For Kyle Devine, motivation was the key to capturing the 2010 Notre Dame High School male athlete of the year award.
“Last year I was nominated along with two of my best friends and that sort of motivated me further to keep pushing to get the award this year,” Devine said Thursday at the Westerner Harvest Centre, the site of the Notre Dame athletics awards dinner and ceremonies.
“Ever since I was named most valuable player for basketball in Grade 10, it’s been a goal of mine to get this award in Grade 12.”
Kirsten Sorensen was the recipient of the female athlete of the year award, while Megan Schmidt and Jonah Gilham were honoured as the outstanding Grade 10 female and male athletes.
Devine was the Cougars senior basketball MVP and was the quarterback for the Cougars football squad. He also participated in rugby and badminton.
“The relationships I made with my teammates over the years are the things I will always remember about my high school years,” he said. “Two of my best friends, Tim Finnigan and Connor McLachlan, have played basketball with me since Grade 10. We’re best friends because of that.”
Devine will enrol in the kinesiology course at Red Deer College in September and will try out for the basketball Kings.
“Hopefully winning this award will keep me motivated because this summer I’m going to have to do a lot of work in order to play (college) basketball next season,” he said.
Sorensen was just short of shocked when she was called to the stage to accept the female athlete award.
“I was really surprised, I did not see that coming at all,” she said. “I was really excited. Getting this award definitely gives me a boost of confidence.”
Sorensen, who will play volleyball with the RDC Queens next season, picked up the coaches award for the Cougars senior volleyball team and also competed in rugby and track during her final year at Notre Dame.
“It can be hard to balance all the sports (with studies). It takes a lot of determination to get everything done to the best of my ability,” she said.
Volleyball, clearly, is her favourite sport.
“I just love the friendliness and competitiveness. A lot of people don’t think there’s much competitiveness in volleyball, but there definitely is,” she insisted.
The other Notre Dame award winners:
Golf — Carson Kallis, most outstanding male performance; Jana deWit, most outstanding female performance.
Cross-country running — Allison Taylor, Tyler Cassidy, coaches awards; Ashley Graf, Morgan See, most promising.
Football — Mitchell Vellner, most improved player (MIP); Dale MacDonald, most valuable player (MVP); Tyler LaGrange, Ross McClenaghan Award; Will Laranang, Curtis Acheson Memorial Award; Sam Simenson, rookie of the year; Conner Borle, Paul Martins Memorial Award.
Junior girls’ volleyball — Bronwyn Hawkes, most promising player (MPP); Rebecca Statchuk, coaches award (CA).
Junior boys’ volleyball — Neil Brinker, MPP; Kevin McGourty, CA.
Senior girls’ volleyball — Chelsea Fraser, MIP; Kirsten Sorensen, CA; Morgan Hadden, MVP.
Senior boys’ volleyball — Kendal Schmidt, MIP: Dylan Goranson, CA; Trent Schmidt, MVP.
Curling — Garrett Olson, CA; Chad Walchuk, MVP.
Junior girls’ basketball — Molly Li, MPP; Megan Schmidt, CA.
Junior boys’ basketball — King Dela Cruz, MPP; John Miller, CA.
Senior girls’ basketball — Megan LaRocque, MIP: Kirsten Khatib, CA; Makenzie Quinn, MVP.
Senior boys’ basketball — John Goranson, MIP: Jordan Handel CA; Kyle Devine, MVP.
Badminton — Paolo Ponce, MPP; Molly Li, CA.
Girls’ rugby — Allison Taylor, MIP; Danielle Harder, CA; Wane Kruger, MVP.
Boys’ rugby — Emmanuel Lumbala, MIP; Brett Maximchuk, CA; Conner Borle, MVP.
Girls’ soccer — Keara Orchin, CA; Nicole Abaya, MVP.
Boys’ soccer — Andrew Forde, CA; Myles Kehoe, MVP.
Track and field — Megan Schmidt, most outstanding female performance; Sean Bettac, most outstanding male performance.
Tennis — Mackenzie Jones, CA; Frans Badenhorst, CA.
Specials awards — Michelle Novotney, Conner Borle, North Star Leadership; Kirsten Khatib, Kendal Schmidt, Trent Schmidt, Mark Willms, Spirit.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com