Hunting Hills High School held its annual Athletic Awards Banquet on Thursday evening.
Many of the speakers during the ceremony put an emphasis on not just being an athlete but a student-athlete, which they said is something many of the award winners have portrayed coming to the school every day.
Female Athlete of the Year went to Paige Roslinsky followed by the school’s first co-Male Athletes of the Year Blaise Elliott and Nolan Barager.
Roslinsky, who played volleyball, basketball, badminton, and track and field took home a truck full of awards on top of her athlete of the year honour including senior girls MVP in volleyball and basketball, as well as the lightning award for senior girls track.
Playing and excelling in so many sports is par for the course for Roslinsky as being competitive has always been a part of her.
“I’ve always been competitive since I was a little kid. My parents put me in as many sports as they could I was super busy and I’ve been competing my whole life so it just stuck with me I guess,” she told the Advocate.
Roslinsky will continue her competitive spirit next year when she attends Camosun College in Victoria, B.C. to play volleyball and study biology.
A moment in her high school sports career that she won’t soon forget was beating Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School in her first year of playing senior girls volleyball to send them to provincials.
Elliott also did not shy away from playing as many sports as he could during his time in high school. The multi-sport athlete played volleyball, basketball, handball, soccer, and track and field.
A highlight of his time in athletics was when the senior boys’ volleyball team took home second in provincials.
“It was amazing, it’s incredible to play on the highest stage in Alberta and compete against the best athletes and it was one of my best memories from high school,” Elliott said.
He also was presented with numerous additional awards including the senior boys’ handball and basketball MVP, the senior boys’ soccer lightning award, and the academic athlete of the year.
On top of being an athlete, being a student was also a top priority for Elliott.
“It’s incredibly important to me and it is reflected in my choice for university because It’s very important to me to have a good plan for the future. I’ve always had it in mind that it was always academics first and sports had to come second and I was really grateful I got to do both and do both at a high level,” Elliott said.
In the fall he will be moving to Kingston, Ont. to attend Queen’s University to pursue a career in electrical and computer engineering.
Barager spent his time playing contact sports in high school including football and rugby but also hit the court to play basketball. He was presented with the lightning award for senior football as well.
And it seems his time put in on the field has paid off as he will be heading to Edmonton to play for the Huskies of the Canadian Junior Football League. He will also attend the University of Alberta to achieve a combined degree in education and sciences.
“I’ve always wanted to play football after high school and the Edmonton Huskies coach has been very good to me so I definitely want to go there and stay there for a few years,” Barager said.
He fondly remembers going to provincials twice throughout high school. Most recently with this year’s senior boys rugby team and in his Grade 10 season in football.
“I can’t pick between the two of them. We didn’t win but it was really great just going to provincials just being there and competing with top teams,” he added.
Other major award winners for Hunting Hills High School went as follows:
Ross Towers Memorial Award - Jared Koziol, Sumeet Sangger
Grade 9 Male Athlete of the Year - Logan Hanson
Grade 9 Female Athlete of the Year - Chloe Penz
Stacey Larsen Memorial Award - Logan Hanson
Lightning Pride Team of the Year - Senior boys volleyball
Lightning Advocate of the Year - Matt Tillapaugh
Andre Sather Memorial Award - Jared Koziol