Kendra Sorensen is truly grateful for the time she spent at Notre Dame High School.
“It was a fantastic experience. I had a blast the entire time through,” the Grade 12 student said Wednesday evening after accepting the female athlete of the year award during the school’s athletics awards dinner.
“The most memorable things aren’t necessarily the wins, but rather the teams that I traveled with and how we came together. We always had fun and that’s the most important thing — how you can grow as a team.”
Sorensen participated in volleyball, rugby, track and field and handball during her years at Notre Dame and will take her athletic talents to Red Deer College in September. She plans to suit up with the volleyball Queens for the 2013-14 ACAC season.
“My favourite sport? It’s a toss-up between volleyball, rugby and track,” she said. “They’ve all been a huge part of my life for a long time, but I feel I can excel the most in volleyball in the future.”
Sorensen admitted feeling a tinge of sadness that her high school days are nearly over.
“Definitely it’s sad, but then you can always look back and remember how great your time here was and also look forward to bettering yourself in the future,” she said.
The other nominees for the female athlete of the year were Brooke Harty and Emily Elkins.
Unlike Sorensen, Notre Dame male athlete of the year Dustin Schaber will leave Red Deer to experience the next chapter in his life.
Schaber, along with Cougars teammates Kieran Pruden and Myles Corsiatto, will head to Regina in July and suit up for the junior football Thunder. All three made the team during a recent spring camp.
“Hopefully I can get a CIS (Canadian university) scholarship and in a year or two I can further my education that way,” said Schaber, who played football, handball and basketball during his senior year at Notre Dame.
Like Sorensen, Schaber is appreciative of his high school experiences and the people he met along the way.
“It was a great time. Athletics provided me with a lot of confidence and boosted my character in a positive way,” he said. “I thank all the coaches who coached me and all the athletes who motivated me.”
The prestigious male athlete award was not something that Schaber pursued.
“It’s definitely nice to be honoured this year, but I play sports to win and the athletes I played with helped me get this,” he said.
Pruden and Mike Malin were also nominated for the award.
Chelsea Antonio and Keegan McDonald were presented with the Notre Dame Grade 10 female and male athlete of the year awards.
The Notre Dame athletic awards winners:
Golf — Most outstanding performance (MOP), male: Jacob Ziebart.
Cross country running — Coaches award (CA): Matt Cernohorsky; Most promising runner: Sydney Braaten.
Football — Most improved player (MIP): Jesse Kowalchuk; Most valuable player (MVP): Kieran Pruden; Ross McClenaghan Award: Myles Corsiatto; Curtis Acheson Memorial Award: Joe McQuay; Rookie of the year: Marc Lechmann; Paul Martins Memorial Award: Logan Smith.
Junior girls volleyball — Most promising player (MPP): Cierra Stephens; CA: Karley Jackshaw.
Junior boys volleyball — MPP: Jordy Krause; CA: Nicholas Schumacher.
Senior girls volleyball — MIP: Amy Anderson; CA: Kendra Sorensen; MVP: Laura MacTaggart.
Senior boys volleyball — MIP: Quinn Kryzanowski; CA: Jason Garrett; MVP: Austin Engel.
Curling: CA — Natalee Nystrom, Julien Boothby.
Junior girls basketball — MPP: Chelsea Antonio; CA: Amanda Omilon.
Junior boys basketball — MPP: Kenneth Villaluz; CA: Keno Villaluz.
Senior girls basketball — MIP: Stacey Chomyn; CA: Brooke Harty; MVP: Autumn Letkeman.
Senior boys basketball — MIP: Diego Manjivar; CA: Dustin Schaber; MVP: Mike Malin.
Team handball — MPP: Madison Herbert, Keegan MacDonald; CA: Emilia Herrera, Ty Davis.
Badminton — MPP: Nathan Cavanaugh, Abby Kelly; CA: Trenton Driedger, Evan Nadon.
Girls rugby — MIP: Kim Mickelson; CA: Rebecca Burnand; MVP: Kendra Sorensen.
Boys rugby — MIP: Joel Bistretzan; CA: Jayden Kristian; MVP: Jordan Briault.
Girls soccer — CA: Kaylee O’Connor; MVP: Teala McEwan.
Boys soccer — CA: Roh Ram; MVP: Nic Berry.
Track and field — MOP, female: Kendra Sorensen; MOP, male: Brayden Posyluzny.
Tennis — CA: Amy Anderson, Bennett Bolen, Josh Maetche.
North Star Leadership award — Kieran Pruden, Kelsie Caine.
Spirit award — Rebecca Burnand.