Winter Awards Banquet Held at PHS
by MacKenzie Peters
Winter sports and activities participants, coaches, and parents gathered in the Pierce High gymnasium on Monday, April 1, to celebrate the winter awards banquet.
The night began with a prayer by FCA senior Rhayna Waldner, which was followed by the meal. Continuing on, the six winter sports coaches presented their letter winners with their awards as follows:
Dance team coaches Presley Thompson and Alanna Ronspies awarded all six of their participants letters. Letters were given based on attendance, leadership, dedication, and commitment to the team.
Cheer coach Lauren Bengston presented nine cheerleaders with letters. All cheerleaders who learned their cheers, were prepared for their performances, were reliable teammates, and arrived on time to practices and games were given a letter. Coach Bengston wished to send out a special recognition to her seniors Abbey Sedlacek, Macie Timm, and Stephanie Rinkel for their hard work and dedication all throughout the season.
Melissa Legate, the Pierce High speech coach, gave 34 speech participants letters, which were received by the accumulation of points throughout the year at both competitions and practices. After awarding letters, she recognized the top participants of each grade, as well as the career speaker. The freshman top speakers were tied between Zachary Price and Chloe Cederburg. The sophomore top speaker was Mark Venteicher. Maiya Baumann was awarded the junior top speaker, and Katrina Meier was awarded as the senior top speaker. The overall career speaker was Janae Arens.
Following speech was wrestling coach Tyler Legate, who gave all 22 of his wrestlers a letter. Letters were awarded to all who contributed to three varsity meets and had good standing during practices. Students who broke school records were freshmen Ashton Schweitzer and Brock Bolling as well as senior Ryder Fuchs.
Girls’ basketball coach Darren Sindelar awarded 12 players with letters. In order to letter, players had to consistently participate on the varsity team and end the season in good standing. Both Kayla Simmons and Maggie Brahmer were recognized for being in the top five list of broken records. Special recognition went out to Brahmer and Simmons for making first team at the Wisner/Pilger Holiday All-Tournament Team as well as Kenzie Moeller for making second team. For the Mid-State Conference, Brahmer made 1st team and Simmons and Moeller received honorable mentions. Throughout the season, Brahmer scored the number one spot for both defensive rebounds and total rebounds. In her basketball career, she has scored the number three spot for most points as well as the most offensive rebounds, the number two spot for the most two point field goals, and the number one spot for most defensive rebounds and total rebounds. Simmons scored herself the number two spot for most three-point field goals in the season as well as the number three spot for the most three-point field goals made throughout her career.
Boys’ basketball coach Michael Emory wrapped up the night as he awarded letters to 11 boys. In order to letter, players must play in one-fourth of the varsity quarters. Special recognition went out to Carson Oestreich for making first team at the Wisner Holiday Tournament as well as Gavin Larson for making first team All-Conference. Conference honorable mentions included Oestreich, Dawson Watts, and Dalton Freeman. Gavin Larson broke the school record of most three-pointers made in a season.
