Over 350 guests gathered in the McAuley Center Gymnasium on Monday, May 6, to honor and celebrate Mount St. Mary Academy’s sports teams, student-athletes and coaching staff during the school’s annual Athletic Banquet.
Coaches introduced their respective teams during the event and presented the traditional awards for each player based on her years of participation. First-year players received a certificate, second-year players were given a MSM letter and symbol of the sports in which they played, third-year players received the coveted white sweatshirt with their name and sports monogrammed on the sleeves, and fourth-year players were gifted a wooden memento box engraved with their athletic accomplishments.
The recipients of a handful of special awards, which are selected by MSM athletic staff, were also announced during the banquet. This year’s winners include the following:
Msgr. Keany Award: Ava Hatfield ’25
Donnie Bridges Award: Grace Garrity ’24
Sr. Phillipa Athletic Award: Taylor Moore ’24 and Lyla Tong ’24
Sr. Mary Phillipa Parent Award: Shannon Baker
Sr. Phillipa Manning Memorial Scholarship: Sam Smith ’25
Mary Drake Award: Elizabeth Arnold ’24 and Josie Wrape ’26
Purple Heart Award: Chloe Freville ’26 and Kennedy Griffin ’24
Vassar-West Scholarship: Kayla Hill ’25
Clem Papineau Legacy Award: Ella Burdine ’24
Blair Family Swimming Award: Rebecca Burnett ’24, Ellen Jackson ’24 and Madeline McNeill ’24
Marilyn Lenggenhager Passionate Athlete Award: Carson Vogelpohl ’26 and Abby Whittaker ’24
Sara Fritz Outstanding Student Athletic Training Award: Madelynn Graves ’24 and Allie Gunderman ’24
Manager of the Year: Mairead Arnold ’26 and Laura Grace Files ’25
Most Valuable Freshman Award: Addison Stephens ’27 and Lillie York ’27
Most Valuable Belle: Madeline McNeill ’24
Nineteen student-athletes were recognized as Four-Year Scholars, having participated in athletics for all four years of high school and graduating with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. Madeline McNeill was awarded the Top Scholar Athlete Award for maintaining the highest academic average while also participating in the athletic program at Mount St. Mary Academy.
MSM Athletic Director Lane West honored the coaching staff at the event, as well, and thanked the two coaches leaving at the end of the 2023-2024 school year – Jason Lambert, volleyball head coach, and Rick Marendt, softball head coach – for their contributions to their respective sports during their time at Mount.
Congratulations to all of this year’s hard-working and dedicated student-athletes and their coaches.
