Bert Church High School took time to honour its teams and individual accomplishments last week.
Trey Lidbury and Taylor Kentel were the two big winners at the school’s extra-curricular awards night, June 2, as they claimed Grade 11/12 male and female athletes of the year.
Lidbury, a Grade 11 student, represented his school in four sports: volleyball, basketball, badminton and track and field, while Kentel, a graduating Grade 12 student, played basketball and volleyball.
“When we start looking at the athletes of the year, whether its Grade 9/10 or 11/12, we look at the leadership, the characteristics and the personalities of those individuals,” said Mike Sera, Bert Church’s athletics director. “What are they doing, not only for themselves, but for the team and for the school?”
“I’m excited to get it,” said 16-year-old Lidbury, who also won the senior boys’ volleyball MVP award and finished fifth in the intermediate long jump at the track and field provincials in Edmonton, June 4.
“I’ve played most of the sports, most of the years, and I haven’t got any MVP’s yet, so I didn’t really expect it at all. There were no outstanding moments, but the whole year has been fun.”
Kentel, 18, who said she plans to take a year off from school before attending SAIT and trying out for its women’s basketball team, was also named senior girls’ basketball MVP.
“I kind of expected one of them, but not the athlete of the year,” she said. “That was really exciting. I’m hoping I was a pretty good leader. I always try my hardest and put 110 per cent into everything. I had a great high school experience and being a Charger was amazing.”
Sera had nothing but praise for both top winners.
“There is a kid who is just a natural at what he does. (Lidbury) gets involved in all the sports. A perfect example: we registered him in high jump, because the kid can jump out of the gym. He hadn’t practiced, but we put him in and he ended up taking first at divisionals. He puts in the time, on the court and off the court. He’s the type of kid you want around all the time,” he said of Lidbury.
“And (Kentel) has come through the system for four years – and given four years. She’s been a great ambassasodor for the school. She had a tough Grade 12 year if you look records for teams, as they weren’t overly successful, but she was always upbeat and trying to get her team going. That’s what you look for in a proven leader.”
Sera also said he is already looking forward to all of next year’s teams and a return to the winning tradition Charger Athletics is used to.
“This is definitely a transition year for us and we survived it,” he said. “We didn’t hang a lot of banners this year, but we had a lot of young kids who performed. All our teams were young and that bodes well for the future.”
Other winners on the night included: Karl Louder as Grade 9/10 male athlete of the year; Hayley Sera as Grade 9/10 female athlete of the year. Boys’ golf MVP Shae Wagner, cross-country MVP Ian Wellspring, football MVP Mark Johnson; girls’ volleyball co-MVP’s Kentel and Chelsey Wilson; cheerleading MVP Kayla Campagna; senior boys’ basketball MVP Brett Olinyk; male curler of the year Michael Roy; badminton co-top male player Paul Lees and Mitchell Quong; badminton top female player Shelby Milne; track and field co-top male athletes Lidbury and Quong; track and field top female athlete Sera; girls’ soccer MVP Kerri Welch; and boys’ soccer MVP Fraser Hunter.
