Whitney Butler/Sportswriter
Calhoun Middle High School held their annual sports banquet last night honoring all their student athletes. The evening started with the middle school recognitions of all fall, winter and spring athletes followed by an impressive slide slow put together by Kevin Yeager Jr. Afterwards both middle and high school athletes and families sat down to enjoy a pot luck style meal.
The dinner was then followed by the highly anticipated high school athletics awards. CMHS is blessed to have a lot of talent within its athletics department. Every coach has watched these kids grow over the course of their high school journeys and has had the privilege to help them along the way.
Each year there are 5 awards handed out at the banquet that are the highlight of any athletes career, the Bailess/Haynes Award, Wayne Underwood, Lady Red Devil, MVPs and the EhtynMiller Memorial Scholarship. These awards may not be impressive or important to anyone outside of Calhoun County, but to kids and families that live here, they are priceless. As most have probably seen over the last couple years, Calhoun sports do not get much recognition outside of our area, no matter what their ranking is. Our Lady Red Devils have proven that. With such an impressive run the last two seasons the statewide media coverage was less than a drop in the bucket of other schools. That in and of itself is why these hometown awards mean so much to these young athletes. It’s a chance for hardworking kids to be recognized for their accomplishments, talent and drive. A way for their coaches to show them that even though they may not receive their 15 seconds of fame anywhere else, they deserve to have it here.
This years award recipients are:
Bailess/Haynes Award- Ian Persinger
Cross Country MVPs- Savannah Cunningham and Danny Kargol
Football MVP- Hunter Schoolcraft
Golf MVP- Chase Blair
Volleyball MVP- Christee Craddock
Cheerleading MVPs- Cassie Fowler (Football) and Lacy Hicks (basketball)
Girls Basketball MVP- Josie Montgomery
Boys Basketball MVP- Ian Richards
Wrestling MVP- Drue Goad
Softball MVP- Maddison Westfall
Baseball MVP- David Boggs
Track MVPs- Savannah Cunningham and Danny Kargol
Wayne Underwood Award- Grant Sterns
Lady Red Devil- Josie Montgomery
The Ehtyn Miller Memorial Scholarship was started by the Miller/Davis Family in honor of their son Ethyn Miller who was a Calhoun athlete that was a leader to his team, no matter the sport, and took great pride in being a Red Devil. This year the award was presented by Pastor Steven Carter who coached Miller his Junior and Senior years of high school and was given to a male and female athlete who demonstrated not only a drive to excel in their sport but also know the importance of hard work, dedication and most of all the importance of being aleader on their team. And both athletes that were chosen are everything the scholarship is meant to encourage. This years recipients are Drue Goad and Savannah Cunningham. Goad was named wrestling MVP, was part of the State Golf tournament qualifiers and has expressed interest in going to college to wrestle and earn his teaching degree with the hopes of coming back to Calhoun to teach. Cunningham has broken and set multiple records in basketball and track, as well as being 2022 Regional Champion in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 meter and placed 6th in 400, 4th in 800, 8th in 200 and 9th in 100 meter at the State Track Meet in Charleston this past weekend. She has signed with Concord University to run both cross country and track.
This year along with the scholarships, Wayne Underwood and Lady Red Devil awards, CMHS took pleasure in retiring the #10 jersey of Senior Josie Montgomery. Montgomery is a well known name along with Savannah Cunningham for their impressive run the last two years with the Lady Red Devils Basketball team. Montgomery has achieved many accomplishments in her four years as a Lady Red Devil, including breaking several records and scoring over 1300 career points.
Ridgeview News would like to congratulate all Calhoun athletes on their achievements and recognitions for the 2021-2022 school year and wish returning athletes the best of luck next year. And we would also like to wish the seniors the very best in their future endeavors. It has been an honor to follow your journey the past few months and look forward to seeing where life takes you.
