Top high school athletes honoured

The three high schools in Halton Hills recently announced their athletes of the year for the 2005-06 sports season and there was a large pool to choose from, with several Halton-- and provincial-- level triumphs earned by teams and individuals.

Georgetown

Georgetown District High School held its athletic awards banquet earlier this month and announced its athletes of the year in the four different age categories. (From left): Corey Carlton (senior boy, Jim Hall Award), Sherelle Sheppard (senior girl, Shirley White Award), Lauren McCracken (junior girl, Gord Barwell Award), Aaron Hnatiw (junior boy, Bill Bingham Award). (RIght) Sang-Joon Lee (left) and Dave Cavasin were the recipients of a couple of special awards recently as Georgetown District High School recognized its top Rebel athletes of the 2005-06 season. Lee was presented with the Paul Legge Award as a graduating athlete with the highest academic standing at 92.5 per cent, while Cavasin earned the Lyn McLaren Award for his contributions to the Rebels' athletics program as an all-around performer.

Acton

A trio of provincial champions make up this year's edition of Acton High School's athletes of the year. (From left) Melissa Bigg, Mike Koszwika and Kaitlyn Andrews all combined excellent marks with outstanding sporting performances while wearing the Bearcat colours. Bigg and Koszwika teamed up to win an OFSAA mixed doubles' title in badminton, while Andrews continued her march to represent Canada in the field events of shot put and javelin with two more provincial gold medals in 2006.

Christ the King

Canada Basketball's women's national development team coach Christine Stapleton was the guest speaker at Christ the King Catholic Secondary School's recent athletic awards night for 2005-06. Award winners included (from left): Anthony Luna (Christian Athlete Award); Graeme Owens (Tri-Achievement Award); Ryan Burns (senior boys' athlete of the year); Rebeka Hickman (female CTK Sportsmanship Award); Margareta Josipovic (senior girls' athlete of the year); Andrew Hawkins (male Most Promising Athlete Award); Simon Sharples (male CTK Sportsmanship Award); Ryan Shepherd (H.E.A.R.T. Award); Taylor Dowdall (female Most Promising Athlete Award); Brittney Metcalfe (junior girls' athlete of the year).

Georgetown District High School

Sherelle Sheppard and Corey Carlton helped lead their respective teams to Golden Horseshoe championships at the senior level. Sheppard's hitting prowess and superb defence at shortstop boosted the Rebels to their third consecutive Halton title in girls' softball, while also excelling for the basketball, volleyball and badminton squads. Carlton attended OFSAA championships in both boys' volleyball and doubles' badminton, while also playing varsity basketball and soccer. As well, Carlton received the school's Fred Kotani Award for sportsmanship. GDHS's junior athletes of the year are Aaron Hnatiw and Lauren McCracken, who were also multisport stars for various Rebel teams. Hnatiw competed in football, track & field, badminton and swimming, while McCracken suited up for the senior girls' soccer team, badminton, hockey and junior basketball.

Christ the King

Versatility best describes both senior athletes of the year for the Jaguars. Ryan Burns played both wide receiver and defensive back for the football team and also starred in basketball and soccer, while Margareta Josipovic was an all-around standout in basketball, volleyball and tennis. J.J. Laforet's leadership on the volleyball and basketball teams earned him the junior boys' top athlete honour. Brittney Metcalfe backstopped the Jaguars' junior girls' soccer team to its first-ever Halton title on the pitch and helped the hoops and hockey squads to the regional semi-final stage.

Acton High School

Two Bearcats who have received scholarships to attend universities in the U.S. shared the female athlete-of-the-year honours, while another honour-roll student, Mike Kosziwka, took the boys' award. With seven golds and a silver medal to show for her four trips to OFSAA for shot put and javelin, Kaitlyn Andrews earned a full ride to Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. She also was a force on the Bearcat girls' basketball and hockey teams. Star midfielder Melissa Bigg will attend the University of Cincinnati to play soccer for-- ironically enough, the Bearcats-- but the captain for the Halton champion volleyball team from Acton is multitalented. She also teamed up with Kosziwka to capture OFSAA gold for mixed doubles in badminton. Kosziwka also plans on earning an NCAA scholarship for hockey and was a part of the Bearcat volleyball team that qualified for OFSAA. He helped coach the girls' hockey team and will be back for another year at Acton High School in 2006-07.