The Fannin County High School boys and girls soccer banquet on May 14 had much to celebrate this season.
The boys team made it to the Final Four round of playoffs, finishing fifth in region.
The girls team made it to the first round of playoffs, finishing third in region.
For both teams, these achievements required exceptional effort from players. The banquet’s many awards reflected that effort.
On the girls team, Albany Cole, Karmah Eaton, Grace Fay, Natalie Middleton, Lacole Moler, Kensley Pickelsimer, Delmy Saqui-Sacul, GiGi Torres, Caroline Young, Annaleigh Cheatham, Marinn Denton, Avi Ethington, Jordan Golden, Addison Head, Reese Lewis, Brooklynn Owenby, Izzy Torres and Lily Williams all won academic excellence awards
Grade level GPA awards went to freshmen Denton, Owenby and Torres; sophomore Cheatham; junior Lewis; and senior Young.
All Region Team awards went to Pickelsimer, Bridgett Allen, Cheatham, Golden, and Young.
Eaton got an honorable mention.
In team awards, Most Improved went to Saqui-Sacul; the Coaches Award went to Torres; the Spirit Award went to Young; the Team Award went to Golden and Denton; the Horizon Award went to Williams; the Hustle Award went to Cheatham; the Offense Award went to Pikelsimer; the Defense Award went to Allen; and the MVP Award went to Eaton.
“I am very proud of how the girls came together this season. Everyone worked hard, adjusted to playing a variety of positions, and dug deep to support the common goal of winning ball games and advancing as far as possible in the playoffs,” coach Nancy Jessen said of her team this year.
On the boys team, Matthew Ponton, Kevin Cruz Alvarez, Finn Thoresen, Brevan Hennessey, Hudson Lynch, Brodey Angel, Conner Kyle, Gage Bryan, Conrad Head, Miller Denton, Avrey Angel and Christian Vazquez all won academic excellence awards
Freshman Vazquez, sophomore Maynor Chub-Cuz, junior Denton and senior Nick Honeycutt all won Grade level GPA awards.
All Region Team Awards went to Ponton and Bryan.
Honorable mentions were Denton and Kyle.
In team awards, the MVP Award went to Denton and Bryan; the Defense Award went to Kyle and Nick Honeycutt; the Offense Award went to Ponton and Brevan Hennessey; the Most Improved Award went to Kian Halpin and Lynch; the Horizon Award went to Alex Acevedo and Avrey Angel; the Hustle Award went to Thoresen and Oscar Alvarez-Garcia; the Coaches Award went to Head and Brodey Angel; and the Team Award went to Josh Martinez and Mario Ruiz- Garcia.
“The boys were dedicated,” coach Lee Johnson said. “When push came to shove, we started shoving back and shoved harder than our circumstances.”