight with our Girls Modified, Matt O'Bryan and Scott Shoen who work with our boys teams and who recently received the Patti Baldwin Award from the NAC Girls Basketball Coaches , Denny Jones and Kelsey Shoen who assists me with the Girls Varsity Team.

Girls Varsity Basketball: Coach Gary Tischler spoke of the extraordinary team chemistry displayed by the Yellowjackets who earned a NYS Scholar-Athlete Award with a 93.286 average with seven NAC Academic Award recipients.

"After the regular season we knew we could be a stronger team if we brought our some players from an undefeated JV team. The girls made the personal sacrifices and our chemistry was outstanding," said Coach Tischler alluding to decisions which helped the Jackets defeat reigning Section 10 champion Hammond in the Class D2 Championship game.

Assistant Coach Kelsey Shoen called the Jackets "the Wolfpack" because wolfpacks stick together.

All-NAC East performers Kristin King and Alex Martin received Captains' Awards as the leaders of the Jacket Pack Ashley Beldock, McKenzie Hough, Megan Barney, Kelsey Dashnaw, Chelsea Ashley, Megan Parmeter, Jenna Cryderman, Shelby McIntosh, Brittney Pierce, Shelby Gausby, Courtney Ashley, Bridget Beldock, Megan Gabri, Katie Marcellus and Sierra Knight all received Class D2 Championship medals.

Modified Boys Basketball: Coach Shayne Sudol honored his seventh and eighth graders for their determination to learn man to man defense and entering the ball to post on offense. On hand for recognition were: Liam Miller, Luke Miller, Brandon Vice, Harrison VanBuren, Mike Thew, Jacob Barney, Zach Brock and Alex Hammond.

Boys Varsity Basketball: Coach Aaron Jones, who returns all but two of his players who went 10-4 in the NAC East and earned a NYS Scholar-Athlete Award, looked back and ahead with enthusiasm.

"These guys showed a lot of character all season as shown by our comeback against eventual Class D Champion Chateaugay in the sectionals," said Coach Jones who presented team awards to: Curtis Lanning - Coaches' Award, Quinn Shoen - Outstanding Defensive Player, Jordan Kendall - Outstanding Offensive Player, Will O'Bryan - Sixth Man Award and presented B.J. Bernard with a Foul Shooting Award for a string of 26 straight free throws during the season.

Other members of the team were: Colin O'Bryan, Alex Brock, Zach Marcellus, Brandon Perrine, Justin Pierce, Brom Steinberg, Tyler Whiteford and valued manager Sean Tiernan.

Cheerleading: The most emotional moment of the evening came as Missy Hough presided over her 14th and final Cheerleading Awards presentation.

"I really want to thank Athletic Director Gary Tischler and the administration for keeping cheerleading alive when some schools have dropped it because of budget problems. Special thanks go to Mr. Jones and Mr. Dashnaw for their support over the years," said Coach Hough.

"I feel honored to have been part of the Madrid-Waddington staff and cheerleading will always hold a special place in my heart."

Coach Hough presented Senior Cheerleading Awards to Alex Gausby and Emily Pike. Rounding out the team were: Sarah Taber, Stephanie Carkner, Ashleigh Bracy, Sierra Fox, Julie Sovie, and Karley Robertson.

JV Boys Basketball: Coach Tim Dashnaw made progress the theme of his presentation where he honored Terry Crump as the Most Improved Player and Austin Scott and Jim Miller with Coaches' Awards. Also on hand to be recognized were: Dan Cassida, James Hunt, Brian Jaquith, Matt Kendall and Adam Villnave.

JV Girls Basketball: Coach Larry LaMere spoke of coaching his second undefeated team in nine years and spoke of the similarities between his 18-0 Jackets to an undefeated team in 2001.

"Our motto was if it feels good take the shot. This team had a lot of depth and they were fun to watch," said Coach LaMere who presented medals to commemorate the perfect season to: Courtney Ashley, Bridget Beldock, Sierra Dumas, Kristie Demeter, Megan Gabri, Shelby Gausby, Shelby Kendall, Sierra Knight, Caitlin Marcellus, Brittany Pierce, Lauren Sharpe, Katie Tiernan, Emily Uppstrom and Angie Matthews.

Girls Hockey At Canton: Canton Coach Kristin Powers was on hand to honor Laurie King, Lauren Orosz and Taylor Mayette for their contributions to a team which went 14-2-2 in regular season play and never lost a game in regulation.

"We had 22 girls and players from six different school districts. Defensive was the strength of the team we only allowed 27 goals in 18 games and we had two excellent goalies" said Coach Powers.

King was one of those goalies posting a save percentage of 92 and a goals against average of 1.45. Marcellus, who also plays for the Louisville Lightning Bantam Team which recently won a NYS Tier III title and will advance to the Northeast Regionals on March 19, 20, 21, was honored as the Rookie of the Year after finishing fourth on the team in scoring.

Boys Hockey at N-N: Tom Mayette, Jacob Mayette, Josh Tiernan and Kyle Best were honored for making contributions to a Norwood-Norfolk Hockey team which went 9-3-1 in NAC play.

"We thank Norwood-Norfolk for allowing our boys a chance to play hockey and to Canton for allowing our girls to play hockey," said M-W Athletic Director Gary Tischler.

"And these athletes deserve a lot of credit for their commitment to a sport they love."

Girls Modified Basketball: Coach Buffy Gabri called the 2009-10 season one of the most memorable in her 19 years of coaching. Twenty-three of seventh and eighth grade players received honors to high honors academically. Assisted by volunteer coach Brad Knight, Coach Gabri led her seventh graders to a 5-5 record and her eighth graders to a 9-1 mark.

Coach Gabri offered a quote legendary Coach Penn State Coach Joe Paterno: "Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks" to her seventh (Amelia Bailey, Cassidy Scott, Jen King, Autumn Beckstead, Sophia Reome, Kayleigh Fifield, Dia Richards, Ashli Bernard, Corrine McKnight, Sam Dugan, Marybeth Youngs, Alyssa Ryan) and eighth graders (Tess Knight, Hannah Austin, Sydnee Harbour, Jessica Lamay, Autum Wells, Emily Doelger, Taylor Lenny, Emily Murphy, Desiree Pryce, Kenndedy Murray, Danielle Jensen, Mariah Patenaude and Allison Fobare).